Iwata Addresses the Managerial Staff

If you have seen my work over at Infendo.com, there is no doubt that I am a huge fan of Nintendo. However, my gaming love does not stop there, in fact it extends to all consoles.

It is no secret that the Wii U has not lived up to its expectations in sales.  I attribute this to the lack of advertisement around why it is different from the Wii. regardless, it is a fantastic console that has a bright and prosperous future ahead of it, which can be foretold by Nintendo's refusal to give in to the pressure of the competitors.

Today, Iwata spoke to his managerial staff regarding Nintendo's plans in the future.  Nintendo UK has provided the following following topline summary:

"We can confirm that on Jan. 30 in Japan, Mr. Iwata made several announcements at Nintendo’s Corporate Management Policy Briefing regarding the short- and long-term plans for the company. Some of the topics covered in Mr. Iwata’s presentation include: 

Plans to drive momentum for Wii U, which includes launching Mario Kart 8 globally in May and releasing new software titles and services in 2014 that use the unique strengths of the Wii U GamePad.The global installed base for Nintendo 3DS has now exceeded 42.7 million units, and the company is well-positioned to drive strong profits from that business moving forward.While Nintendo does not have plans to port existing games from its library to smart devices, it will begin using smart devices in the near future to form stronger ties with its consumers and communicate the value of its entertainment offerings. This includes launching a dedicated smart-device service by the end of this year and considering if services previously implemented on Nintendo platforms could offer greater consumer benefit if moved to smart devices.Plans to expand Nintendo’s global character licensing business, including proactively finding appropriate partners and looking for new ways to expose global consumers to Nintendo characters. This approach will give consumers an opportunity to experience Nintendo outside the realm of video games.In the next few years, Nintendo will establish a new platform business that is independent of our existing video game platforms. This new venture concerns “quality of life,” and will focus first on health. This will leverage Nintendo’s history of creating engaging, nontraditional entertainment experiences such as Brain Training and Wii Fit. More details will be revealed in 2014, with the new venture scheduled to launch during the fiscal year ending in March 2016 (April 1, 2015 – March 31, 2016)."

The rest of the translated speech can be seen at the following link:

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/140130/index.html 

The contents of the link are pretty telling in regards to Iwata's passion for Nintendo and his refusal to be bullied by the competitors.  What are your thoughts about his presentation, and the future of Nintendo?