3DS Titles Delayed to "Stay Fresh"

Marshall Honorof

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3DS Titles Delayed to "Stay Fresh"


Nintendo has "intentionally delayed" 3DS titles to stagger its software releases.

The most common complaint since the launch of the 3DS has been that the system does not have a strong software library. The good news is that Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, is well aware of this and has taken steps to address it. The bad news is that his solution has been to deliberately delay games. While this tactic may strike some as unconventional, Iwata believes that such a plan is beneficial to both consumers and investors. Iwata believes that putting out too many good games at once would result in consumer fatigue, and that's why he delayed some titles a short "interval."

During a Q&A with Nintendo investors, Iwata fielded a number of financial questions, which ranged from social media marketing strategy to the promotional budget for the 3DS. One concerned shareholder questioned the Nintendo executive about the relative weakness of the 3DS lineup, and how this might be addressed in the future.

"Offering software one after another is a never-ending challenge we have try (sic) to overcome," Iwata replied. "We failed to offer strong software titles without long intervals in the first half of this year, but it was not because we did not place importance on offering them one after another. Videogames need to stay fresh, so it is not practical for us to put them on hold for too long, but we think that some of them may be held for a certain time."


While the 3DS has had its share of quality titles, the system is in dire need of some more if it wants to remain competitive with the burgeoning smartphone market and the upcoming Sony Vita. Delaying titles is an unconventional tactic, but if it allows consumers to gather their funds between big releases, it could pay off - provided, of course, that the titles are worth their money.

Source: Nintendo [http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/111028qa/02.html]

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drkchmst

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o_O Nintendo titles rarely if ever come with a preorder bonus. On top of that whether they are all released at once or not, Nintendo games do not drop in price quickly. In what world does this plan of intentional delays benefit anyone?
 

Fiz_The_Toaster

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......whaaaaat?

Hell I was looking for a reason to buy one and they did this on purpose? I understand that companies normally stagger their titles, but this is just plain dumb when you launch hardware.

There better be some damn good titles coming out, other than Kid Icarus, that are worth the wait.
 

Jameseh

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If Mario Kart 7 is a failure then that's it for Nintendo from me.
 

Takuanuva

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...huh. I can kinda get what were they thinking about. I mean, if a buttload of games is released at once, you won't have money to buy all of them... So it kinda makes sense for them to delay some of them so they're released in more regular intervals. Not sure what to think about it from the customer's point of view though.
 

JoJo

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Sorry Nintendo but that's a shit excuse. I currently own a 3DS, picked one up recently in a deal where I traded in my old DSi so reducing the retail price from Ā£140 to Ā£50, but I own no 3DS games yet because you haven't released anything worthwhile yet! Well maybe Ocarina of Time but I've already played that on Wii Virtual Console so I'm not getting it again and I'm sharing Nintendogs + Cat with my sister for x-mas so that's out for now too. Mario Kart 7 better be damn good when it comes out.
 

Kenjitsuka

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"Iwata believes that such a plan is beneficial to both consumers and investors."
Riiiight! This is a massive contradiction in and of it's self!!!

Consumers love a good deal, investors see that as a money sink. No?
 

dickywebster

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Ok fair enough with the whole not releasing them at once, but from what my friends who have bought 3ds say is that theres not a lot of good games out, they dont count rereleases though, so idk.
But im perfectly happy with my ds for now, if i ever did want to upgrade to 3ds, maybe there would be a good selection by then.
 

Danpascooch

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Hoooooly crap, are you fucking SERIOUS?

Just go out of business already, I bought the Wii, I bought the 3DS, both were huge disappointments, get your shit together or go bankrupt, this back and forth shit is annoying.

Nintendo just doesn't fucking get it anymore, we buy these systems to play games, and to respond to a lack of games by intentionally delaying games shows they really have completely lost touch of their audience.

Gee Nintendo, we could, I don't know PLAY THEM ONE AT A TIME AS WE FEEL LIKE IT!? What the hell are they afraid of here? That without their guidance we'd try to play all the games at once and stop eating and fucking die? Really shows what they think of their customers, we're not fucking dogs or toddlers Nintendo, we do understand the concept of moderation without you forcing it on us. It's a combination of a lack of faith in their customers, and the staggering arrogance to think that all of them will want to play every single one of those delayed titles, maybe some people only like one or two of them? Did you think of that Nintendo?
 

V8 Ninja

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On one hand I see why Nintendo wouldn't want to push out four to six big-name 3DS titles in the span of two months.

On the other hand, the 3DS desperately needs good and original software if it wants to live beyond the middle of 2012.

It's all a risky bet, but it might actually pull off for Nintendo. If they can fill a few months with high profile games and get the console back in the race before the competitor (the PS Vita) hits then they'll start to get some more hard-hitting 3rd party titles, which should give Nintendo time to work on more games for the handheld.

EDIT: Also, from what I can tell the intentionally "Delayed" titles are a sequel to a cult classic (Luigi's Mansion 2) and a revival of game series that has been dead for the past two decades (Kid Icarus: Uprising). If they want to squeeze the maximum profit out of those two games, they can't compete with their own juggernaut products. That's just a stupid plan. True, fans will be angry, but right now for Nintendo it's more of a question of if they will still be around in the next two years.
 

Andaxay

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Hmm, the 3DS was released in March and the first "proper" titles start coming out in November. Zelda, yeah, but it was a remake and the mercenaries side of Resident Evil doesn't appeal to me so meh. Delaying for tactics is all good but I think this is an example of too big a delay. We've had a good few traded in and I've been toying with the idea myself.
 

PhunkyPhazon

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Iwata believes that putting out too many good games at once would result in consumer fatigue, and that's why he delayed some titles a short "interval."
What? WHAT!? The only way 'consumer fatigue' (Which is a stupid concept in itself) could possibly happen is if we had been bombarded with tons and tons of AAA titles in a short time. It's been eight months and the 3DS has had like...two total, with Super Mario 3D Land coming up. It's like going up to a starving person (As in they look like a skeleton) with a big cart of food, and then telling them they can only a little bit for now because they might get fat.

God, what a load of crap.
 

BehattedWanderer

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But they have no games! Two remakes, with a few expected titles! Yes, the remakes are good, but we still own those games, and they haven't changed much! Start putting out new games, guys, over the course of the year, not just once or twice a year. I haven't bought a Nintendo game since DKCR! The next one I'll buy will be Skyward Sword! That's a year between games, and that is no where near the kind of business I know they can do. So what are they delaying for? Are we so over-encumbered by their competitors games that we wouldn't get to play theirs? The hell is that?
 

ZeZZZZevy

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So..their solution to their system not having enough games...is to release games slower?

All right, you got me Nintendo. I'm confused.
 

Cleariously

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They're delaying the 3DS games? That's okay, I can just play all the wii games that are coming out at the moment.

Oh wait.