Interview mit Perrin Kaplan!!!

[JethroTull]

Wie ich diese Phrasenantworten liebe

In manchen Belangen hat Nintendo immer noch nix dazugelernt

Interview von Game Informer

The Nintendo DS was obviously pre-sold out at game retailers like Electronic Boutique and GameStop. How many units were produced for launch?



Perrin Kaplan: We’re shipping in about a million here, and we’re obviously most certain that we’ll be selling every last unit. There are going to be shortages, but we’re going to work really hard to make sure - we’ll be receiving them in clumps - and making sure that we have, as best we can, a constant supply of some inventory into the stores.



GI: Now is that a million for launch or is that all of 2005?



Kaplan: Now and December 31.



GI: What are your sales projections for the unit?



Kaplan: We’re going to sell every last one. And then globally, between here and Japan, 4 million by the end of the fiscal year, which would be March 31.



GI: And then, do you know how many are being shipped in Japan?



Kaplan: I’d say probably a similar amount to us. Of course, you know that’s just through December 31. So at the end of it you’re looking at 4 million, with maybe you know we’re waiting to see if there’ll be a small amount for Europe launch, just to get them into April. You know, you can figure out your numbers from there.



GI: Now, your sale projections for the Nintendo DS launch, are they lower than the Game Boy Advance launch?



Kaplan: Oh God, I’d have to go back and look. If I wasn’t so old I’d be able to tell you and remember. What I can tell you is that as much product that always gets moved in, everything gets moved right back out in a bag. So if you were to do a comparison, it probably is a little bit of apples to oranges because we always sell everything. But I can go back and find out what those initial numbers were. I think at that time too the spread of the launch of SP was a lot further apart than the spread of the DS because we’re trying to do more of a global launch if you will. So it’s a bigger time spread there.



GI: Who is your target audience for the DS?



Kaplan: You. You know, we can pick a target but that also means you’re going to get people younger and people older, but we’re looking at mostly 8 to 19 or so.



GI: Because I’m looking at, you know, I’ve been playing through the launch titles and some of the games that are coming out after launch. You know, you’ve got more of the adult like Feel the Magic: XX/XY I would point toward adults. Sprung is a dating simulation. But you also have games that cater to the younger demographic as well.



Kaplan: Well there’s Madden and Spider-Man and the Metroid demo definitely has an older appeal. I’d say 17 to 19-year-olds but then you’re also going to get the 12-year-olds that really aspire up to that and then you’re going to get the older players such as yourself and me.



GI: This is very true.



Kaplan: So I mean it’s going to be widespread, but that’s the main target and that has been much of the focus of the initial campaign, the touching is good campaign. What do you think of the campaign?



GI: I think it’s good. It’s different. I mean, if you don’t get your hands on the DS, you’re not going to know what the heck it can do.



Kaplan: I think it’s a sassy campaign for Nintendo don’t you think?



GI: I do, but I have to say, everywhere I look, on TV, newspapers, and magazines, I see PlayStation ads everywhere, I see things for Grand Theft Auto, Halo 2 – but I’ve seen very little DS, Metroid, Paper Mario ads.



Kaplan: Oh really? We did some really heavy buys. I don’t know what it is you’re watching.



GI: Monday Night Football, I don’t know.

Kaplan: I’ll have to check our numbers, but we put some big money behind this. It’s a $40 million campaign. That also includes interactives at retails – it includes a wide range of things, and a lot of TV. So I’m kind of surprised you haven’t run into it.



GI: It just seemed spotty, and I’ve been inundated with Halo 2 and GTA ads.



Kaplan: The amount of free PR coverage for Halo and GTA has just showered everybody. I was just with Kaz Hirai and Robbie Bach yesterday telling them that stuff looks great, and I’m proud of them, and it’s a great thing for the industry. Of course we’ve got our deal coming up.



GI: Here’s kind of a left field question, but what does former NCL president Yamauchi’s current role at Nintendo?



Kaplan: He’s a consultant to the company. So he’s still very involved but he’s involved on a variety of different projects versus running the day to day business.



GI: Because it’s been stated that the whole dual screen, like the whole concept was his brainchild.



Kaplan: The original idea did start with him, but it really was the skill of the engineers and everybody under Mr. Iwata’s direction that came up with the great thing that the final product was, but he’s an entrepreneur. That’s how he started the company. He’s a risk-taker. You know, he’s always thinking of new and different things.



GI: As you said, he is a risk-taker and the DS is, it’s a risk. It’s something that’s very different.



Kaplan: It’s incredibly innovative. We think it answers something that consumers were wanting but couldn’t articulate. Something that was even better and better than what they’ve been getting in any different way. And it’s different than the Game Boy so we think that it’ll have kind of a third leg appeal to people, of course, kind of starting with the older player first. And it’s really a different kind of gaming experience. It’s a different kind of gameplay. So yeah it’s risky that way, but the reaction we got at E3 told us that we were headed in the right direction. And now we know we are with the high demand and the numbers that are already coming in.



