Tweet
No promises that will always be the case though.
Satoru Iwata's vision for Nintendo's online services isn't just limited to playing games online. The executive's plans not only include connecting Wii U and the 3DS to the larger concept that is the Nintendo Network, but using that connectivity to encourage its existing customers to play and purchase more games. Furthermore, the publisher currently sees no benefit in charging for its online services - it intends for them to be free.
"We have a wide variety of consumers, from the ones who enthusiastically play video games to those playing more casually, who are not always interested in them but try to play a game only when it has become a public topic or play it just during certain periods, like a year-end season and summer vacation," Iwata said, "We therefore believe that services which ask our consumers to obtain paid memberships are not always the best. We cannot promise here that Nintendo will always provide you with online services free of charge no matter how deep the experiences are that it may provide, but at least we are not thinking of asking our consumers to pay money to just casually get access to our ordinary online services."
Given some of Nintendo's recent financial struggles, and considering these remarks came during an investor Q&A, Iwata was careful to comment on how his company intends to benefit from constructing an online entity that is free. "Even if we will not directly get paid by such online services, they will help build the circumstance where consumers are more constantly playing games on our platforms, which will increase the sales potential of new games, or a consumer who has played two games a year would be inclined to try three or four games a year. In short, we expect that online services will contribute to our profits in the form of increasing the number of games to be sold for one platform... while we are not considering asking our consumers to pay periodic subscription fees, we are going to make it so that more software can be sold through the services."
Nintendo recently unveiled the larger idea of this online social framework, called Miiverse, at E3 2012. Be sure to check out our recent conversation with Shigeru Miyamoto about Miiverse.
Satoru Iwata's vision for Nintendo's online services isn't just limited to playing games online. The executive's plans not only include connecting Wii U and the 3DS to the larger concept that is the Nintendo Network, but using that connectivity to encourage its existing customers to play and purchase more games. Furthermore, the publisher currently sees no benefit in charging for its online services - it intends for them to be free.
"We have a wide variety of consumers, from the ones who enthusiastically play video games to those playing more casually, who are not always interested in them but try to play a game only when it has become a public topic or play it just during certain periods, like a year-end season and summer vacation," Iwata said, "We therefore believe that services which ask our consumers to obtain paid memberships are not always the best. We cannot promise here that Nintendo will always provide you with online services free of charge no matter how deep the experiences are that it may provide, but at least we are not thinking of asking our consumers to pay money to just casually get access to our ordinary online services."
Given some of Nintendo's recent financial struggles, and considering these remarks came during an investor Q&A, Iwata was careful to comment on how his company intends to benefit from constructing an online entity that is free. "Even if we will not directly get paid by such online services, they will help build the circumstance where consumers are more constantly playing games on our platforms, which will increase the sales potential of new games, or a consumer who has played two games a year would be inclined to try three or four games a year. In short, we expect that online services will contribute to our profits in the form of increasing the number of games to be sold for one platform... while we are not considering asking our consumers to pay periodic subscription fees, we are going to make it so that more software can be sold through the services."
Nintendo recently unveiled the larger idea of this online social framework, called Miiverse, at E3 2012. Be sure to check out our recent conversation with Shigeru Miyamoto about Miiverse.