Nintendo Q2 FY3/2015 Corporate Management Policy Briefing, Part 3: 3DS

Iwata: “Some were skeptical of the sales of Smash for handhelds, but now I can say they were worrying about nothing.”

☆ NintendObs Event – Nintendo Q2 FY3/2015.

Let me begin with Nintendo 3DS.

First, I would like to mention “Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS” released in September in Japan and in October overseas. The global release went very well thanks to consumer acceptance. It marked 3.22 million units in global sales from Nintendo at the end of September, and we are confident that it will continue to sell in the future.

I think the good global start for “Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS” has several implications.

First of all, it proved that the “Super Smash Bros.” series, which has been popular for home consoles, can have a strong presence for handheld devices. Before the release, some in the video game industry were skeptical of the sales potential of “Super Smash Bros.” for handheld devices, but now I can say that they were worrying about nothing.

Secondly, the initial sales pace was faster than either Nintendo or anyone in the industry could expect and we are afraid that the lack of stock caused inconvenience for some consumers for some time after the release both in Japan and the U.S. After a vast number of consumers started this game at one time and it spread by word-of-mouth, Nintendo 3DS has been used more actively, and we have noticed increased attention and enthusiasm in the entire market for the device. Considering that the software was released just before the year-end sales season with many anticipated titles scheduled, we believe it has really contributed to improving the momentum of the Nintendo 3DS market.

Furthermore, since characters from various Nintendo games appear in “Super Smash Bros.,” consumers naturally get to know the entire lineup of Nintendo IP and this title could make them interested in other game franchises. In other words, the more this game is played, the higher the overall value of the Nintendo IP lineup becomes.

In addition, we have had very strong pre-orders for “Pokémon Omega Ruby” and “Pokémon Alpha Sapphire” to be released around the world in November. As you can see from the slide comparing them with those for “Pokémon X” and “Pokémon Y” released last year, the momentum of pre-orders has been robust regardless of the region.

Many people in the industry would anticipate that however dramatically “Pokémon Omega Ruby” and “Pokémon Alpha Sapphire” have been remade, their sales would be lower than those of “Pokémon X” and “Pokémon Y,” which were completely new titles, but the trend of pre-orders has gone against their expectations so far. In particular, they have been surpassed by far in Europe.

Please let me show you an interesting hypothesis explaining the reason for such strong pre-orders: Those who have enjoyed the “Super Smash Bros.” series and those who were impressed with “Pokémon Ruby” and “Pokémon Sapphire” as the first “Pokémon” title are of the same generation and overlap substantially with each other. We call it the “Hypothesis of the same-generation of “Super Smash Bros.” and “Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire.”

— Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo
Source: Nintendo JP.