Nintendo Investor Briefing: 3DS' Challenges, eShop Overhaul, Final Model Wii U to Appear Next E3

Following some dreadful financial results, Nintendo clearly needs to think quickly to recover. President Satoru Iwata has addressed his company's investors and noted that he feels "greatly accountable" for the poor performance.

Iwata accepts that the 3DS sales since launch have not met expectations, but notes that the price markdown has improved pace somewhat. Throughout November, he anticipates that some keenly-awaited 3DS titles will give the ailing platform a further boost in the year-end season. He also plans to re-adopt the DS and Wii strategy of "working on new genres of software that may attract people who are not particularly interested in video games" for the 3DS, specifically pointing to titles such as Brain Training and Wii Fit​ as examples of the sort of titles we can expect. Perhaps we should be watching out for a "Touch Generations 3D" range soon.

Iwata also noted that the 3DS needed to have more software with a long tail -- that is, titles which sell for up to as long as the system's lifespan. He believes that Nintendogs+cats, Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 all hold potential for this protracted period of sales -- previous entries in this series certainly achieved this, but on a platform which was more popular than the 3DS. Iwata noted that slow initial sales of a new game isn't necessarily cause for concern, however -- 81% of Mario Kart DS​' total lifetime sales came after the year in which it was launched. As such, if the company can encourage more widespread adoption of the 3DS is a viable, desirable platform, these titles are likely to succeed over the long term.

Iwata also announced that the eShop for 3DS would be getting a makeover. A new update will allow DLC for games and demo versions. The facility to download titles while the 3DS is in sleep mode is also proposed, as is a web interface to access content via PC or smartphone. Iwata notes that part of the reason for this is to integrate the 3DS more tightly with social media, allowing for viral promotion of eShop titles rather than relying purely on user reviews within the 3DS-based eShop interface itself.

Finally, Iwata said that the final model of the Wii U would be showed at E3 next year. He notes that the company has learned "a bitter lesson" with the launch of the 3DS, and intends to "take every possible measure so that the Wii U will have a successful launch."