'Mario' creator doesn't think VR is a good fit for Nintendo

(Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

VR might be the hottest new technology in gamimg, but the man who made Mario isn't particularly impressed with what he's seen so far.

Game design legend Shigeru Miyamoto, speaking with Yahoo Games at last week's E3 conference, said that while the technology behind VR is certainly interesting, he hasn't seen anything done with it so far that fits with the style of play he — and Nintendo — prefers.

"The current types of virtual reality aren't really a good fit for Nintendo's philosophy of trying to create entertainment that people can play together in the living room," said Miyamoto. "We're constantly looking at different technology and experimenting with different elements of it, but we're not feeling virtual reality is currently in a place where it's ready to be released - as a product that fits with our philosophy of fitting in the living room."

In true Miyamoto style, though, he doesn't dismiss the tech altogether. In fact, the creator of franchises like Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and The Legend of Zelda's cryptic follow-up comments are sure to get conspiracy theorists speculating about whether the company has its own version of VR in the works.

"We're here at E3 this year to really focus on the games that are launching within the next year or so," he said. "We're not showing off or showcasing anything that's further down the road, and that's why you don't see us here with any samples of potential virtual reality type experiences."

Nintendo declined to comment when asked it it's doing anything with VR.

Miyamoto’s comments largely mirror those of Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, who told Polygon that he too was unimpressed with the current state of VR.

“I haven't walked the floor, so I can't say in terms of what's on the floor today, but at least based on what I've seen to date, it's not fun, and it's not social,” he said. “It's just tech."

Nintendo has a history of bucking trends. The company has been slow to embrace online multiplayer gaming, which helped turn robust networks built by Microsoft and Sony into lucrative pipelines. For years they wrote off smartphone gaming, though they’ve since changed their tune. Waving off VR could be another case of the company missing a huge gaming movement, though their caution is understandable. After all, they tried VR before, and it didn’t exactly pan out.

Legendary Nintendo designer won’t be making iOS or Android games

nintendo super mario brothers

Earlier this week, gamers rejoiced amidst news that Nintendo is planning to bring some of its most storied and beloved franchises to smartphones and tablets. As we highlighted earlier in the week, this is an opportunity Nintendo has long neglected, not only to the detriment of gamers, but to its own bottom line as well.

Nintendo sits on a gold mine of underutilized properties. It hasn’t been bothered to do another Advance Wars game despite its rabid global fan base that would pay $70 a pop for a new iteration. It has lost its passion for Castlevania and Metroid. It has neglected the clever little puzzle games that defined the early Nintendo DS years. Many of these franchises are perfect fits for tablet. Advance Wars games were practically designed to be played on large touch screens and came out years before tablets were even on the market.

While it remains to be seen what type of games Nintendo and its mobile gaming partner DeNA bring to the table, it’s worth noting that Nintendo’s legendary ace-in-the-hole game designer won’t be involved in the process.

In a recent interview with TIME, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata was asked if Shigeru Miyamoto would be involved in any smartphone or tablet game development. For those not familiar with the Miyamoto name, odds are you’re extremely familiar with his work. Miaymoto is the genius behind classic franchises like Super Mario Brothers, Zelda, and many others. Put simply, Miyamoto is a gaming legend of the highest order. And while it’d be amazing if Miyamoto’s talents were spent designing new and incredible iPhone games, that’s unfortunately not in the cards.

Iwata explained that Miyamoto will remain focused on, surprise surprise, Nintendo games.

As for any involvement of Mr. Miyamoto, we will discuss it when possible, but for now, understand that his priority is on the development of Wii U titles that will be launched this year.

And it’s certainly understandable. After all, why not keep Miyamoto busy on Nintendo’s own hardware rather than letting him develop games for competing devices. Incidentally, it’s also worth noting that Nintendo has no plans, as of yet, to port any of its existing titles to iOS and Android.

To that point, Nintendo’s press release reads in part:

To ensure the quality of game experience that consumers expect from this alliance of Nintendo and DeNA, only new original games optimized for smart device functionality will be created, rather than porting games created specifically for the Wii U home console or the Nintendo 3DS portable system.

Nonetheless, Nintendo’s announcement this week was welcomed by all. And even though Miyamoto won’t be taking a look at iOS anytime soon, it’ll be a joyous day when official Nintendo titles finally make their way to Google Play and the App Store.

