RETAIL INTELLIGENCE Head to www.mcvuk.com for daily market data and news. This week our Recommended section starts on p29
Nintendo: We will maintain Wii U
Wii U has landed but we’re not resting yet, says platform holder More marketing and sampling campaigns planned for by James Batchelor
NINTENDO has promised a steady flow of new titles and repromotions for Wii U throughout the early months of next year. The platform holder told
MCVduring last week’s launch of its new console it is already hard at work on plans for Q1 2013.
We don’t focus particularly on Christmas. We have a strong line-up all year. James Honeywell, Nintendo
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The firm is no doubt eager to avoid a repeat of the 3DS launch, which had a strong first week followed by a steep sales drop off. MCVunderstands Wii U sold around 40,000 units in its first 48 hours. The platform holder has already pledged to supply the High Street with regular shipments between
now and the end of the year. “We’ve got a very strong line-up, lots of titles and activities aimed at Christmas, but we’ve already got plans for Q1,” said head of consumer marketing James Honeywell.
“Lots of new titles like Monster Hunter, but also repromotions and things like that. “We definitely want to maintain momentum in Q1 – that’s our focus right now.” Nintendo will kick off Q1 with two releases in January: Ninja Gaiden 3:
Japanese mobile giant GREE targets UK by James Batchelor
GREE is keen to conquer the UK, the leading mobile and social games firm told MCV. The Japanese publisher opened a UK studio in London earlier this year. It is working on five titles, including a Moshi Monsters game, which it hopes will help it win over UK gamers. “The UK is definitely a critical market because it follows similar trends and
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tastes as the US but also has its own distinctive preferences,” said Kyoto Matsushita, VP of developer relations at GREE UK. Game studio VP Tsuyoshi
Tanaka added: “It’s definitely a market we want to become successful in. “Globally, we have seen success coming from the UK for some of our titles, like some of the Funziogames. “We’re learning a lot and choosing to develop certain
types of games for the European market, so we will see in the next 18 months.” GREE may even bring its virtual currency cards to UK shelves so that retailers can participate in the mobile firm’s success.
GREE’s VP of developer relations Matsushita (above left) and game studio VP Tanaka (above right) see the UK as a ‘critcial market’
“The platform is still in its early stages outside of Japan, so we hope to make that happen but right now it’s too early to say,” said Matsushita. “That business works well in Japan.”