Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime recently spoke with Seattle NBC affiliate King-5, about a number of topics including the company’s Wii U marketing strategy for the holiday season if there’s any chance it would release games on smartphones.
Fils-Aime cited Nintendo’s core audience as a key piece of the Wii U’s recent success.
“The marketing has tremendously ramped up,” Fils-Aime said. “And really where it comes down to is being crystal clear in who’s your target. For us, this holiday with the Wii U, the target is parents and their kids. So if you’re watching primetime family entertainment, you’re seeing our marketing. If you’re a parent watching morning or daytime media, you’re seeing our content.”
The Nintendo exec also said the company is spending more on advertising activity for 3DS and that extra marketing expenses are higher for the Wii U compared to last year.
When asked about producing games for smartphones and tablets, Fils-Aime reaffirmed that Nintendo games are meant to be played on in-house hardware. However, he did go on to reveal that Nintendo had been experimenting with mobile platforms, but clarified that it was mostly for marketing.
Fils-Aime didn’t specify how Nintendo would utilize the mobile market to drive gamers back to Nintendo hardware, although a fairly obvious example would be how Miiverse is accessible through non-Nintendo devices. This allows players to keep up with the latest activity on Nintendo’s social network, while keeping specific features exclusive to the Wii U and 3DS.
