Ever because the Wii U launched last year, there’s been some discuss even if Nintendo could compete with the PS4 and Xbox One once both consoles launch this month. The reasoning is that players will view the Wii U as an inferior system when compared thanks in no small part to its current gen tech. Nintendo rejects that reasoning, however, and thinks that the Wii U can thrive in a market jam-packed with more powerful consoles, like the Wii did.

In its quarterly Q&A session between CEO Satoru Iwata and shareholders, Iwata was asked what Nintendo’s marketing response will be inside the face of the PS4 and Xbox One. In brief, Nintendo is sticking to its guns:

We have an offering of software for the top of this calendar year that encourages family fun at home. Nintendo is preparing quite a lot of Wii U games for next year that greatly attract highly skilled users, but on the end of this calendar year, we’ve got a large number of offerings which might be played by the complete family, dad and the youngsters, or grandparents and the youngsters. Other companies will launch new consoles (within the overseas markets on the end of this year), but i suspect they discuss targeting highly skilled users. Therefore, in that sense, though the contest will heat up because new game consoles will pop out and there’ll be a “war of the sport consoles” played out in media articles, we ponder whether the objective user will actually be the identical.

Iwata then points to quite a few titles launching at the Wii U this year, like Super Mario 3D World and Wii Sports Club, as titles so as to expand the Wii U’s appeal. He’s confident that these titles and more will draw consumers to Nintendo’s hardware, but says that the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One will do the similar:

Thus, within the sense that we attract consumers inquisitive about this category of games, i believe the launch of different online game systems is usually good for us because they energize the game industry as an entire. Though there are some who take the view that intensified competition means overseas competition would be tough for Nintendo, despite how Nintendo does domestically, i don’t necessarily see it that way. This year, what Nintendo is promoting is, conversely, to face out within the game industry for individuality. i think we now have become a different value.

What about smartphones and tablets though? Does Nintendo view their meteoric growth as a threat to its business? Well, it’s just a little of yes and no:

On the opposite hand, i think that the era has ended when people play every kind of games only on dedicated gaming systems. As an instance, i feel it’s natural that plenty of people feel that it’s less difficult to exploit smart devices, rather than dedicated gaming systems, to play games to kill a little bit time. This is to claim, there are some areas within which dedicated gaming systems were once used that now have greater potential on smart devices. Then again, dedicated gaming systems are developed by considering the software that may be designed to run at the hardware, enabling us to make unique propositions. With that during mind, my view is that the gaming market can be segregated to an excellent degree. However, this doesn’t mean that smart devices will simply compete with dedicated gaming systems. Given their growth, i believe that we must always take the time to exploit their existence.

As for third party support, Iwata recognizes that the Wii U and 3DS are mostly machines which you buy to play Nintendo software. That being said, he wish to increased third-party support, but not in the course of the usual platform holder technique of offering money or exclusive deals:

In terms of ways we view our relationship with third-party publishers, i suspect it’s natural that there’s a difference between publishers who’ve the software development resources like Nintendo’s to construct a software lineup in their own and publishers who don’t. Since former President Yamauchi passed on to the great beyond, i’ve been considering what he taught us finally, and his words that the worst thing we are able to do in entertainment is to follow what others are doing spoke on to my heart. Following and imitating others is the type of reasoning that Nintendo tries to prevent the foremost, and while we certainly wouldn’t have a negative attitude toward strengthening our ties with third-party publishers, employing a similar methodology because the other manufacturers would only cause the foremost simplistic competitive approaches, along with price wars or money-giving that will never end. We wish to take a novel approach of our own and build sustainable relationships with our third-party publishers.

The remainder of the Q&A session deals directly with shareholder value, expansion into emerging markets and the viability of special promotions within the Japanese market. In other words, stuff that wouldn’t interest the vast majority of Western gamers. In the event you do find that fascinating, you could read the total Q&A session here.

[Image: Nintendo/YouTube]