A new Asahi Shimbun interview with Nintendo Co. Ltd. President Satoru Iwata has lit the internet ablaze with speculation, as the article would seem to provide a more forthcoming look into Nintendo’s future than most are used to.
Perhaps the biggest news out of the feature is the discussion of the successor to the Nintendo DS. “[It will have] highly detailed graphics, and it will be necessary to have a sensor with the ability to read the movements of people playing,” Kotaku translated.
However, it could be some time before such a device is offered; according to Andriasang, Iwata noted that “DS saw its highest sales in North America in 2009,” and thus refused to comment on a timeframe.
In addition, the subject of cellphone-like connectivity to the internet for the DS was brought up, and Iwata once again shot it down. He dismissed the notion of a monthly service plan to play games, and said that they were not looking at adding such a feature to the future DS models.
In the meantime, Iwata says the company is interested in expanding the program it had begun with McDonald’s. That is, offering programs similar to DS at Mac through other retailers, where properly-equipped consumers will be able to take advantage of free Wi-Fi and special offers.
“To proactively increase the number of hotspots, we are talking with a number of businesses,” Iwata explained.
Moving on, Iwata talked a bit about the Wii, which has seen reports notoriously condemning its slowdown in sales, despite remaining the best-selling console of the lot. He admit that sales did stall during the Fall, but said that the marketplace “has started to accelerate again.”
He also pointed out that it has remained the biggest seller in North America and Japan for the past three years, adding an emphasis on the importance of software.
And that makes a perfect segue into the final items of note from the interview. Regarding the oft-talked about but little-seen Wii Vitality Sensor that was revealed at 2009’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, Iwata said that they planned to announce games for it at a press conference in July, and have every intent of following that with a release as soon as possible.
And last, but certainly not least, is the latest word on the as-yet untitled new Legend of Zelda game for the Wii. We’ve only seen one image thus far of the game and heard precious little, with Producer Eiji Aonuma promising more at 2010’s E3, but Asahi Shimbun says that the game is slated to go on sale before the end of 2010.
Unfortunately, the paper did not mention whether or not that was strictly for Japan, or worldwide, though I would not imagine the dates being too far apart in either case. Nonetheless, this leaves one to ponder Nintendo’s strategy, as both Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M are big-name Nintendo titles which have been anticipated for a 2010 release.
[Image]