GI: This is hypothetical, I’m playing devil’s advocate here, like if the DS isn’t as big as a success as you guys want it to is there a chance that you might stop listening to what Mr. Yamauchi says?



Kaplan: I don’t think that it actually goes like that. Nintendo is innovative and wants to be known for being an innovative company that does take risks and I think that we’ve shown that and done that in a lot of different ways. So it’s not a matter of, you know, we’re not going to take some person’s advice. I think Mr. Yamauchi’s a great visionary. He’s made video gaming a part of everyday life all around the world. That’s no small honor actually. So it’s not really as simple as that. I don’t think that will become the case. I think our product’s going to do very well. So far everybody’s very hands up about it and with like EB and GameStop already having their presale - everything sold out already - it tells us how good it’s going to be. That’s, you know, consumers are savvy. If they don’t want to buy something they’re not gonna. I mean, there’s no mistaking that if something’s already sold out it’s going to be hot.



GI: So the DS, you guys have been touting this as the third pillar. As you said, Nintendo always tries to be innovative and different. Sometimes that may have backfired. With the GameCube for example you didn’t do online because you said there was no profit with that in the model right now, and connectivity never caught on…



Kaplan: The biggest thing on GameCube that was our largest error, I don’t think that it had anything to do with not having online or what have you. If you look at the number of people that are participating in that versus whole of how many units are sold for consoles there’s absolutely no comparison. You’re talking raisins and dump trucks, not even in the same world of reality. I think what our error was in not bringing out enough titles soon enough and often enough. People that were really loyal to Nintendo and were very excited to see our product, bought it, and they were just very excited about it and then we didn’t come out with anything for a couple months. That was, you know, an error.



GI: So you don’t think online or your pushing of connectivity…



Kaplan: I think that wireless community play is really important to Nintendo, and I think that’s one of the main features that the DS is, is going to be how you can, you know you can play Madden with up to 16 people. That includes yourself. That kind of community is more where our interest lies versus the online thing. I think the perception of online is different than the business reality of it. So if you’re saying is there a perception that the Nintendo system was lesser because it didn’t have the online capability? You know, you’d have to ask the consumer. Did it keep some people from purchasing? Possibly. But I think more interest and more success is going to be found in wireless community play. We’re putting a lot of our energy into that rather than doing a monthly fee to play online.



GI: … Nintendo’s got numerous teams and you’re also working with Retro here in the States and things like that, but some of the major titles like F-Zero, for example, or even the upcoming Star Fox title, those were farmed out. What are a lot of the internal teams actually working on?



Kaplan: That was a very conscientious decision that Mr. Iwata made to say “We need to be working on producing enough.” I mean, it’s been no small task to pull off the software and the hardware development for the DS. That is the job of one full team for years. It was a conscientious effort to, conscious effort and conscientious effort to farm out some of our prize characters to those developers who we most admire. That was a first for Nintendo and that’s why some of those games were done outside so that we could start expanding the variety of the games we’re working on.



GI: So it’s safe to say that a lot of the internal teams right now are probably working on DS titles and Revolution titles?



Kaplan: There’s still a lot of GameCube activity going on there’s plenty of titles coming up for GameCube. I mean, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Donkey Konga, you know, those are internal teams that were working on that with a little help from some outside teams. Those are big games I think.



GI: Now you said you’ve got a lot of stuff in the pipeline for GameCube.



Kaplan: We do still have a lot.



GI: So Zelda’s going to launch in 2005 then?



Kaplan: Well, we haven’t announced a date, but I will tell you that it’s definitely in the works. It’s going to be another incredible Zelda game.



GI: But you won’t say it’s coming out in 2005?



Kaplan: No, I’m just not going to give you a date because were going to let the master do that.



GI: When the GameCube was launched there was tremendous third party support, you know, you had the “Capcom Five” and things like that. What happened there?



Kaplan: We still have quite a few developers and publishers that are working on GameCube. I think we’ve had to spend a little extra time letting them know that Nintendo’s still very committed to GameCube. I think so many rumors and so much, so many people saying “Oh is Nintendo getting out of the console business?” For some reason that whole statement kind of got legs to it. And I think we really just needed to spend time telling publishers “We’re still committed to this and hope you can be too.” And working with them on what kind of program is going to work for them. But as you can see with DS they’re all there. They’re all loving it and very excited. So Nintendo’s not having “issues” with third party developers.



