Tatsumi Kimishima Is Aiming To Quadruple Nintendo's Operating Profits

What the hell is the nx? Radical departure for the company!

As always, a direct quoted translation of what he said, as opposed to Chinese whispers, would be handy. Did he really say 'radical departure'?

If so, I predict NX is an interactive robotic goldfish.

Regarding the whole Smartphone and DLC talk; whilst I remain a non-fan of smartphone games I accept they are now an integral part of the gaming demography. I just hope they don't detract from core console experiences and that perhaps they will offer some paid-for titles. I'd rather pay £5-£10 for an in-depth smartphone gaming experience than a free game where the same amount of cash wouldn't even give me 10% said experience.

As for DLC, I hope they follow the Mario Kart 8 model of sizeable content chunks more akin to the expansion packs of yesteryears. I would have gladly paid £20 for the two packs rather than the £10-£13 I paid.

I have faith in this man. He seems to know exactly what he wants & his face says he'll do anything & step on anyone to get it!
Let the reign of Kimishima begin!!

quadruple nothing is still nothing

"Do you think Kimishima and Nintendo can reach an operating profit of 100 Yen any time soon?"

100 Yen? Probably

Nintendo has been doing wonders when it comes to DLC so him realising the importance to that is really the best thing that Nintendo can work hard on.

NX being a departure for the Company? Sounds like how the DS started out! This is getting interesting!

@chardir For this to be a good joke you kind of don't have to be immediately and blatantly incorrect with what you're saying. How much money Nintendo makes is pretty cut and dry.

@tjhiphop The "100 Yen" is a typo directly quoted from the article

"a radical departure for the company - an entirely new concept which will differ greatly from current game hardware"

That's quite a statement.I don't think that could have said that about any other console since the Gameboy or NES.Virtua Boy and Wii in some ways I suppose.They certainly weren't what I'd call radical departures though.I'm not sure if I feel reassured by this or concerned haha.

@Socar Last time Nintendo did DLC correctly was Mario Kart 8. That's almost two years ago.

At this point I'm frikin desperate to find out what the hell NX is, especially after the recent rumours that it will work with basically every other platform too.

@Kirk - what is your source for those 'recent rumours', please?

@chardir no the quadruple nothing bit

Hearing that the NX will/might be a radical departure from the Wii U make me nearly think that the NX will be a VR or AR device, or at least as a core part of the system, but can play most games with a normal controller as well.

In my veiw VR and AR are at a bit early stage and might be better if Nintendo let the VR/AR technology mature for a while, but then again Nintendo might have created VR or AR device that is completely revolutionary though.

Still, I do think the NX will more likely be a console that stream games or some kind of Hybrid Console/handheld device :+). Either way, I am excited to see where the VR and AR technology can go ^^.

@Octane

Yeh, I find it strange that surely the most popular set of DLC in Nintendo's history is the MK8 stuff, and yet there's been no sign of any repeat of it. One would have thought if DLC was getting the sort of attention Kimishima suggests, that they would unleash more MK8 on us.

@gcunit Well, I don't think DLC is appropriate for every game. But when Smash was just overpriced, and the inclusion of amiibo in many games, I just don't see how you can make the argument that Nintendo has been doing great in terms of DLC lately. In fact; I'd argue that they're slowly setting themselves up for one of the worst DLC contenders.

@tjhiphop Well, OK, it was a bad joke. But I object to the use of 'quadruple' as a headline. The target is to reach 100B Yen over the next few years. That's only quadruple if you compare it only to 2015's profit. For better context, in 2014 the made a loss of 36B Yen. So the increase between 2014 and 2015 was around 70B. That means they only have to produce the same increase over the next few years to meet the target. "Nintendo aims for steady profit increase over the next few years" isn't such a sensational headline though. Also they made 177B in 2011, so 100B isn't cloud cuckoo land.

@Octane What about Smash? What about Splatoon? What about Fire Emblem Awakening?

Heck, I can argue that the new Fates also has a decent DLC pack.

@Octane here's a radical idea: don't buy them then. It's better than just posting things like this, I haven't bought Konami, Ubisoft, EA and Square Enix games for anything other than pre owned because all they do is take the rhymes with kiss. If you hate how Nintendo are giving you the option of buying characters they worked on post launch and allowed the community to influence one as well THAT much, mabye buy a book or something for that £3? In fact I think you'd be lucky to get a book for that much TBH.

Confirmed - the new machine will be called Nintendo Radical, with free 90s cap that can only be worn backwards.

