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Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata sitting close next to Nene Anegasaki, made possible by the 3DS’s cameras and New Love Plus’s augmented reality features.

I wonder what Iwata’s wife will say when she finds out he was not just playing the dating sim (even if it was just for a demo), but also taking photos with the virtual harlot.

On the next edition of (Ms.) Iwata Asks:

Satoru Iwata: “I can explain! (Laughs)”

As you can probably tell, the Nintendo Direct presentation tonight was a bust! At least it was if you were hoping for exciting new game announcements. We mostly received a bunch of Japanese release dates for 3DS in Q1 2012, a demonstration of Yoshio Sakamoto and Made in Wario’s weird audio game for Wii Kiki Trick, and a look at a new photobooth app for eShop called Kiradeco Revolution.

Oh, we also now know that Fire Emblem: Awakenings is an original 3DS title that brings back popular features like the free map system and skill system. We’ll share new media from that game and others once we have some!

Buy: Nintendo 3DS (Flame Red, Black, & Blue)

Find: Nintendo DS/3DS release dates, discounts, & more

See also: More Love Plus posts

tags / nintendo direct / gaming / nintendo 3ds / 3ds / satoru iwata / new love plus / nene anegasaki / ec

/ permalink / / 1 month ago / Comments (View)

Microtransactions for 3DS games coming

In a Q&A session with investors on Friday, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said that his company is preparing to offer developers support for paid downloadable content on the 3DS by the end of the year, and eventually on the Wii U.

The executive notes that while it will allow third-party studios to take advantage of this microtransaction system, Nintendo is wary of using this feature itself. Andriasang translated the Q&A transcript and explained:

“Iwata said that while pursuing paid download content opportunities would likely increase short term profits, it would not allow them to build a long-term relationship with customers. … Nintendo feels that it should not have this type of paid charge system for its own content.”

He went on to comment that free-to-play games would “damage the premium value Nintendo’s content”, and pointed that the rate of 3DS owners connecting online is far greater than that of DS or DSi users.

Iwata added that bringing more gamers to the eShop and acclimating them to buying games/content there are major points in Nintendo’s roadmap for the next three years.

Preorder: Nintendo 3DS ($169.99 on August 12!)

Find: Nintendo DS/3DS release dates, discounts, & more

See also: More eShop news

[Via Nintendo, Andriasang; Image via Samwibatt]

tags / nintendo 3ds / eshop / microtransactions / downloadable content / gaming / ec / satoru iwata

/ permalink / / 6 months ago / Comments (View)

Auto-downloads for 3DS demos considered

Along with automatic system updates, Nintendo wants to make 3DSes automatically download demos, too, in order to encourage gamers to try out new titles.

Nintendo president/CEO and Iwata Comics star Satoru Iwata explained the strategy at an investor meeting:

“When Nintendo would like to ask users to try a specific new game, we should deliver it to their Nintendo 3DS, and possibly Wii U, with their prior consent and recommend that they just try it and, if they like it, they can pay for it. In this way, we need to introduce users to unknown products.

Consumers are likely to be convinced to pay about 5,000 yen for a well-established franchise product, but not all the people are willing to pay a certain amount of money for an innovative but unknown product. Now is the time to prepare for these situations.”

This sounds great — really, I’m just happy to hear that demos haven’t been abandoned and are still on the way for the 3DS. This is actually a similar set up to what Sony is doing on the PlayStation 3 for PS Plus subscribers, pushing demo downloads and installations to users’ systems.

Buy: Nintendo 3DS console (Cosmo Black, Aqua Blue)

Find: Nintendo DS/3DS release dates, discounts, & more

See also: More eShop news

[Via Gamasutra]

tags / nintendo 3ds / demo / gaming / 3ds / satoru iwata / ec

/ permalink / / 7 months ago / Comments (View)

Yes, fanart of Nintendo president/CEO Satoru Iwata bumping his head on a microphone while bowing before his presentation at the company’s quarterly financial results briefing last week, illustrated by Megume.

Though it’s not 100 percent clear if Iwata actually brushed against the mic, I don’t care, I love that this exists.

Buy: Nintendo Magic: Winning the Videogame Wars

Find: Nintendo DS/3DS release dates, discounts, & more

See also: More Satoru Iwata posts, More fanart

[Via Megume]

tags / satoru iwata / fanart / megume / gaming / ec

/ permalink / / 9 months ago / Comments (View)

Like a boss: Satoru Iwata (Nintendo CEO/president, Iwata Comics star) many years ago at HAL Laboratory.

tags / ec / gaming / gdc / gdc 2011 / satoru iwata / hal laboratory

/ permalink / / 11 months ago / Comments (View)

Livestream link for GDC bomb-dropping →

Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata is flying in to deliver a keynote speech at the Game Developers Conference today, once again prompting speculation that the company boss is set to “drop the bomb”.

While the talk will target developer types (it is GDC after all), presumably focusing on the 3DS’ imminent launch, there will probably be a few reveals for new titles — a handheld Zelda wouldn’t be surprising, considering the conference’s record for introducing those.

Anyway, here’s a link where you’ll be able to watch a livestream for the keynote, which begins at 12AM EST today. Apple recently scheduled its own event around the same time across the street from GDC, in which it’s expected to announce the iPad 2 and possibly some game-related news. What a dick move!

Preorder a 3DS with: Our Nintendo 3DS Buyer’s Guide

See also: More Nintendo 3DS news and media

[Image via Instro]

tags / gdc 2011 / gdc / satoru iwata / gaming / ec

/ permalink / / 11 months ago / Comments (View)

Valentine’s Day wishes from Bulbasaur and Nintendo executives, illustrated by Mare Odomo and 4CR’s Kyatt.

