Nintendo has confessed that it's purposely holding back some of its upcoming 3DS games, planning to release them next year in a bid to maximize sales.
"For us to provide software titles one after another, one idea is, 'Isn't it possible for Nintendo to stock some of its software titles instead of launching them as soon as the development is completed?'" he said. "Video games need to stay fresh, so it is not practical for us to put them on hold for too long, but we think that some of them may be held for a certain amount of time so that there will be a short interval between when they are completed and when they are launched.
"We are taking on this sort of challenge for the Nintendo 3DS. For example, when we look at the software lineup for the year-end sales season, it is so dense that, if we added any more software, the total sales would not increase. Accordingly, we have intentionally delayed the launch of some software titles to early next year."
This is likely a wise move, with Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land both out before Christmas. What wasn't wise was having very little on shelves after the system's launch, something Iwata has acknowledged. He said Nintendo needed a "more thorough backup plan" to keep the 3DS interesting.
It's a shame that the 3DS doesn't have some sort of online store where cool games could've been released all year, right?
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
10:00 AM on 11.01.2011 | 
I realize this was meant as a joke, but the eShop has a long way to go before I will call that thing a proper store. Right now it's more like a garage sale where everything was dumped into a pile. The garage sale is run by some 80-year-old with Alzheimer's who forgot what was in the pile 5 minutes after putting it there. Now she's standing there, and when people stop to ask what she's selling, she screams "I'M NOT SELLING ANYTHING! WHY AREN'T YOU GIVING ME MONEY!?"
Random much?
Also, BrainWasherAttendent has a tiny bent Chris-chan penis.
They should have delayed the fucking hardware until oct or nov, then there would have been no drought (sp?) and they would have looked much better, to customers and investors both.
I hear North Korea has vacancy. ;)
Hindsight is 20/20, I'm sure Nintendo was expecting a ton more 3DS sales at this point. They really needed to launch the system with one of those games though.
Nintendo really can't win. When they try to rely on the 3rd Party's, they just half-ass their games for a Nintendo launch. Some of them do that, but not all of them. However, when Nintendo goes full force into a launch, 3rd Party's just bitch about how its so hard to compete with Nintendo on their own console. I say fuck the 3rd Party's and let them fend for themselves. I'm so sick of hearing the BS excuses these 3rd Party's give, for their games not selling well, on a Nintendo system. How about you put in 1/10th of the amount of advertising dollars into your Wii games, as you always do for your 360/PS3 games? Maybe then they'll sell better, you freaking geniuses!
I prefer articles to be honest.
Lmfao the last time nintendo made me beg was in the n64 days.
Also does anyone else always skip over peicanadas comments on nintendo articles?
Looking forward to is Fire Emblem
More like you like arguments to portray Nintendo in an unconditionally positive light.
Fanboys are fucking idiots.
See what I did there?
:( REST IN PEACE MAJIN AND THE FORSAKEN KINGOM!!!
@peicanada
That's enough of that. Nintendo launched their hardware early and overpriced because they thought they could get away with it. Enough with blaming third parties. Nintendo aren't some helpless victim that cant seem to catch a break and are being screwed by flakey third parties. They FUCKED UP. THEY. FUCKED. UP. NOT THIRD PARTIES. NINTENDO. FUCKED. UP.
How about you look up third parties actual complaints and put some real thought into the situation. As for wii games, nintendo marketed the console to a demographic that doesn't seem to buy a lot of games that aren't made by nintendo. Once again, not third parties fault, a platform holder is supposed to create an developer friendly environment.
Delaying games until next year is a good idea because none of you guys will buy up every game like this. With all of the big console games, you're pretty much all going to just buy Mario or Mario Kart and nothing else. And that's only if any you retards actually own a 3DS, which you probably don't, so all of your whining over it is completely meaningless in the first place.
Mario / Mario Kart do have broad appeal, but personally I'd have released 1 or 2 more to widen the net for prospective buyers. After all, Christmas will see many new 3DSes sold, and I think more would be sold with a wider array of games available.
On a system whos main flaw is a lack of decent software ..... total dick move by Nintendo.
Nintendo doesn't produce enough games itself, at least non-party games, to really function without third party support.
What they need to do for a system launch is both ready their own games and get firm commitments for desired games from desired third parties. If it looks like all the third parties are going to deliver on their commitments, then Nintendo can quietly start slipping some of its own games back. If it looks like the third parties are going to come up short, then Nintendo can officially promote its "cushion" games to launch release.
Launch time should be able to take a higher load of games, as people are looking for stuff to get with their new system, and then the almost inevitable after-launch drought kicks in. But we'd need Nintendo to actually have complete games capable of launch release and we'd need Nintendo to actually get commitments from enough quality third parties as well. Not Nintendo having a game ready for release, a game ready a month later, and Capcom having one game.
Although none of this deals with Nintendo's inability to make more than a few games at once, which inevitably leads to them abandoning existing platforms early in order to start working on games for a new system.
I believe they are referring to delaying games from like, december to january-February. They aren't talking launch.
Then again, Nintendo has made such amazing business decisions in the last year that I really don't deserve to scrutinize their impeccable vision.
@"Haters"
The "Nintendo Defense Force©" isn't needed here. Why would it be? This story is the truth, and the negative comments are just from people who will never like Nintendo anyway.
I have never played a Nintendo game with crippling bugs.
Are you being sarcastic?
In my opinion, what Nintendo needs to do is go back to actually MAKING GAMES and taking some risks with newer franchises! I love Mario and Zelda as much as the next gamer but you can only milk them for so long.
Still I have never played a game that couldn't have benefited from an extra month or two in the QA grinder, sadly that isn't what we will be getting and I only hope that their games retain their mostly bug free title.
The ideal release date would have been one week after E3.
3DS sales would have benefited from E3 hype, it would be the start of the summer vacation aka the perfect time for handhelds, and Ocarina of Time would have been a launch title.
Really?
Huh.
I haven't played other m yet, but I believe you.
Regardless, I still believe that these games will be quality works, at the very least when it comes to bugs and glitches.