3DS Continues to Sell ‘Very Well,’ Nintendo Says At E3

Nintendo didn’t provide any updated hardware sales data in its E3 news briefing on Tuesday. That’s because it received “feedback” that most members of its audience “just want to hear about the games,” Scibetta said. Hardware sales data through April or May wasn’t provided by Nintendo by our deadline. Nintendo said in April that global life-to-date shipments of the 3DS reached 17.1 million March 31, while cumulative shipments of all other DS systems grew to 151.5 million and Wii console shipments grew to 95.9 million (CED April 27 p6).

Also not announced at E3 were any price cuts on current Nintendo systems. But the vast majority of game industry executives we polled at the show said they weren’t expecting Nintendo -- or Microsoft or Sony -- to lower hardware pricing at E3. Mad Catz Interactive CEO Darren Richardson was among those who told us that. But, referring to the Wii in particular, he joked “if they want to reduce the price, they would get no resistance from us.” The company’s Wii accessory sales have shrunk to only a single-digit percentage of Mad Catz total sales, he said.

No specifications have changed on the coming Wii U console itself since last year’s E3, when the specs were first provided by Nintendo, Scibetta also said. Nintendo said Sunday (CED June 5 p7) that the tablet-like GamePad controller was “redesigned and improved since its reveal” at last year’s E3. The console still won’t play Blu-ray and DVD movies. It will be backward compatible to play games for the current Wii, but not GameCube titles, which the current Wii supports, Scibetta said. Nintendo said at its website that “nearly all Wii software and accessories can be used” with the new console, suggesting that there may be compatibility issues with at least a small number of Wii products.

"We don’t have confirmation” yet if the software title Nintendo Land (CED June 6 p6) will come bundled with each Wii U sold in the U.S., Scibetta said. Nintendo’s Wii Sports came bundled with the Wii in the U.S. when that console launched. “We've been comparing” Nintendo Land to Wii Sports “in the sense that it really helps bring the hardware to life” and helps demonstrate what the console’s capabilities are, Scibetta said. “It is the flagship title for the company that we're featuring here at the show,” he said. The title and the console will each ship this holiday season, he said.

Scibetta said that pricing and a ship date for the Wii U Pro Controller that Nintendo President Satoru Iwata unveiled in a pre-E3 YouTube presentation weren’t yet available. Nintendo said at its website that the Wii U will support “up to four” Wii Remote or Wii Remote Plus controllers or Wii U Pro Controllers, and Wii accessories including the Nunchuk, Classic Controller and Wii Balance Board.

Nintendo still hasn’t said how much the Wii U will cost or when it will ship, saying only that it will arrive for the 2012 holiday season. The console will come in a choice of black or white, with matching GamePad, according to Nintendo’s website. Each Wii U will ship with one GamePad controller, Scibetta said. The controller will also be sold on its own because Nintendo said the Wii U will support up to two of them. But Scibetta said the price of an extra GamePad wasn’t available yet, nor whether it will be available at the Wii U’s launch.

Using a second GamePad will “significantly impact the performance” of a title being used on the Wii U, Katsuya Eguchi, manager and producer for Nintendo’s Entertainment Analysis and Development division, said at E3 Tuesday (CED June 7 p5). It was confirmed that the Wii U’s frame rate will drop when using another GamePad because Nintendo didn’t put separate processors and graphics chips into the controllers, Scibetta said Wednesday. The system’s one processor and graphics chip to display HD graphics on a TV are in the console itself. But Scibetta said Nintendo “would not release anything that was not high quality."

While the GamePad can’t function on its own as a portable system without the console nearby, Scibetta said Nintendo already “has a system” that can be used as a portable device -- the 3DS. Nintendo also said there will be cross-platform capabilities between the 3DS and Wii.

Nintendo declined to comment on Microsoft’s coming SmartGlass app that will enable Xbox 360 owners to use their consoles in conjunction with Windows 8 and Windows Phone devices and existing mobile devices from companies other than Microsoft, including iPads and iPhones (CED June 5 p2). “We prefer to talk about our own” products,” Scibetta said. But he said “we do like the fact” that the Wii U and GamePad are “integrated right out of the box, we know it’s going to work” and that consumers won’t need to buy other products to have a second screen for the console. With SmartGlass, Microsoft is using software to offer some of the same second-screen capabilities that Nintendo and Sony Computer Entertainment are able to provide via hardware. Microsoft is the only one of the three companies that doesn’t field its own portable game system. Wii U users will eventually be able to join the console’s Miiverse network communication system from a 3DS, PC or any smartphone or Web-capable mobile device, although not at the console’s launch, NOA President Reggie Fils-Aime said Tuesday. But plans for other connectivity between non-Nintendo devices and the Wii U have not been announced by Nintendo.

Nintendo will “definitely” have the Wii and Wii U “in the market” at the same time for an unspecified period of time, Scibetta said. No quick phase-out is planned for the Wii, he indicated. The Wii will provide consumers with a “lower-cost option,” he said. The strategy is similar to what it’s done with portables, he said, noting that older DS systems are being sold at a lower price than the 3DS now. “Different consumers like having” an option, he said. There are no current inventory problems with any of the Nintendo hardware, and NOA wasn’t expecting any shortages this holiday season, he also said.

Nintendo provided the first demonstration at E3 of what Netflix content streaming via the Wii U will look like, although it said what we were shown wasn’t the finalized version. Lag time between selection of content and it being displayed appeared to be lower than it is with the Wii. Like with games, users will be able to view Netflix content on either a TV screen or the Wii U GamePad, and it will be possible to start watching the content on one screen and switch viewing to the other screen at the touch of a button, we were shown. The user interface for Netflix streaming seems to work smoother on the Wii U than on the Wii. But the main upgrade over the Wii when it comes to Netflix streaming is that for the first time, HD Netflix streaming will be possible. The Wii is the only one of the current three home consoles that doesn’t support HD.