If you’d like to profess your love to a special girl/boy today with a Pokemon or Reggie’s suggestive eyes, you can download and print the cards from here and here — that second link actually has all of 4CR’s previous Valentine’s Day art, so go wild with that.

Find your perfect match today: DS Dates

See also: A love left behind

tags / 4 color rebellion / cards / ec / pokemon / reggie fils-aime / satoru iwata / valentines day / fanart

/ permalink / / 1 year ago / Comments (View)

“Chung-chung-chung”. Along with mentioning the new Super Mario Bros. game coming to Nintendo 3DS and Koji Kondo holding out for Shigeru Miyamoto’s approval after 25 years, the latest “Super Mario 25th Anniversary” Iwata Asks session has this fun moment:

Kondo: Mario sort of flashes as he gets bigger, so I made that sound effect to match. And to save memory, I needed to get a lot of use out of the same sounds. So, for example, I used the same sound for when he gets smaller and when he goes into pipes.

Miyamoto: When he goes into pipes, it goes chung-chung-chung. I bet you hadn’t noticed they were the same.

Iwata: Oh, I guess they are.

Kondo: And the bwip! sounds when he steps on turtles and swims are the same.

Iwata: They seemed different in my head, but I guess they’re the same!

Kondo: That was all to save memory.

It’s not as mind-blowing as Super Mario Bros.’ identical clouds/bushes — most of you probably already recognized the sounds were re-used — but I like hearing about all the tricks game developers depended on to get the most from memory/hardware limitations.

Buy: New Super Mario Bros (Wii & DS)

See also: More Super Mario Bros. posts

tags / super mario bros / chung-chung-chunc / koji kondo / shigeru miyamoto / satoru iwata / iwata asks

/ permalink / / 1 year ago / Comments (View)

He should know by now not to trust anyone who begins a conversation with “Great news, president Iwata!”

If you’re in the same boat as Nintendo’s president/CEO Satoru Iwata and missed all the 3DS chatter from this morning, here are some links to catch you up:

Photos of a Nintendo 3DS (non-final unit) allegedly stolen from a Chinese factory
Video of that 3DS and some information we can glean from the hardware
Even more photos of the purloined portable
A comic about the possible fate of the factory worker who lifted the 3DS

And since we mentioned the clamor over the Nintendo 3DS potentially harming the eyesight of kids aged six and younger, here’s a fun link to consider at Gamasutra (my employers): Opinion: Why So Much Mass Media Hysteria Over 3DS Vision Warnings?

Buy: Special Edition Red Nintendo DSi XL bundle, DSi XL (Blue, Burgundy, & Bronze), Standard DSi (White, Pink, Black, & Blue), Standard DSi Orange & Green bundles

See also: More Nintendo 3DS media and news

tags / nintendo 3ds / 3ds / satoru iwata / iwata comics / ec

/ permalink / / 1 year ago / Comments (View)

Nintendo 3DS preview event announced for January 19th. Though the New York City conference is reserved for the press, you’ll likely hear updates from live blogs and Twitter feeds seconds after they spill out of Reggie Fils-Aime’s mouth. So, look forward to that! Also look forward to misunderstood and misreported details picked up by irresponsible, news-hungry sites like this one.

So, what can you expect on that day? Likely info about the 3DS’s release date and pricing, some game announcements, feature demonstrations, and hands-on previews for select titles. As for what games Nintendo intends to show off, we managed to secure this comic, recorded deep inside the company’s Kyoto headquarters, revealing what exciting projects will be highlighted*.

Buy: Special Edition Red Nintendo DSi XL bundle, DSi XL (Blue, Burgundy, & Bronze), Standard DSi (White, Pink, Black, & Blue), Standard DSi Orange & Green bundles

See also: More Nintendo 3DS news and media

*All absolutely untrue.

tags / nintendo 3ds / 3ds / iwata comics / satoru iwata / ec

/ permalink / / 1 year ago / Comments (View)

Nintendo: Japan-only DS games could still make it to North America

Something that’s worried me about the Nintendo 3DS release next spring is all the standard DS games from Japan that haven’t yet made it to the States — and likely never will as publishers limit their slates to only 3DS projects.

One only needs to look at the GBA’s 2006 releases in Japan, like Mother 3 and the original Rhythm Tengoku, for examples of worthwhile import titles that never released here because they came out too late in a system’s lifetime.

While discussing plans to divide its resources between DS and 3DS software development, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata offered some hope that unlocalized games still have a chance of releasing in North America.

Read More →

tags / imports / satoru iwata / ec

/ permalink / / 1 year ago / Comments (View)

Nintendo didn’t say the 3DS will have a shorter battery life than the DS

Several outlets are claiming that the Nintendo 3DS will feature a shorter battery life than the Nintendo DS, basing their reports on this excerpt from a Q&A between Nintendo president/CEO Satoru Iwata and investors:

“As for the battery, it is inevitable that Nintendo 3DS will be a device which requires more frequent recharging than Nintendo DS.

This is why we are going to include the cradle, which is a dedicated battery charger. Perhaps we may need to dispatch to our consumers a message, something like, “Please place your Nintendo 3DS on the cradle as soon as you return home with it.”

I understand how some came to that conclusion, but I believe people took his comments out of context. Never mind that each DS model has different battery life estimates that vary with brightness levels (ranging from three to 19 hours); Iwata isn’t comparing hard numbers for the 3DS’s battery life against previous systems at all.

Read More →

tags / battery life / nintendo 3ds / 3ds / satoru iwata / ec / iwata comics / dock

/ permalink / / 1 year ago / Comments (View)

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