The dust is starting to settle from Tatsumi Kimishima's first 'President's Presentation'; there were various interesting details - many of which we've covered elsewhere - yet the overall impact hasn't been entirely positive. As one of two briefings designed to address investors and media - a second closed-doors investor-only briefing had no media present - its target will have been to reassure and build confidence.
Much focus was on the unveiling of Nintendo and DeNA's first smart device app, which emerged as Miitomo, a communication app. Other announcements included Nintendo's new customer loyalty / account system, and while various aspects are of interest for fans investors were undoubtedly primarily focused on Nintendo's move onto iOS and Android.
Overall the reaction among investors has been negative. Nintendo shares closed 9% down on 20,945 Yen, a notable drop. It's the lowest point since 2nd October and has undone steady gains over the last month; you can see the overall trends below.
As quoted by Bloomberg Tomoaki Kawasaki, an analyst at Iwai Cosmo Securities Co, shared disappointment at the choice of branding and the delay to release next March.
Nintendo's world-famous contents are Mario and Zelda -- instead we saw Miitomo. The expectations were for a game release this year, so it's a clear negative that the earnings recovery will now come later.
Nintendo's line is that the delay is strategic, particularly to tie Miimoto and the Nintendo Account system - our logins will be called My Nintendo - together. Kimishima-san reportedly stated the app is largely ready to go, but the festive season will focus on the core Holiday shopping season.
The app itself is already functional. December is the biggest selling season in our traditional business, and we want to do right by our lineup of software and hardware. We thought it best the smartphone application would follow after that.
In any case Nintendo's announcements haven't sat well - initially - with the investment community. It's a long game though, and as we've seen before shares can increase just as rapidly as they drop.
[source bloomberg.com]
Comments 70
Nintendo is targeting the smartphone audience first and foremost here, not the Nintendo gamers who already have Nintendo consoles. It makes sense that they are releasing a "social" or messaging app first since it can appeal to a wider audience.
I was surprised by miitomo myself but I don't think that one, relatively minor, announcement ought to depreciate the value of the entire company, the stock market is so weird and fickle.
Good time to buy some Nintendo shares, me thinks.
@gcunit I agree. It's surely just a matter of time before Mario et al. do come to smartphones. When that happens the đź’© will probably hit the fan. By which I mean Nintendo's share price will increase.
This was inevitable, with the delay. These people don't care about gamers, us, they want big profits and they want 'em now! I'd imagine Nintendo expected this, and they could have avoided it, but they've done the right thing. Short term loss, long term gain, it'll be painful now but the recovery will come in the New Year. They're gonna suck it up & reap the benefits in 2016
of course, this game looks so stupid!
No Mario or Zelda, boo.... Sell shares.
DeNA stock went down 15%. They definitely didn't take too kindly to it. But honestly nintendo has always been a quality-first company.
BUY! BUY! BUY!
Would be nice if I had the cash to invest in some Nintendo stock.
Behind closed doors, Nintendo told investors:
Don't worry, we've got it all planned out. Miitomo is meant to replaced Club Nintendo, now we don't need our customers to filled out long questionnaire to register their games. They will now answer anything we want in this game!
It's a transitional period, things going badly now isn't great, but they should be able to steady the ship in time.
People wanted an actual GAME. Not miiverse for shy people.
You put too much emphasis on Nintendo's share price, what really matters is its cashflow
They revealed the exact same thing Iwata announced earlier in the year. Investors are idiots.
I swear...every time I hear about Nintendo stock dropping over something as trivial as this delay, I just visualize every person that just sold their stock as that investor from the article a year or so back that recommended Ninty make players pay to have Mario jump higher. F*** all of these people giving Ninty a hard time at these meetings, and I hope the people who have to listen to them are well paid haha
http://kotaku.com/nintendo-investor-i-do-not-understand-video-games-1599625657
I don't get why people are surprised about this. Nintendo has been talking about releasing an app with Mii since they started to talk about using mobile to promote their other stuff. And that was long before they first talked about making mobile games.
@Nintendo_Ninja Ikr
Why are people surprised by this? Didn't they already say not to expect big Mario or Zelda games on mobile?
