Nintendo is taking the necessary time to plan their reveal event for Nintendo NX, having learnt the hard way with Wii U that it is important to clearly outline the console to consumers.
At E3 2016, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales and marketing Scott Moffitt was directly asked as to what lessons Nintendo had learned from Wii U and Nintendo 3DS that would influence the approach to their new “dedicated game platform.” His answer was robust, drilling through key aims that the company has with Nintendo NX.
“First, it’s really important to have the right content,” Moffitt explained to Financial Post. “Software drives hardware. We’ve proven that multiple times. The right game can really lift a system. With The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild being among the titles we’re working on for NX, we’re very excited it will be an immediate reason game fans will want to buy the hardware.
“Second, it’s important to have clear positioning for your proposition and be able to explain it to consumers in a simple and easy way. Those are among the things that we are working on for NX.
“Third, we need to showcase all the things that make Nintendo great. When we bring out a title it has to be of exceptional quality, it has to be fun, it has to be an immersive experience, and put a smile on families’ faces. As long as we stay true to those things, we’ll deliver what we want.
“And certainly there are other factors, like third-party content. Our mission is to create the largest install base possible so that third-party developers will want to bring their content to our systems.”
While Nintendo’s platforms enjoy plenty of exclusive first-party content bursting with family friendly appeal, they fail to attract as much third-party support as their competitors. That has seen players turn to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One for a more diverse library, which is something that Nintendo continue to be aware of.
“That’s a great question, and one that we give a lot of thought to,” Moffitt began. “There’s a tendency for people to focus on certain publishers or certain titles. But when you step back and take a look at it, we have great publisher relationships with companies like Ubisoft – which had some exciting announcements this week – Capcom, and Warner Bros. They have been strong and will continue to be strong partners in the future.
“Having said that, what will attract even more partners to our platform — which, of course, is something we’d like to do — is having a piece of hardware that provides interesting ways for these companies to bring their game creations to life, one that’s easy to program and work on, and that has a large enough install base of game fans that are looking for a variety of content.
“So, for an avid gamer a game like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of those that you can’t not play. It’s a new high point for the franchise that offers gamers incredible freedom. Your gaming arsenal will not be complete without a Nintendo system and this game in your house.”
1st stop bragging about Zelda. 2nd start doing something to gain 3rd party support. Nintendo games alone can’t and will never be able to keep a console afloat. Never!.