Super Mario to go mobile as Nintendo ventures into smartphone games

Attendees walk past Nintendo Co.'s Super Smash Bros. signage at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, in Los Angeles

By Teppei Kasai

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese video game maker Nintendo Co Ltd will venture into smartphone games, heeding calls from investors to boost revenue by taking iconic characters like Super Mario to players increasingly shunning its consoles.

Nintendo, which already warned its annual operating profit would halve on weak console sales, said on Tuesday it was teaming up with online gaming firm DeNA Co Ltd to develop and operate gaming apps.

The two companies will also launch later this year an online membership service accessible on mobile devices as well as Nintendo's existing Wii U console and the portable 3DS.

"This will allow us to build a bridge between smart devices and gaming consoles," Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told reporters. "It doesn't mean smart devices will eat away at gaming consoles, it will create an entirely new type of demand."

Investors have long called on Nintendo to shift its focus to mobile devices after losing customers to both smartphone gaming app makers and console rivals like PlayStation maker Sony Corp and Xbox maker Microsoft Corp.

The company had so far resisted these calls, pinning its hopes on hit games such as "Mario Kart 8". But in January, it halved its operating earnings target for the fiscal year through March to 20 billion yen ($169 million), citing weak 3DS sales in the year-end holiday season.

Under the partnership, Nintendo and DeNA would buy 22 billion yen worth of shares in each other. As a result, Nintendo will acquire a 10 percent stake in DeNA while DeNA will acquire a 1.2 percent stake in Nintendo.

Although Iwata didn't disclose any details about Nintendo's first mobile game, he said it would not be a hand-me-down from the company's famed console titles.

He also said Nintendo was currently developing NX, a new gaming platform, but declined to give further details.

For DeNA, which grew from a startup launched in 1999 to a major online gaming company, a tie-up with Nintendo will help it regain momentum lost in the past two years as users moved on to more popular gaming apps. DeNA mainly develops games played on browsers.

As a result of the capital alliance, Nintendo will become the second largest shareholder of DeNA after its founder, Tomoko Namba, who has a 13.1 percent stake.

Nintendo's future still lies in the glory days of gaming

From CNET

The Legend of Zelda, one of Nintendo's most successful franchises, has a new game coming out on the Wii U later this year, marking the 18th installment in the series.Nintendo

Nintendo's future is still firmly rooted in its past.

That's what we learned this week from the Japanese game maker, whose 3DS handheld led sales in the US retail games industry in February, beating out Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox Oneconsoles.

What made the difference was a 15-year-old game called The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, which Nintendo rereleased alongside an upgraded version of the device that month. The title was the best-selling game and the fastest-selling Zelda portable release in history, with more than 500,000 copies sold so far, Nintendo said.

That's not a huge surprise. Nintendo is perhaps the only video game company capable of rereleasing a game older than the "Harry Potter" films to rave reviews. The secret to Nintendo's success is that its aged franchises like Super Mario Bros. and the adventure titles of The Legend of Zelda are considered timeless classics players clamor for year after year.

"Nintendo has always put out content that is lasting and is content that the consumer plays for extended periods of time," said Reggie Fils-Aime, president and chief operating officer of Nintendo's North American division, in an interview.

That strategy may be working now, but the company has still struggled in the past. Over the last two years, there have been calls for the game maker to look past its Wii U video game console and 3DS handheld, to the iPhone, iPad and other devices powered by Google's Android. Many of the company's fans, it's believed, may no longer own its devices but do still love old Nintendo games.

Nintendo has had to contend with an upswell in portable gaming alternatives on smartphones, a platform for which the company refuses to release its iconic games.Sarah Tew/CNET

"In this games business, the axiom is that software drives hardware, and we've seen that over our 30+ year experience in this category," Fils-Aime said. Put the software somewhere else, like the iPhone, and the hardware loses, the theory goes.

That hasn't always worked. Nintendo's Wii U, released in 2012 as the follow-up to the original and best-selling Wii console, has perpetually underperformed expectations, and sales of the 3DS have begun to slow. Analysts say a lack of compelling games is the chief reason, though they also note that much of Nintendo's core audience may have replaced them with the world-building game Minecraft, or upgraded to more-serious fare like the shooting games of Call of Duty.

Since last summer, Nintendo has answered those critics by releasing a string of hotly anticipated titles like the fighting game Super Smash Bros., the racing game Mario Kart 8 and the new Majora's Mask, all drawing from the company's celebrated franchises.

