Satoru Iwata Sends Apology Letter to Early Adopters of the Nintendo 3DS

As everyone is well aware of by now, Nintendo announced a dramatic price drop for their Nintendo 3DS handheld only a few months after its release. Concerned that early adopters would lose their trust in the company, Nintendo immediately began an Ambassador program to begin reconciliation. Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors would be gifted 20 free games for their loyalty.

Currently, only Japanese Nintendo 3DS owners are receiving this letter. Here is the letter in its entirety:

To Those Customers Who Bought A Nintendo 3DS Before The Price Change

Greetings, everyone. This is Satoru Iwata from Nintendo.

Thank you very much for purchasing a Nintendo 3DS.

We have just announced a price drop for the Nintendo 3DS system effective on August 11 [August 12 in North America].

In the past, there have been price drops for video game systems some time after their release in order to broaden the user base further. However, never before has Nintendo chosen to issue such a dramatic price drop less than 6 months after a system release.

We are all too keenly aware that those of you who supported us by purchasing the 3DS in the beginning may feel betrayed and criticize this decision.

This unprecedented timing for a price cut is because the situation has changed greatly since we originally launched the 3DS. We decided it was necessary to take this drastic step in order to ensure that large numbers of users will continue to enjoy the 3DS in the future.

If the software creators and those on the retail side are not confident that the Nintendo 3DS is a worthy successor to the DS and will achieve a similarly broad (user) base, it will be impossible for the 3DS to gain popularity, acquire a wide range of software, and eventually create the product cycle necessary for everyone to be satisfied with the system.

Those customers who purchased the 3DS at the very beginning are extremely important to us. We know that there is nothing we can do to completely make up for the feeling that you are being punished for buying the system early. Still, we would like to offer the following as a sign of our appreciation to you.

[3DS Ambassador program details]

We feel a strong responsibility to develop the 3DS as a platform -- to ensure that, in the end, everyone is satisfied; we will make every effort to do so.

Additionally, we know everyone is waiting for Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. They are scheduled for release in November and December, respectively, so we ask for your patience until then.

Thank you again, and we look forward to your continued support.

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Nintendo on the Wii's Recent Weak Performance

If you've been following Wii releases in 2011, you are probably very disappointed. Just on the top of my head I can only think of three Nintendo published titles so far this year: Mario Sports Mix, Wii Play Motion, and Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident. I may be missing something, but if three titles is all Wii owners get in 3 months, that may be cause for concern. Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, has commented on the weak perfomance the Wii has shown in recent months:

"Well, of course, no single entertainment device can enjoy eternal popularity. And when it comes to Wii, we have to understand that any potential sales are going to be affected by the seasonalities much more than before."

"If we cannot sell as well as we expect to during the holiday sales season, it's going to be a grave concern for us. But right now, I think it's premature to say, in terms of the current sales, what the one-year sales (result) will be like."

"It's nothing new. Last year and two years before, many people were very much concerned about the future of the Wii around this time of the year. However, the fact of the matter is that it ended up being the top-selling home console hardware of the year two years in a row, each year exceeding the previous record. That's simply because the Wii was able to enjoy great sales during the holiday season."

If Nintendo would release completed games such as: Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower, then they may not have to worry about a weak performance. We have been suffering through a really bad Wii game drought and releasing those three titles may just do the trick. However, I'm sure Nintendo will see a rise in Wii sales when The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword drops later this year, but until then we have to just wait.

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