@Churchy I love it, but...

... isn't that his all caps work?

This isn't really a crazy number. People are getting mislead by the quadrupling word. Nintendo is at a pretty low point in it's history, and quadrupling them wouldn't even be close to the Wii era profits.

I wish there was a reliable method for finding out how much Smash DLC has been sold, and how much would have been sold had it been two-thirds or half the price.

I know I've not bought any, but would have bought it all if 50% reduced. Though when Bayonetta is released I might break my resolve to reward them for the poll, and 'cos I love Bayonetta.

@gcunit There have been some brave souls who have worn them in a standard manner, but they have often been eliminated by "the man".

"an entirely new concept which will differ greatly from current game hardware."

WHAT THE HELL IS THE NX!?! This is killing me lol.

Great way to stir up interest anyway.

So far I've been happy with the way DLC has been handled on the 3DS which I play a lot. DLC has been a bit tricky recently on other platforms. Not a fan of season passes. If Nintendo do this, I hope they offer good value. The DLC trend has left a bitter taste in my gob recently regarding some publishers

@chardir a loss doesn't mean they lost $36 million - it means they earned $36 million less than they projected for themselves. These companies never ever run at an operating loss for a year. They use fiscal terms that you and I wouldn't use the same way.

I now think the Nx will release this year, but will not replace Wii U.

That sort of profit is entirely possible if the NX us a huge success. Only time will tell how well the NX does.

@gcunit @Octane
I see MK8 DLC more of an expansion.

@sandman89 @Kirk l
I agree, with all the rumours and all, what the hell is NX!?

@Socar Haven't played FE, but Smash is overpriced. Not sure if Splatoon falls under the category of DLC or if that was just a gradual release of the game.

@TheLastLugia Do you really think I've bought their Smash DLC if I said they are overpriced? I don't. I'd buy the Smash characters if they weren't €5 per character. The game itself had, iirc, 49 characters? For €55. And it came with plenty of stages, trophies, plenty of modes, etc. I could easily buy another game for that amount of money. It's in their right to price their products how they see fit, but I think it's expensive and thus I won't buy them.

Nintendo said that the NX will be "herald a new beginning" and "a breakaway from the Nintendo normality". This I assumed meant dropping the kiddie image for mass appeal. Keeping the kiddie image WILL only appeal to people on these forums and other hardcore Nintendo fans. It will not sell home consoles and make them the money they crave.

During the Wii and DS era Nintendo printed money. Now they are RELATIVELY peasants.

In a nutshell, associating this "new concept" to hardware is exciting but for it to succeed Nintendo needs a rethink of its image. Things have moved on.

sigh I just hope this "radical departure" isn't the cloud based structure some folks are whispering about. I'd like my console to always be able to perform as best as it can without the need for fickle online services or relying on other idle systems to push whatever graphics it tries to conjure onto my screen. That just sounds unreliable and creepy.
Don't even know where I picked that up but damn do I wish it to be a false rumour.

You're not a tekken boss to go for anything less than the 9 hit perfect combo.

Just saying.

"He also mentioned the increasing importance of DLC to Nintendo's business model."

One needs not to look any further than FE:Fates, to see that Nintendo has already performed a most radical turn-around on the matter of DLC. It's a bit unsettling to see them going from one extreme, no DLC whatsoever, to the other, a 3-part game, plus mappacks, in the span of like a handful of years.

"Making DLC will make profit and help contribute to Nintendo financial results."

*Stops DLC for Smash Bros and Splatoon.

Ummmm ok, Nintendo. Infamous for saying one thing and doing another.

@Splatburst I have this gut feeling that it's going to be either something kinda amazing or something just totally disappointing, with very little room to be anything in between.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Nintendo and Steam thing.

No mention of amiibo? Are they done b/c they've run out of ideas or does he consider amiibo to be DLC in this article? amiibo are DLC in game but many, if not most, of them have been sold as collectors item toys, not for in game usage.

This year will be more profitable than last if NX launches.

i knew it was a bad idea i was screaming DOOOOM since he became the new president.somebody shoot him.a banker is a banker.i know its a business and its about the bottom line.im fine with that but it cant be just about the money,im sure he and his pals on the board will make plenty but the average develepor and gamer will see nothing positive from the profits.DOOOm DOOOM DOOOm i tell you.its always like this i hear you say,thta life,grow up.and your sorta right but iwata payed himself less to take responsibility,thats a leader,do you see tatsumi be brave like that.

