Nintendo to launch new consoles

Nintendo plans to sell new gaming devices to emerging markets in the beginning of 2015, the company’s president, Satoru Iwata, told Bloomberg in an interview.

“We want to make new things, with new thinking rather than a cheaper version of what we currently have,” Iwata said. “The product and price balance must be made from scratch.”

Iwata said that Nintendo will develop “completely new game machines” rather than sell cheaper versions of its existing consoles such as the Wii U. He added that Nintendo won’t sell its games on mobile devices, saying “we have had a console business for 30 years, and I don’t think we can just transfer that over onto a smartphone model.”

Nintendo is also planning to boost the use of characters such as Mario by offering figurines that will allow the transfer of game information between devices through near field communications.

According to tweets by analyst David Gibson – in attendance at Nintendo’s financial results briefing today, 8 May 2014 – Iwata said that charging $30-60 (R310 – R620) for a game in emerging markets is difficult, and its approach in these markets needed to be reassessed.

Iwata added that Nintendo is studying changes in China’s gaming market, where new video game regulations have been implemented.