And that's exactly how I like it. Let's not taint beloved franchises with such cursed mechanics and bring out something new from the start.
As said already, investors tend to be fickle, impatient beings who will gladly chuck everything out the window whenever they are presented smooth something unexpected or different. I'm just glad Nintendo hasn't caved into their demands so far to basically pimp out their franchises.
March is fairly far off, but this announcement said to me, "Don't buy lot of games and things for Christmas. Wait until the new year to pick up rewards on the things you buy then". They would have been better to delay the account stuff until it was ready to roll-out.
Apparently investors missed the report on the money printing machine know as amiibo.
It's not THAT bad. Miiamoto is more of a test run at mobile games. Kicking it off with something like Mario or Zelda would be very risky.
It just shows that investors are fickle babies. Mii games are (perhaps secretly to people other than us) one of Nintendo's biggest selling IPs. The Mii brand will bring them money on iOS.
"Some wanted Mario and Zelda - "instead we saw Miitomo" LOL I thought investors only cared about money suckers ideas! I'm joking. Seriously, this is exactly what I commented when I read the newer article, I had not read this one yet, and this is exactly how I feel. All this stuff about ammibo toys and ammibo cards it's like a regression for Nintendo. I'm not talking about Nintendo manufacturing cards in the past, I'm just comparing its recent history, the SNES and N64 glory days when they produced the best video games in the market and the Wii U and later 3DS days were they are worried about cards, toys and inconsistent spin-off games. Even their mascot has seen much better days, Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World are shadows of the previous 3D Mario games and the New Super Mario Bros. series is a watered-down version of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World's vision.
Good. I'd hate to see a Mario or Zelda game where you have to pay or wait a day to continue playing said game.
I'm actually quite interested in this "Game" or whatever you wanna call it. I've always liked miis, after all.
This 'gamec' sounds naff tbh. I can't see many young people picking up on it when they have snap chat or whatsapp or any other billion message apps out there.
Sharing private informationl/things? I'd say it will be heavily monitored, so kids h& teens won't use it for what they REALLY wanna use it for.
...Really? Just because of ONE mobile game?
They weren't just reacting to the delay of one stupid mobile App.
They were reacting to the entire briefing.
The whole thing was a bit of a disappointment in general, imo.
Stocks fluctuate by the minute and the big changes probably speak more to the daily investor who was hoping to make a quick buck off the mobile announcement. The stock will gain most of this back the next few days because it is now undervalued. Daily and monthly changes matter little unless your company is on the verge of collapsing and Nintendo is financially stable and in no danger as things currently sit
Yeah, this mobile game isn't about a quick short term return. Their mobile strategy is clearly about making the right moves for the long term. Which includes not devaluing their hardware by releasing poor substitutes for "traditional" games on mobile.
Some people were going to be unhappy whatever the game was. But I'd argue that it is precisely the right sort of game. That said, I still want a mobile version of Advance Wars.
@riChchestM
Unless they say in the next Nintendo Direct that your digital purchases will carry over in the new program.
As I always say investors have little to no understanding of how gaming works.. The purpose of Miitomo is mainly to draw in people who would not normally be interested in Nintendo games. I have always seen a Mii based app as being a no brainer for a mobile game. We have enough endless runners and doodle jump clones as it is. I am somewhat surprised also investors weren't thrilled by the new details on Nintendo accounts
@Splatburst They will say they can't track activity from before the new accounts are created
When people found out that Amiibo works with Nintendo smartphone games, shares will rise again.
@riChchestM
But you will be able to link your NNID on the new program. I'm sure they are keeping records on your digital purchases.
Well, it's not a game, so they're understandably disappointed.
We're talking about investors here, so things can sway to one side or the other at the drop of a hat. But there's a lot to consider.
Nintendo has always been extremely slow to change (a lot of aspects havent changed at all). So when they start hinting at better prospects, investors are going to want something significant leading up to the big holiday season. Instead they got news of delays, smaller profits than last year (despite amiibo selling by the boatloads) and a planned app (not a game) that's debuting well after the holidays. An app that looks like a small dev team could've made it in a few weeks.
