Nintendo unveils online strategy for Wii successor
TOKYO: Japan's Nintendo, the world's leading game console maker, unveiled a new online strategy on Monday, saying it will launch a social and content network dubbed Miiverse for its latest version...
June 04, 2012
The strategy is similar to that of rivals including Sony Corp and Apple Inc, although analysts raised concerns that Nintendo has been late to embrace online gaming, and may have to work hard to gain ground.
"Nintendo is falling behind its rivals in the online gaming area. The idea of entering the field is good, but the question is whether the company can generate profits," said Hajime Nakajima, a wholesale trader at Iwai Cosmo Securities.
Debuted a year ago, the much anticipated Wii U console has so far received a frosty reception from investors worried that the hardware will struggle to find buyers in a $78.5 billion industry that has become a target for smartphone and tablet PC makers such as Apple.
"Some people may wonder if Wii U is a simple evolution of Wii or something completely different. I think maybe the best answer is both," Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said in a webcast ahead of the E3 videogame industry trade show in Los Angeles where he will unveil the final version of the Wii U.
The addition of Miiverse suggests Nintendo - which started out in 1889 making playing cards in the back streets of Kyoto before gaining prominence as the creator of the "Super Mario" franchise - may be relying on online content delivery to underpin hardware sales through its new Nintendo Network, a similar strategy to Sony and Apple. (Reuters)