"I don't blame Nintendo for going back to the well," said Lewis Ward, an industry analyst with research firm IDC. "If you go back to the Wii, there were some Mario games released in the first couple years that were still selling significant volumes at the end of the Wii's life cycle."

Nintendo's reliance on its iconic characters is not without its speed bumps. A rereleased high-definition version of 2002's The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker failed to crack even the Top 10 of the US retail sales charts when it was released in September 2013. Though it did get a sizable number of consumers plunking down for a Wii U finally when it bundled the game with the console.

Though Nintendo has brand-new games in the pipeline, it's still placing its bets on fan favorites like Zelda, pictured here for the Wii U and due out later this year.Nintendo

Still, the device hasn't been able to live up to its predecessor, no matter what Nintendo has done.

"I don't think there's any opportunity for the Wii U to come back and be the top-selling" console, Ward said. But is it at least competitive against the Xbox and PlayStation? "If you asked me a year ago, I would have said no shot, but I do think that you see signs of hope."

Nintendo plans to keep up the pressure. Later this year, the company is expected to release a new Zelda game, as well as a new installment of its space shooter franchise Star Fox, both of which the company expects will get even more Wii U units into living rooms. The company will also offer brand-new games too.

In this games business, the axiom is that software drives hardware."

Reggie Fils-Aime, president, Nintendo of America

The company won't overuse its old games, though, Fils-Aime said. Nintendo won't follow in the same steps of games like Call of Duty, releasing a new iteration every year, he said. "We put out one Mario Kart per platform per generation."

That strategy has led many Nintendo fans to hold on to their decades-old game consoles to replay their favorites. What's unclear is whether the Wii U will be as equally loved decades from now.

"We certainly hope so," Fils-Aime said. "And in the end it's going to be placed on our ability to have these unique compelling experiences that stand up to time."

Nintendo pushes video game industry positive in February

BY Nick Statt

Nintendo's 3DS portable game system was the best-selling piece of hardware in the month of February.Sarah Tew/CNET

For Nintendo, February brought some much-needed good news.

The Japanese game maker's latest big release, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask for its 3DS portable game system, was the best-selling portable game in the franchise's history, according to industry watcher the NPD Group.

Majora's Mask grabbed the the No. 1 sales spot last month ahead of large console releases, including the shooting sci-fi game Evolve in the No. 2 spot and survival horror game Dying Light in third.

The retail video game industry grew 8 percent in the month of February from the same time last year thanks to a healthy 10 percent boost to hardware. Nintendo, again, takes credit for that with the 3DS beating out Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One for best-selling hardware device of the month. Nintendo launched a new, larger version of the 3DS in North America last month, helping the growth.

Last month marks a sign that Nintendo's business is beginning to regain some health. The company's followup to the best-selling Wii -- the Wii U, which launched in 2012 -- has chronically missed sales expectations, leading to ever-widening quarterly losses. That's put an immense amount of pressure on the company's 3DS handheld, which had a rocky launch but is now considered a buoy for the otherwise struggling company.

With the launch of Zelda and a select number of other titles in Nintendo's storied catalog, including a new Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U last fall, Nintendo is finding more solid footing. Sales of the Wii U increased by 20 percent last month from the same time last year, the company said Thursday.

Though the 3DS isn't pulling as much weight for Nintendo as it has in the past, it propped up the rest of the hardware industry last month.

Console sales dropped 5 percent in February from the same time last year due to an decreasing sales the older Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Those consoles, released almost a decade ago, are on an eventual march to obsolesce next year when Sony and Microsoft suspend support of the platforms.

Overall sales of physical games from retailers grew 6 percent, bucking a consistent industry trend of slumping game sales since the launch of new devices in November 2013.

"This is the first time since the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One that the top 10 console software SKUs were all from eighth generation consoles," said Liam Callahan, an analyst with NPD. The shift, Callahan said, is "a sign of consumer's further transition away from seventh generation consoles towards the new console generation."

In online marketplaces, such as Sony's PlayStation Store, Apple's App Store and Valve's Steam marketplace for PC titles, total spending jumped 2 percent year over year, to $995 million, in the month of February, according to competing industry watcher SuperData Research.

