It’s no secret that Nintendo is going through a transition. While Wii U sales were up during the holidays, they’ve plummeted since. In addition, the company had to lower its sales forecast for the 2013 fiscal year from 9 million to 2.8 million units and its stock price recently fell by 17 percent.
Even though the company is posting its third annual loss in a row, CEO Satoru Iwata says he won’t step down as President. With so much negativity surrounding Nintendo, analysts have speculated that the Wii U might be the company’s last console. There’s even been talk of Nintendo licensing its software, which would bring some of the company’s historic franchises to different platforms.
In spite of all of the hearsay, the Wall Street Journal notes that Nintendo isn’t leaving the console business just yet, so don’t expect to see Mario games on smartphones anytime soon — well, legally that is.
“The spread of smart devices does not spell the end of game consoles,” said Iwata at a news conference last Friday. “The key is to figure out a way to use smartphones to make people aware of Nintendo’s games, and encourage them to try out the console version of the games.”
“It doesn’t mean that we should put Mario on smartphones,” he stressed.
Nintendo has reportedly been beefing up its research and development budget, and Nintendo claims to have surprises in store for the future.
So, it looks like Nintendo and the Wii U will be staying in the console business for the foreseeable future. This is definitely good news for all Nintendo fans, and Wii U owners.
[via WSJ]