Meanwhile, on the fan side of things. We know of the delays, arent affected by the financial report (unless you own Nintendo stock), and know that there may be an NDirect hinting at unannounced games that are supposedly releasing in the next 8-9 weeks. Things arent great at NintendoHQ right now.
@Splatburst Just because we think they can doesn't mean they think they should. I do agree that it would be a nice touch, I just don't expect commercial companies to behave that way, and neither do their investors.
Very lame first mobile game, Nintendo
@the-madprofessor "Investors are idiots." You read my mind, that's the exact phrase that pops into my head every time I see these types of headlines on this site.
Where is my eye-rolling emoticon?
Good. Nintendo did a crappy presentation and has therefore earned this.
First of all, Nintendo doesnt have much of a holiday season this year, aside from Xenoblade.
Second of all, what did those idiots expect? A half assed Mario platformer with touch controls?
As Rovio and their ilk have clearly proven, a worthless game can make buckets of money, which is all investors care about. I'd rather keep Mario and Zelda to quality titles.
Let the DOOOOOOOOOM article emerge on the internet! Be fruitful and multiply!
I'm glad that they aren't going down the established—and broken—model of mobile games. I like that they're trying something different, a different way to interact. It's what we expect of Nintendo. That said, I can't say I'm terribly excited by this, and I agree that while this will probably be huge in Japan, the lower population density especially here in North America makes it a harder sell. I'll be curious to see what else they come up with down the road.
"December is the biggest selling season in our traditional business, and we want to do right by our lineup of software and hardware. We thought it best the smartphone application would follow after that."
Well, that's kinda stupid. Why would they think that a Mii-based mobile game would get in the way of ANY of their console software sales? MiiTomo uses an IP no other holiday title is using, and is on a completely different device, with a ftp model. Who would buy this game instead of anything on their console? In fact, they should really be filling out their holiday season with MORE titles, since it's so bare.
The whole announcement was just ridiculous. Dark times for Nintendo. If it were April 1st, I would have thought that we had just been pranked. Especially that app. Wth were they thinking? This is a global shift in their strategy, and yet here we have a very targeted app... as the launch of their new partnership? Stocks SHOULD tank. This was the worst. While there is potential for the Accounts system, that should have been a much deeper dive into how it works to offset the disappointing app premier/announcement... an app that is also getting delayed on top of being incredibly 'meh'. So frustrating.
"December is the biggest selling season in our traditional business, and we want to do right by our lineup of software and hardware."
But new games are pretty much non-existent until 2016...
There really needs to be a Direct within the next week or so to prove there's more!
Understandable and completely justified. We don't want a social app that few people will actually use. Wtfish Nintendo.
@Nintendo_Ninja This sums it up, 3DS is being left to rot, WiiU has no major console-shifting releases this holiday season, as a result all eyes are fixed on Nintendo's promised mobile efforts, and in this perilous time ("Nintendooooomed" aside, they're in trouble ATM) Nintendo comes up with... Miiverse crap.
Mobile already has two things in over-abuncance: Crappy freemium games and... social networking apps, so what does Nintendo do? they throw another social networking app into the mix, not just any social networking app mind you, one with Miis, to ensure anybody over the age of 8 won't be caught dead using it.
I expected nothing different. Anyway, next year Nintendo will explode again since EVERYTHING good has been pushed to 2016.
Hm? Sorry, I was too busy listening to Aerosmith's 'Crying'. What's happening?
For everybody calling the investors idiots, crybabies, etc - when exactly would YOU pull out, if you had stock?
They've got nothing big for Wii U or 3DS for holidays. Triforce Heroes, although it's early, shows all signs of tanking in comparison to pretty much any other Zelda title in terms of sales. Xenoblade isn't going to be a big seller in the regions it hasn't already released in. Paper Jam might have been, but since they're giving North America the shaft again, they've missed out on a huge chunk of potential holiday profits. Starfox and Zelda have been delayed, 3DS games like Fire Emblem that could've sold well are MIA until next year, and all signs indicate Nintendo is dropping this gen for NX.
@Kage_88 Oh. Yeah. I wanted THAT stuck in my head all morning...
@BLD Nintendo said they have a line-up of secret games waiting to be announced. Also, if thet are dropping this gen, then why was the New 3DS released.