GI: The DS isn’t technically next-gen. It’s kind of like GBA 1.5 - I guess in a weird way. You know, we’ve talked to developers who don’t think DS is next-gen but you do have a lot of third parties on board, but third parties are also focused on the next gen, you know, Xbox 2, PlayStation 3. How are you getting third parties to allocate those funds to be interested, to make those triple-A titles like I would even say Feel the Magic: XX/XY would fall under that category.



Kaplan: Oh I think that third party publisher see that if a game is, we are 98% of the portable market. It’s no mystery to them that if they make a game that consumers really like that there’s plenty of money to be made by them. I mean I think it’s a win win for everybody.



GI: Very true. But then you also have, I mean you do own the market and everybody that’s come up against Nintendo for portable gaming has gotten their butts kicked - like immediately.



Kaplan: Nine of them.



GI: Now you’ve got Sony coming in next spring, well this winter in Japan, with the PSP. They took over the console race with the PlayStation. Does that make you nervous?



Kaplan: They’re definitely a viable contender based on their brand equity. And I think they’re going to work really hard to make a run to make PSP as successful as possible. Nintendo is being aggressive and we think our foundation’s really strong for what we’ve built. There’s a good kind of magic that we have in the portable arena. You can see how hard it’s been for other companies to make success in it. We’re just sort of faced forward in doing really, really well.



GI: Sony doesn’t consider Nintendo as competition for the DS versus the PSP because they are very different systems. They do very different things. Would you consider the Game Boy Advance 2 to be kind of what you’re going to take up against the PSP?



Kaplan: It’s kind of hard to say that because in the portable arena you’ve got systems that do so many different things. I mean, Nintendo’s obviously very, very focused on gaming, and Sony’s interest in the home is slightly different. They want people to be watching movies and listening to music and doing a whole host of other things. And even in the console arena, if Sony does well or doesn’t do well it tends to be a thing with Microsoft. You see the numbers rise and drop according to each other. Nintendo sort of stands out on its own. So I don’t think it’s an apple for an apple kind of thing. The systems all have different positives and are focused on being slightly different than each other. So I think it’s a little bit apples to oranges.



GI: But the perception is PSP versus DS. You know what I mean?



Kaplan: Sure it is, but you’re asking if we would consider…



GI: Like the GBA 2 to be what you’re possibly going to do to counter Sony’s…



Kaplan: I guess, you know, it might sound kind of crazy but we don’t look at it like “how are we going to counter them?” I mean, they’re not even here yet. So I’m not sure what there is to be countering. And Nintendo has been working the portable market for years and years and years. I think it’s really, this is want Sony has tried to do to get a piece of the action, and Nintendo already has its next portable system being looked at. That’s something that we’re always working on, and it’s not “what are we going to do now that they’ve done this?” It’s “what does Nintendo think is the next experience they want players to have?” We’re dancing with the consumer, we’re not dancing with Sony - if that makes sense.



GI: Okay, so I own an SP, I own a GBA, I own a Game Boy Color. Why do I need to own a Nintendo DS?



Kaplan: Research has shown us that homes have a whole bunch of Game Boys lying around that are played in just about every different room. We don’t think that’s going to change. We think the DS is incremental and different and innovative. And we will not be surprised if every home that owns a Game Boy now buys one of those. And then we add a whole layer of new players that haven’t played before. We’re going to get a whole bunch of players to enter the fray that haven’t really experienced portability like this before.



GI: So, is that your target market then? Are you trying to get the fringe?



Kaplan: It’s all the people who enjoyed video game playing and then people who are kind of new to it. So whether it’s females who are really into the PictoChat or 19-year-old guys who maybe have never owned a portable system yet other than their cell phone. It’s to get some of those people into it. It’s definitely a fun gaming product. It’s also an image product. There’s a lot to the DS. It has a lot of different functions and the price is pretty darn incredible for all that’s in there. Including the Metroid: First Hunt product.



GI: Do you worry that with the DS you’re going to segment your own market?



Kaplan: Nope. It’s too different. It’s too innovative. And at that price people can own one of everything. I own lots of pairs of shoes, and they all have a slightly different purpose, but I do walk in all of them. So there are some similarities and a lot of differences.



GI: So why no analog stick?



Kaplan: Did you try that out?



GI: Metroid?



Kaplan: Yeah, First Hunt. Do you like it?



GI: Um, I guess that goes into my next question. Some of the games need an analog stick. Like Mario 64 DS. Mario 64 was built around the N64 controller. The N64 controller was built around the analog stick. I mean…



Kaplan: You’re saying that you feel like you need something?



GI: Yeah, why is there no analog stick?



Kaplan: You’re the first person who’s said that.



GI: I’m the first person who’s said that the DS needs an analog stick?



Kaplan: Yeah. At least to me. I mean, you’re not the first person I’m sure on planet Earth, but you’re the first person who’s said that to me. You know, I think everybody’s going to find where their comfort level is and which games they really enjoy playing on the DS. I guess that’s the best answer I can give you. You’re just saying that when you’re playing it you feel like it needs that something for you.