@gcunit

http://gonintendo.com/stories/250449-rumor-nx-to-interact-with-smartphone-pc-even-ps4

Maybe with the NX working as a smart-phone/cloud thing Nintendo will let other companies make advertising while we are playing the games to make profit. Think of how horrible that would be.

Well, let's hope that the NX is a good radical departure.
@Kirk ...I kinda doubt that.

@Kimite This is a direct quote from Shigeru Miyamoto.
"When you think about what virtual reality is, which is one person putting on some goggles and playing by themselves kind of over in a corner, or maybe they go into a separate room and they spend all their time alone playing in that virtual reality, that’s in direct contrast with what it is we’re trying to achieve with Wii U. And so I have a little bit of uneasiness with whether or not that’s the best way for people to play.

So from Nintendo’s perspective, there’s interest in the technology, but we think it might be better suited to some sort of attraction style of entertainment, say something at a video game arcade or things like that, rather than something that one person plays alone."

Granted, he's talking in comparison to Wii U, but I'm sure it's he's overall thoughts about VR and gaming. Nintendo has always been more of a family games company rather than make solo games designed to isolate people, which VR truly does.
Honestly I don't think VR is going to make a big splash in the gaming industry, due to the price and how isolating it is. Outside of gaming mind you, I think VR is going to do wonders for stuff like training simulators, etc.

but who knows what it will be, it could very well be VR, could be a hybrid system, could be a digital-only system, who knows, we literally know nothing about the NX. haha
http://time.com/2881482/interview-nintendo-miyamoto-virtual-reality/

Bring some DLC! I would love another round of tracks for Mario Kart 8, and I would love a paid DLC for Yoshi's woolly world and For Splatoon!

Taken with a pinch of salt.

What he is saying about the NX was said about the gamepad.

If he does not give us good games, good graphics in a basic but powerful plastic box with a catchy name like Nintendo Gaming System and a normal physical controller, he is going down the gimmic road. If this happens two years from now we will be playing Mario on a PlayStation.

As for profit, I'm sure a few Nintendo games for Smartphones will make some profit. As well as the Amiibos.

But Nintendo needs to make sure it stays faithful to its core business and its loyal gamers. While it has gained new fans with the toy side of the business and will do with smartphone gamers, it is in danger of alienating its older loyal gamer.

Zelda TP to younger gamers who may not have played this before (and even younger ones who think that the Amiibo comes with a game), will want the game but those older gamers may not have as much enthusiasm for TP.

Part of the increased profit could come from the strengthening of the dollar. Nintendo has a lot of cash on hand. If the dollar strengthens, all of that Yen will be worth more.

"Kimishima reveals that Nintendo's new NX platform will be a radical departure for the company - an entirely new concept which will differ greatly from current game hardware."

This scares the hell out of me...

@Tsurii The reason they are priced like that is because of value and not because of them wanting more money. Stop with things claiming that they are overpriced because DLC needs money and so that cost reflects on the amount of work they put into the DLC which is why I'm least bothered about the prices for Smash.

Considering that most games come out today with a "season pass" on day one that is as expensive as the game, I don't think Smash was too out of line.

As for Mario Kart 8, I was hoping for another round of DLC that I would have gladly paid for. The two rounds we got were perfect.

So basically, this is hinting that NX is coming at the end of 2016? How else are they going to achieve such rapid growth in a year's time? Or are they giving no deadline for that figure?

That being said, having rapid growth can be dangerous, and TOO rapid growth will lead to an inevitable downfall. They should take this steady, and make sure they don't screw it up. They're not exactly in a good position right now. They're basically gambling on their future success.

The mobile sphere in particular has often been described as "a race to the bottom." This is true in more ways than one. Lowest prices, lowest integrity, lowest budgets, lowest percentage of visibility unless you're big and rich. You cannot absolutely expect success in the mobile field, it is almost entirely a crap shoot what will stick and what will slap the wall and fall onto the floor with a sickening thud. Miitomo is the perfect example of how Nintendo has no idea what they're getting themselves into.

@fortius54 The dollar is going to weaken. Too many global debt crises going on right now, especially with China's property to GDP bubble that's on the verge of popping. A desperate bid is being made with heavy handed, imperialistic deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership, but the US economy is merely staving off the inevitable.

@Mario-Man-Child I was just wondering when exactly Kimishima expects the path to his goal to start getting underway. He didn't make it clear what the timeline is going to be for his expectation of such rapid, sudden growth.

