Nintendo president Satoru Iwata outlined its strategy for his company to stay relevant in the face of disappointing sales yesterday, and it's pretty clear Wii U isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Here are the basics of what Nintendo revealed, as per The Wall Street Journal.
- There's no massive price cut coming to Wii U yet.
- Wii U's GamePad is becoming a more important part of its games, not less.
- Nintendo Network ID is coming to phones and tablets, but not full-fledged games.
- Mario Kart 8 will arrive in May.
- Wii U's Virtual Console lineup will eventually be bolstered by DS games.
- Nintendo's exploring new licensing opportunities for its characters.
Perhaps the most "radical" of Nintendo's announcements was its decision to begin development on a health-focused initiative. It's unclear what Nintendo has plans for, but it's not going to be a wearable device. More details on this are expected later this year, but Wii Fit's past success clearly has it thinking bigger.
There were rumors Nintendo would unveil a plan to publish mini-games on other devices as a means of promoting its own hardware and software, but either that's not happening or Nintendo wasn't comfortable announcing that move quite yet.
Either way, the typically conservative and slow moving giant that is Nintendo isn't making any big waves yet. It's sticking to its guns the same way it has in the past, but this is unlikely to be the last we hear about Nintendo and its struggles until (if?) sales turn around for them more broadly.