You’ve got to feel a little sympathy for Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. After the 3DS price cut, the big N’s big boss took a 50 percent pay cut and accepted the blame for the portable device’s poor performance so far. He’s facing investors who are concerned about Nintendo’s social media plans and, on top of all that, questions continue to linger about the company’s Wii U console, announced in June at E3.
That topic, at least, can be shoved aside for the time being. While work on the Wii U no doubt continues behind the scenes, Iwata confirmed that specific details like pricing and release date will not be announced until 2012. “Since the Wii U we showed you at the E3 show in June was still in the development phase without very specific proposals on the software titles, we are going to announce the release date and the price next year when we are able to explain the specific proposals,” he told a group of investors recently (via CVG).
There is also some worry at the company about the 3DS price drop, which was unprecedented for being so large and coming less than six months after the product was released, and how it’s influenced Nintendo’s most ardent fans. “What we have to take most seriously is that the price markdown could damage the trust of the consumers who bought the Nintendo 3DS just after the launch,” Iwata said.
“I feel greatly accountable for it. Our decision [to implement] the price markdown this time has a side effect that, at the launch of the Wii U, people may feel that the price might drop in the near future if they wait. What we will be able to do to recover the consumers’ trust before the launch of the Wii U is very important to us.”