Did all those people actually expect it to be "Mario on iPhone"?
Oh well, time to buy more shares.
The investors are right on. Why would you leave capital planted with Nintendo, when they're billions of other investment opportunities in the world? The point of investing is to make money. As an investor myself, I can tell you Nintendo is way off base on this. Only Wii U & 3DS owners will have any interest & of those, I expect the vast majority to pass. This product looks utterly lame. As a Nintendo fan, I am absolutely shocked THIS is their first "game". It's a joke.
@amiiboacid To stretch up the aging 3DS line until they NX ready for market? (Make no mistake, 3DS is losing ground to mobile gaming at a pretty serious pace)
As for the "lineup of secret games": this is going to be a really bad holiday season for Nintendo, secrets don't sell, games do.
@amiiboacid
Do you really think they've got some big reveal (or even, like, a medium-ish reveal) so close to their chest? That they'd take away resources from so many anticipated games they've been forced to push back (and even hire Platinum to help release Starfox on time, not that it happened anyway), in order to work on some super-special secret project? There's a time and place for surprises, but it would be a massive advertising mistake not to let us know by now, if this were something big. It's not going to be Pikmin 4, or TP HD. Even projects guard and giant robot have been more or less confirmed to have been assimilated into Starfox. It's not going to be a physical release. If it were, they'd have to be printing copies approximately right now. It may be a fun game, for sure, but it's not going to be something big enough to really help out.
As for the new 3DS, given their history with revisions such as the Gameboy Advance Micro and the DSi, I'd say that's actually one of the best signs that they ARE getting ready to move on.
@Tsusasi Think you said it best.
I don't think this was so much about the "meh" Miitomo - heck it could be good. but the DELAY. And the DELAY of Starfox Zero even though it had a Nov 20th date. And the DELAY of Zelda U. And the DELAY of the next Club Nintnedo into next year when they said it would be out in the fall.
Why would anybody buy or keep Nintod stock now when you can just wait until after the holidays. And maybe some investors have just realized Nitnedo is incapable of making any deadline they make. Or maybe Iwata was really running the show and without him they are in trouble for the time being? Nintendo has nothing now, no reason to own the stock now. DELAY stock ownership while Nintendo DELAYs everything they do. Simple.
@Splatburst exactly. They've said that from the beginning. I can't believe these people still expected a Mario or Zelda game.
Miitomo isn't a game and it was delayed, so it makes sense that share prices would drop because of that. Share prices go up and down all the time though, and it's the average long term price that's important. I don't think this delay will do much long term damage to the share price.
Meh, it isn't good for Nintendo, but it's kind of expected. Those investors just wanted Nintendo to leave the dedicated console market and go to smartphone anyway, so when the sign is on the other end, they pulled off. Sometime I hope Nintendo just go private so they can have more freedom of what they wanted to do.
If I had the money, I'd buy so many shares right now. Miitomo will be big, but the other games/apps will surely be bigger.
Why anyone thought it was reasonable to expect Mario or Zelda is beyond me. Pikmin would have made sense, or something else where touch control is already prominent. And Miitomo makes sense, too. It just looks stupid at only first glance.
@Splatburst Can't agree more. Personally, I've never really liked a platformer on mobile. I just don't think many Nintendo IP's would translate well. This game, if letting us use our Mii's has potential.
These investor reactions make sense. Nintendo isn't really offering any lucrative hard hitters right now, they're delaying big projects that weren't started early enough, their only real claim to fame right now are physical DRM figurines that aren't being bought for their originally intended purpose, and now the concept behind their first proposed smartphone title is very Japanese and niche, instead of very international and universal. What else could we expect to happen?
@Splatburst what doesn't make sense is them waiting until March, considering the points you made, it would have little overlap with Nintendo's core business.
Nintendo has to create new IP's for mobile.
I mean it just goes to show that is not what people were expecting from Nintendo, once the details of Miitomo were released and people realised it wasn’t a straight up game people were so shocked and disappointed Nintendo’s shares dropped. However when Sony or Microsoft release a non-gaming app everyone doesn't simultaneously have heart attacks.
This is explained in detail here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdwTYgKWwR4&feature=youtu.be
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