Firm aims to extend lifespan of 3DS titles

written by: Tamoor Hussain



Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has suggested that the company may begin to support its first-party games with post-release downloadable content in the future.

Speaking during an investor Q&A, Iwata opened by laying out Nintendo's current position by saying it's "in the transitional phase of platforms when a new platform has not penetrated well and even the software with the most potential for the platform can only sell as much as the number of hardware systems sold so far."

He continued to discuss how the company intends to support its current crop of titles with digital content to ensure they stay relevant for longer and generate more revenue.

"On the other hand, we will be able to do various things in the field of digital business. Up until now, once consumers who had bought a game got tired of it, they would never play it and it would never draw public attention again. Even if the game had the sales potential to other new consumers, they rarely actually bought it because the consumers who already had bought it would never talk about it again and the game would be considered an old one.

"Having said that, what if we could provide add-on content through the network? As I referred to before, for example, this is the idea of supplying new stages to Super Mario users who want to play the game more but have completed the game and lost interest in the existing stages.

"This will not only give us new profits but will lengthen the life of a product, in that it will never be out of fashion and can keep attracting public attention as long as many people play it."

Iwata went on to use Wii Fit Plus as an example of a DLC model in practise.

"Under the current network environment, we might be able to provide such upgrades to consumers through the network as opposed to just providing the content in a disc form. We can recommend that "Wii Fit" users try new trainings and games, and continue to play the software with a fresh mind, which will give the software a longer life and bring us slightly more revenue."

Nintendo recently announced Nintendo Network, a new online service for Wii U and 3DS that will support DLC, including full digital game downloads at some point

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ITS ABOUT TIME!!!!!!

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