In a presentation that was full of interesting comments and announcements, Nintendo officially lifted the lid on its forthcoming Nintendo Network at its third quarter financial results briefing this week.

 

At the same time, Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, commented on the continued viability of dedicated handhelds, such as its Nintendo 3DS, subtly slammed in-app purchases featured by mobile games and confirmed a release time period for its Wii U console.   

 

 

Iwata explained that the Nintendo Network would encompass the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U.

 

“We are aiming to establish a platform where various services available through the network for our consumers shall be connected via Nintendo Network service so that the company can make comprehensive proposals to consumers,” he elaborated. These would include competitions and communication among users, as well as the sales of digital content.

 

Additionally, the company revealed that it would introduce a personal account system for the Wii U that was compatible with the Nintendo Network. This is intended to cater to family members who shared a console.

 

Iwata stressed however, that digital content sales would not be similar to in-app purchases as found on iOS or Android games.

 

 

“Please note that Nintendo, as a software maker, does not plan to deploy businesses where our consumers cannot know in advance which item will appear as the result of their payment and they have to repeat the payments and, before they know it, they end up spending a huge amount of money in order to obtain the items they originally wanted to purchase,” he stressed.

 

This was a less than subtle reference to the often used in-app purchase business model employed by games on the iOS and Android platforms. Iwata added that as a software maker, Nintendo believed that its packaged software should be sold to users in a form so that they will know in advance that they can enjoy playing the software they purchased just as it is.

 

“We believe that our consumers will be able to feel more secure if we offer our add-on content as an additional structure in which those who love the game will be able to enjoy it in a deeper way for a prolonged play time,” he continued.  

 

 

Iwata reported that despite its initial slow and disappointing launch, the sales of the 3DS had benefited from a global uptake since November, aided particularly by the release of titles such as Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land.

 

He further commented that when the sales pace of the Nintendo 3DS were slow, there were extreme remarks questioning whether there was still a market for handheld hardware, considering the  the penetration of smartphones.

 

“This was almost equal to saying handheld hardware is not necessary anymore. I believe we proved that such opinions are incorrect,” he asserted.  

 

 

The last piece of news emerging for the briefing was a definitive commitment that users can expect the Wii U before the end of the year. Further details will be announced at E3 2012.

 

“Today, I’d like to confirm that we will launch the Wii U in Japan, the US, Europe and Australia in time for the year-end sales season.

 

“For the launch of new hardware, it is, of course, regarded as a sort of requisite not to miss the critical year-end sales season. The company is aiming to firmly complete the development of the entire system and prepare sufficient software so that the Wii U will be at its best at the time of the launch. Needless to say, we have learned a bitter lesson from the launch of the Nintendo 3DS,” he concluded.