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Reggie - Apple not a threat, more innovative ideas in the works, and still no Wii HD
A portion of a Forbes interview with Reggie Fils-Aime…
Forbes: Steve Jobs called you guys out when he positioned the iPhone and iPod touch as handheld gaming devices. What isNintendo ( NTDOY.PK - news - people ) doing about Apple’s encroachment on its handheld business?
Reggie Fils-Aimé: There’s been no data to suggest an encroachment on our business. The iPhone has been out on the marketplace for just a couple of years. In the last two years we’ve set two records on our DS business, last year selling over 11.2 million units. So there’s been no evidence that we’ve lost any business to that competitor.
On the other hand, we recognize that consumers have a limited amount of entertainment time, and anything that takes entertainment time away from the Nintendo DS, DSi and Wii is a competitor. And so from that standpoint, we need to build experiences that are compelling and sticky, and that consumers can get excited about. That’s our challenge.
Forbes: But Nintendo’s also known for taking big innovative jumps, like when the company launched the original Wii system. Can we expect to see any other big jumps in the future?
RFA: Absolutely, we pride ourselves on the big innovative jump, typically in the area of the consumer experience. The way we approach that innovation, because we have hardware developers working side by side with software developers, is that when the software developer comes forward with an idea that can’t be executed on the current platform, that’s when we start thinking seriously about the next system. We’re not there yet, from a Wii perspective.
when people talk about high definition for the Wii console, our feedback is that that by itself will not create a brand new experience. Therefore, we’re not interested. What we have to push for are groundbreaking new experiences. Technology has to enable it, not to be a means all by itself.
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Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:23:11