GI: At least I would say that about Metroid and I would say that about Mario. I mean, for some reason, I love Mario 64, it’s my favorite game of all time, for me to say that, that’s a lot. When it’s difficult to control that frustrates me. And I understand what you’re trying to do…



Kaplan: You’re saying the digital is too difficult?



GI: Yes. And using the touch screen to control Mario, I can’t do it. So I mean with the D-pad….



Kaplan: Yeah, I’m not devaluing what you’re saying at all, I just haven’t really heard that from anybody so I’m not really sure what answer to give you.



GI: Is the Nintendo DS FAA approved. Can I play it on a plane?



Kaplan: You know, I have to double check. … I believe it is.



GI: Because the wireless is always on, and I don’t want to crash a plane.



Kaplan: I’m sure you won’t, my dear.



GI: When do you think we’ll see games that can be played online via internet hotspots?



Kaplan: It really depends on what the developers want to do. It’s an open book. They have the tools now if they want to pursue that then that’s something they can definitely do.



GI: That was the same line that was used for the GameCube.



Kaplan: You’re right.



GI: But nobody did it… besides Sega.



Kaplan: That’s not to say it won’t happen here.



GI: Okay. Would Nintendo like to make games go that route?



Kaplan: We may. Part of our main focus has been the community wireless aspect. We’ve really focused on that first. That’s a free way to play. But we have lots of things planned for the future.



GI: So you’re going backwards compatible with the Game Boy Advance, but you stopped there. You didn’t go for Game Boy or Game Boy Color support. Is there any reason for that?



Kaplan: I think you want your games to remain decent quality, and as technology has increased and improved I think that’s as far back as is reasonable to go. But that gets you about 1000 games to pick from.



GI: Yeah. I would say so.



Kaplan: That’s a long life if you can play all of those. I’m not sure how many lifetimes people can offer to it.



GI: Now with the Game Boy Advance game support how can I play multiplayer link games?



Kaplan: I believe you cannot play multiplayer with all of your multiplayer Game Boy Advance games.



GI: I’m just curious if there’s a wireless way?



Kaplan: Yeah, the two wirelesses they’re different protocols. But I think there’s not a way to do it. And I know that’s sad news to hear, but lots of systems come out that are not backward compatible at all.



GI: How did you guys test the durability of the touch screens, you know, obviously when I’ve been playing, Feel the Magic is the perfect example, I’m rubbing across the screen repetitively.



Kaplan: We worked really hard to make sure the screen’s as durable as possible. I mean, Nintendo always does very in-depth integrity tests, which we obviously did with this too. This thing gets slammed around and put on the seams and all kinds of stuff is done with it. And I think as long as people use it for what it’s designed to be used for, you know, don’t cut a loaf of bread on it, then you’ll be fine.



GI: What about screen repair?



Kaplan: It’s good to try to keep your screen clean like you do your computer screen.



GI: Yes.



Kaplan: I’m looking at it right here I have these little screen cleaners, these little mops that are really good to use to keep it clean. You’re going to see tons and tons of accessories find their way out at retail. Stuff to clean your screen, stuff to carry it, stuff to do this with it and that with it.



GI: What about screen replacement? Say little Johnny taps a few too many, you know, scratched the thing.



Kaplan: Well, I think if it’s used reasonably it’s going to have the normal life that it’s supposed to have. If somehow, some anomaly, then they can call customer service and they can assess it. But it’s a durable product for what it is. It’s not meant to be used as a baseball, but it’s meant to be used as a gaming device.



GI: Why do you feel the Nintendo DS is going to be a success this year?



Kaplan: Because it’s innovative. It’s a kind of gaming that people may have conceived of but have never been able to do. The games that are launching with it are fantastic. The developers have really kind of exceeded most expectations because it is such a new innovative thing to do. And people are clamoring for it. There’s a lot of talk all around, including online and everywhere and the pre-sell tells us that people want it. And what’s in that box for the price is pretty incredible.



GI: So Revolution we’ll see at E3?



Kaplan: You’ll see what you’ll see at E3. If you have eyes you’ll see what you see at E3. We haven’t really announced what we’re going to show at E3 yet.



GI: Well you did announce that you’d show Revolution at E3.



Kaplan: I know it was mentioned but we’re I guess kind of not saying anything more at this point.



GI: Can you comment on any ideas of when we might see Game Boy Advance 2?



Kaplan: In your lifetime.



GI: But I’m getting old!



Kaplan: You know, when the market’s ready for it really. I mean, Game Boy Advance SP is still selling so well. Sales are up 70% with the price change and it was already selling well prior to that. So when the market’s ready for it is when it will come out.