Update News
Nintendo NX Update
April 27, in the year of our Lord 2016 --
Nintendo announced a variety of updates during the earnings
announcement for its full fiscal year, ended March 31. These
updates included the first information about Nintendo’s next
video game system, code-named NX.
“As we report the results of the last fiscal year, we also look
forward to an exciting period ahead with further growth in our
mobile business, new products for our dedicated video game
systems and continued progress in our efforts to increase the
number of consumers experiencing our IP through games, licensing
and expanded entertainment,” said Nintendo President Tatsumi
Kimishima.
For a complete overview of Nintendo’s financial announcements,
as well as changes to Nintendo’s governance system, please visit
Nintendo’s Investor Relations website at
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en. Announcement highlights
include:
· Miitomo: Nintendo’s first app for smartphones and tablets has
already crossed 10 million unique users worldwide. The
free-to-start social experience app launched in Japan on 17th
March and in a variety of other countries, including the UK, on
31st March.
Along with these outstanding user numbers, Nintendo also has, to
date, sparked more than 300 million conversations in Miitomo.
In addition, users can insert their Mii characters into photos
to create unique “Miifotos” that can be shared through various
social media. As of now, more than 20 million Miifotos have been
created.
To celebrate Miitomo reaching 10 million users, Nintendo will
run a special 10-day “Celebrating 10 Million Users!” promotion
between 29th April and 8th May.
· Nintendo’s Next Mobile Apps: Building on the positive consumer
reaction to Miitomo, Nintendo announced that its next two mobile
apps would be based on the familiar and beloved Fire Emblem and
Animal Crossing franchises.
Nintendo plans to release both of these applications this
autumn. As for the former app, while making it more accessible
in comparison to the Fire Emblem games for Nintendo’s dedicated
gaming systems, Nintendo aims to offer the great value of a
role-playing strategy game. Nintendo will design the latter game
so that it will be connected with the world of Animal Crossing
for dedicated gaming systems. By playing both Animal Crossing
games, users will find increased enjoyment. Both of these are
pure game applications.
Compared to Miitomo, they have more prominent game elements, and
the game content will tie closely into Nintendo’s dedicated
games business.
Nintendo will provide more details about these applications
closer to their launch period, and aims to have multiple types
of apps that appeal to different audiences and different groups
of players.
· NX: Nintendo previously announced that it would release more
information about its next system, code-named NX, this year.
As the first announcement of any NX information, Nintendo
confirmed that NX is scheduled to launch in March 2017. NX will
not make an appearance at the upcoming E3 video game trade show
in Los Angeles in June and will be unveiled later this year.
· The Legend of Zelda: The latest instalment in this classic
series is scheduled to launch simultaneously for both Wii U and
NX, and both versions of the game have been in development in
tandem. Because developers need more time to polish the game, it
will launch in 2017, but it will be the focus of Nintendo’s
presence at E3.
· E3: Nintendo changes its approach to the show every year. This
June, Nintendo will focus its attentions on the upcoming game in
The Legend of Zelda series. The Wii U version of the game will
be playable for the first time on the E3 show floor, and it will
be the only playable game Nintendo presents at the show, in
order to provide attendees a complete immersion. Additional
information about Nintendo’s E3 plans will be announced in the
future.