Nintendo had their annual shareholders meeting today and discussed the future of the 3DS and the online service of the Wii U. Among other topics, these were the two that seemed most important to the users.
First thing's first; when asked how much will the Wii U's online service cost, Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata, said that they could have charged for the service, but decided to let the word-of-mouth process work in their favor. While deciding that a paid subscription was not best for Nintendo, it would be silly to think that it wasn't considered.
Andriasang translated:
Iwata said that he doesn't necessarily reject the idea of a paid service that allows not just Wii U but various other devices to connect to Nintendo Network. However, when considering Nintendo's users, a paid membership service is not the best approach. By having everyone use the Miiverse together, word of mouth will more easily spread. This will lead to greater hardware and software sales.
Other topics discussed were the fact that there are no female board members and how Nintendo will better support the industry with the lack of strength from third-party developers on the Wii.
On the third-party developer issue:
Iwata said that with Wii U Nintendo started sharing information with third parties at about the same time as its internal teams.
Nintendo also holds seminars and dispatches employees to other companies. Iwata also cited Smash Bros. as an example of cooperating with outside companies for both parties to grow.
Nintendo also holds seminars and dispatches employees to other companies. Iwata also cited Smash Bros. as an example of cooperating with outside companies for both parties to grow.
Iwata acknowledged that this is the case, but noted that Nintendo has many females in management positions. Nintendo also listens to its female employee opinions, which may be why Nintendo product has high female usership.