PS4 helps Sony topple Nintendo sales for first time in eight years

• by Luke Westaway 
   @lukewestaway
 



CNET

There's a new king of console gaming, with Sony retaking the crown from rival Nintendo after eight years.

Sony sold 18.7 million games machines in the fiscal year ended on March 31, while Nintendo sold a more modest 16.3 million units. Japanese news site Nikkei was the first two stack the two figures against each other, but the numbers had already been separately disclosed by Sony and Nintendo.

The change in position marks the first time that Sony has held the top spot since the blockbuster success of the Wii catapulted the House of Mario into the pole position in 2006. It also reflects the changing fortunes for both companies in the gaming business, with the next-generation PlayStation 4 receiving a warm greeting from consumers, while sales of the Wii U system continue to disappoint.

Both companies are expected to unveil a slew of games at the E3 video game trade show, which kicks off today.

More telling than the total figures is the mix of sales. Nintendo's console sales are primarily driven by its still-successful handheld business, with the 3DS making up a vast majority -- 12.4 million -- of the total sales. Conversely, Sony sold 14.6 million PS2, PS3, and PS4 consoles (the PS4 launched in November, and only contributed to sales for a little more than four months).

Microsoft isn't on the same fiscal calendar, so it's more difficult to compare video game console sales with Sony and Nintendo. It also lacks a handheld gaming system, relying solely on sales of the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Like the PS4, the Xbox One launched at the end of last year, and still hasn't reached Japan yet.

Sony can boast that it has built the most popular games console of all time with the PlayStation 2, which has sold over 155 million units. The follow-up PlayStation 3 fared less well, however, with Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360 providing able competition, squashing Sony's lead.Although the warm reception that greeted the PS4 will have buoyed Sony's console hopes (and the PlayStation 4 isestimated to have outsold Microsoft's Xbox One again in April), both Sony and Nintendo are facing tough times. Earlier this year Nintendo reported disappointing revenue, while Sonyexpects to lose $489m this year as its financial woes continue.

CNET editor David Carnoy has written about the moves Sony could make to maintain the PS4's lead over the Xbox One, including revealing more info on the PlayStation Now streaming service.

The race for console king may mean significantly less in a few years with all three companies confronting the growing trend of smartphone gaming. The rise of casual gaming apps could potentially divert money and attention away from the console gaming world. Sony's aforementioned PlayStation Now service could prove effective in this regard, as it'll let gamers play titles from Sony's library of games on phones and tablets.

Nintendo has been consistent in maintaining that its first-party games, such as its Mario Kart franchise, would remain on its own gaming systems, largely ignoring the mobile threat. Microsoft, meanwhile, has a lot invested in its Windows Phone mobile platform, and has attempted to integrate features such as its Xbox profile into smartphones.

The E3 conference may shed some light on how these companies will address this competitive threat from mobile even as they continue to jockey for the lead in the console race.

Forget Xbox One and PS4, nothing beats Game Boy

Behold, Internet mortal, the first episode of Adventures in Tech, CNET's new show that takes you on a visual safari, directly into the untamed jungle of your favourite tech topics.

Our premiere feature takes a look at Nintendo's late '80s icon: the magnificent Game Boy, which deployed smart hardware and one shape-spinning supergame to became the industry's most unlikely success story.

Hit play on the video above to dive inside the Game Boy's four-colour folklore, nab yourself some impress-your-pals knowledge, and have your nostalgia gland massaged by some of Nintendo's classic '90s adverts. Go on, click play. It feels great.

Teach us, oh Game Boy

The Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 are almost upon us -- but in these souped-up, polygon-crunching times, we'd do well to remember the lessons that the Game Boy taught us.

Detonate a nostalgia bomb with our gorgeous Game Boy pictures

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Nintendo's handheld was elegance cast in plastic, stripped of the battery-hogging colour display that dragged down rivals like the Sega Game Gear and Atari's Lynx. It was a streamlined, low-powered masterpiece, finely honed to deliver pure gaming entertainment.

The latest crop of consoles bundle everything, plus the kitchen sink. They're monstrously powerful, but you wouldn't use the world "elegant" to describe the Xbox One. The console itself is big enough to crush a duck, or even a decent-size goose, and the cable that powers the new Kinect sensor is as thick as Carl Weathers' Arnie-wrestling arm.

Can you think of any other devices that have proved unlikely winners? Let us know in the comments, on Facebook, or find me on Twitter.