satoru iwata

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said in an interview published today that the Wii U's sales aren't bad.

"At the end of the Christmas season, it wasn't as though stores in the U.S. had no Wii U left in stock, as it was when Wii was first sold in that popular boom," Iwata told Reuters in an interview published today. "But sales are not bad, and I feel it's selling steadily."

There does appear to be a slightly different scenario playing out with the Wii U. When the Nintendo Wii launched in … Read more

A few weeks ago, Nintendo developed a partnership with the American Heart Association. The Wii Fit is one of Nintendo's most successful product/game combinations ever. All new Wiis are now packaged with Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus, along with an approval stamp from the AHA.

It seemed like the stage was perfectly set to trot back out with the Vitality Sensor Satoru Iwata unveiled at last year's E3 press conference.

So, what happened?

Instead of fitness, motion, and heart health, Nintendo's presser was full of retro games and the 3DS. We're not complaining; far … Read more

Two interesting things happened to Nintendo over the last few days. First, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, never afraid of bold statements, reportedly told his executives to consider the battle with Sony and Microsoft already won and has targeted Apple as the "enemy of the future."

The second? Nintendo released its Black Wii.

I find the first interesting because Nintendo and Apple, the reigning forces in family-targeted entertainment, seem to finally be eyeing each other. The second is interesting because I fielded a question to Nintendo about what Wii users should do with already downloaded games should they choose … Read more

Yesterday, Microsoft raised the bar on the mainstream-interactive landscape with the demonstration of its futuristic Project Natal. Today, Nintendo had a chance for a rebuttal, during which it chose to focus on Wii Motion Plus.

Scheduled to debut in a few weeks when it's packaged in with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, the more accurate plug-in to the Wiimote has its greatest killer app in Wii Sports Resort, the delayed sequel to Wii Sports. Showed off last year as well, two new sports in the package, archery and a three-point hoops contest, were demonstrated once again by Reggie Fils-Aime and Bill Trinen. The accuracy benefits were more noticeable to the naked eye on the archery demo: smaller hand motions allow for greater focus and targeting.

The Wii Motion Plus is a funny update to the Wii, because the advertising around it (virtual swordplay, archery) is exactly the same angle that was used for the original Wiimote. It arrives in a few weeks to stores.… Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--In a keynote address short on news, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revved up a packed Game Developers Conference house here Wednesday morning with tales of the company's design strategies.

Nintendo had been mum in advance of the speech, leaving many in attendance hoping that the company would announce something big, along the lines of a hot new game or even a piece of new hardware. In the end, though, Iwata's revelations were limited to three new games and a new storage infrastructure for the Wii virtual console.

The games included Rhythm Heaven, an American version of a … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--For Brenda Brathwaite, a longtime video game designer who avoids flying, the annual Game Developers Conference is such a can't-miss event that she is driving cross-country, from Savannah, Ga., to San Francisco (and back again) in order to be there.

GDC, as it's known, kicks off Monday with a series of two-day topic-specific summits and begins in earnest on Wednesday. And while there may not be too many people driving 5,400 miles round-trip to attend, there is no shortage of people who, like Brathwaite, see the show as indispensable.

"It's the mecca of the … Read more