@PlywoodStick
I beg to differ.
The U.S. economy is the most stable economy in the world current, with a steady recovering growth rate.
The dollar is rapidly rising against all currencies.

With the recent drop in oil and gas prices, it is expected to further accelerate the growth to the 1990s level.

On the other hand UK, EU, South America, India, and China are all struggling to avoid recession.

The Canadian dollar is in free fall.

Nintendo needs to get back to the Wii era profits, if they want to continue to compete in gaming.
Expansion is one of the best ways to do it.

100B¥ was the regular profit mark the Wii/DS were making for Nintendo from 2007-2010.

100B¥ = ~$1B USD.

@Kirk Maybe it's referring to multiplatform third party titles for the PS4? It's not outside the realm of possibility, but it would be rather difficult to set up such a monumental plan. Who knows, though. Sony grew too much, predictably got struck down for their lack of steadiness, and hemorrhaged money for it. Maybe they'll be willing to work with a long time rival now.

For smartphone/PC, I think that's a given, though how so exactly is still a mystery.

@Mario-Man-Child @PlywoodStick When NX releases might depend on how long it takes to build them. AMD hinted yesterday that they would be shipping the chip later this year. I don't know enough about console manufacturing to know how long it takes for Ntinedo to receive the chips then build and ship the consoles to sell.

"But she was upbeat about 2016. She said demand for game consoles looks good for 2016, and the company expects to ship a new semi-custom chip in the second half of 2016."

http://venturebeat.com/2016/01/19/amd-ceo-says-buzz-and-interest-in-vr-could-boost-pc-market-in-2016/

"Nintendo's new NX platform will be a radical departure for the company - an entirely new concept which will differ greatly from current game hardware."

This makes it seem like the NX will be much more than a hybrid console, interestiiing. Could it be something AR-focused similar to the HoloLens....no one knoooows

@KingofSaiyans We own about 90 Skylanders characters - not including traps, play sets, vehicles, etc - and over 40 Disney Infinity characters - not including pieces. We own 6 amiibo. Well 8 if you count DK and Bowser from Skylanders. My guess is if Ninteod ever builds an adventure game for amiibo we would own a lot more. If it's a Pokemon game we might own over 700. We own 1 Lego Dimensions set - Dr Who - b/c it's Dr Who, but I suppose we'll get that game eventually as well.

If NX isn't released this holiday, then Ntinod must have a few games slated for then as both Starfox and Zelda U were supposed to release in 2015. Maybe Pikmin 4 - but surely Miamoto would have said Wii U when he told us it is nearly complete last year - or Super Mario Galaxy 3 - but surely that would have been at E3 last year if it was coming out this holiday. But something for Christmas, maybe a big amiibo game. Maybe on NX.

@Xenocity Dropping in oil prices is generally regarded by economists as a weakening of the petrodollar. In other words, a weakening of the US economy as it stands today. There are plenty of articles about this topic, and I'm sure you can find plenty of places where they make this evident, for example Bloomburg. What is less evident is the severe drop in quality of available resources, which is part of the reason behind the drop in prices.

We're struggling to avoid recession ourselves. Our stability is an illusion, as evidenced by the government's annual fights over raising the debt ceiling, to debtors who themselves are incurring dangerous levels of debt. (And the injection of hundreds of billions unto trillions of public dollars into private coffers to bail out big banks and other corporations. And the increasing forfeiting of public lands for sale. And the increasing reliance on hydraulic fracturing companies to cover our energy costs, while destroying land throughout the country, including the Appalachian Mountains. There's even a permit trying to be approved to destroy the Grand Canyon area for hydraulic fracturing. And so on, etc.) Not to mention the ghastly, desperate, imperialistic trade deals being made without public consent, behind our backs. This will not end well, our current stability is only temporary. Maybe it could use the 3DS' help with some stability updates?

Nintendo hasn't made any clear plans on how they will return to Wii era profits yet. They're basically just gambling for success and making business partnerships (and even a capital alliance) to cover for the loss of their own ability to repeat those Wii era profits on their own. Nothing lasts forever.

@Tsurii Don't compare Nintendo and EA. You know very well that Nintendo is far better than EA.

The amount of content that you get in Battlefront is nowhere as huge as what you get for Smash. If you buy the deluxe edition, you get an overpowered gun plus one emote.......do you honestly think that Smash is that bad?

Now I can understand Nintendo trying to go into the capcom route, but even then, it doesn't feel like on disc dlc nor does it feel as bad as how Square Enix did with one of the Final Fantasy games where inorder to not get a cliffhanger for the ending, you have to buy DLC content in it.

that's so RADical

@PlywoodStick
Actually that's not entirely true.

The oil price was high because speculators drove up the price because the stock market and economy were highly unstable. OPEC also cut output as well.
Also the U.S. dollar between 2008 to 2014 dropped like brick leading to everything priced in dollars to skyrocket in price.

For the past 9 years the U.S. Government has been trying to get the price of oil to come down, which in turn would lower gas and energy prices.

Right now the oil price has dropped like brick in part due to the rapid rise of the U.S. dollar on the exchange market, the rapid drop in demand for oil to to emerging economies including China and India slowing rapidly and/or entering into recessions, and lastly the glut of oil due to OPEC flooding the market to kill North American shale/fracking oil producers (they are producing a lot of oil) that are weaning the U.S. off of foreign oil. Also OPEC is hell bent on stopping Iran and Iraq from again any real market share in the oil market, so they are purposely tanking the oil price.

A major consequence of the high oil and energy prices, was that consumers bought less gas through less traveling while switching to green energy.
Businesses have also been switching to green energy in order to cut their high energy bills thus giving them stable cheaper energy bills.

OPEC's market share of the international oil market has been greatly reduced over the past 8 years, due to U.S. domestic oil production going through the roof, Canadian domestic oil production, green energy and other new sources of energy.

OPEC is hell bent on regaining their once dominant market share, by driving out all the new competition by force.

With the current and rapid drop in oil prices means consumers and businesses will have more money to spend else where as energy is now extremely cheap.

U.S. consumers are now spending more, since a significant portion of their income is freed up by cheap gas prices.
U.S. businesses are now spending more money, due to savings due to cheap gas and energy prices.

The cheap oil, gas and energy prices is the single best stimulus the U.S. could have gotten next to a huge FDR style spending program.

High energy prices act as a huge drag on all economies that aren't energy producers.

Short answer is the world is no longer beholden to OPEC for energy and oil, so old model is gone.

Nintendo will gain a lot of revenue and brand exposure by expanding back into multimedia, theme parks, license products and mobile.
They did most of this in the 1980s through the mid 1990s, but quit in order to salvage their reputation in the gaming industry (which was a bad move in my book).

They can get tons of revenue from mobile from IAP and ads.
They can get a good amount of revenue from multimedia and licensed products.
Though it remains to be seen how much can be generated by theme park deals.

This also increased brand exposure, which in turn should increase sales over the long run.

This expansion should in few years return them to Wii/DS era profitability regardless of how well NX does (provided it doesn't bleed money).

@PlywoodStick Could just be that it functions as a kind of third party controller for those other systems or something like that.

Just a totally random thought.

@Octane by hyrule warriors

@Yorumi
Don't you want Nintendo to get with the times and conform to industry standards?
They are finally catching up to Sony and Microsoft, if this report is translated properly (which it probably isn't).

Nintendo can release companion apps and mobile specific content without damaging their main product lines and brands.

This would also drive more money into the company, allowing them to create the products they want and more products entirely.

I love that "a new radical approach" for the NX. I love Nintendo surprising me all the time. I couldn't care less about the games on the other consoles. Well could. But not too much... Nintendo's awesome Gamecube controller to the motion controls of the Wii to the Gamepad touch screen, not to mention 3DS, everytime they surprise. Sure they'll get a lot of haters on the Internet who want a PS/XBOX clone, but I'll be right there in their next innovation, and hopefully it's a success again.

Isn't it a bit demanding to expect to quadruple the profit of the BIGGEST GAME COMPANY IN EXISTENCE?

A radical departure would not be a home console with a controller with a screen you can take on the go. That is basically the wiiu with the gamepad being able to take on the go........ Not a radical departure if you ask me,I don't think anybody really has a clue

NO NEW GAMES. Just DLC and theme parks.

Well, they will for sure get a big step closer to their goal by doing these four things:

• Improve marketing strategies
• Not forgetting that Europe also exists
• Release games world-wide the same week as they are released in Japan
• Not releasing the best games towards the last breaths of their console, but much earlier!! (Xenoblade, Legends of Zelda, Starfox, etc)...

@chardir Nintendo is the only video game company turning a profit. Sony & Xbox are still posting big losses. Mobile phone makers are making decent money, as are the developers who make games on them.
If Sony & Xbox don't fix their game, it will be only Nintendo v phones.