A Conversation With Nintendo's Top Marketer: Reggie Fils-Amie
Reggie Fils-Amie gave an impressive speech before the crowd of hundreds of developers at press. I chatted with him afterward and he had some fiery and defensive things to day. He's quite happy that Satoru Iwata, CEO of Nintendo will return for the second year to give a keynote at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose in March. There is, of course, a lot of speculation about whether he will say more about the Nintendo Revolution there. Fils-Amie said that Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo began distributing game development kits last fall. It's behind Microsoft in that respect, but unclear whether its timing will on games and its console launch with respect to Sony.
He noted that Nintendo won't use the Wi-Fi hot spots in game retail stores to actually sell downloadable games. He says Nintendo will distribute free items wirelessly in the store hot spots, but those demos and trailers will disappear from the handhelds once power is turned off.
He said that first-person shooter games will work better on the Revolution because of its remote control-like controller that can be used to point at objects on the screen. But I talked to a shooter developer that was skeptical of the Nintendo box, which he expects will be underpowered just as the GameCube was. Nintendo has yet to release its specifications for performance. With weak performance, it may be hard to get shooter makers to develop for the Revolution.
He wanted to be polite to Microsoft, whom he respects. But he couldn't hold back from criticism. He noted that the inability to supply enough consoles was a huge execution problem.
He questioned how Microsoft could possibly succeed in Japan when it launched without enough games that appeal to Japanese gamers. (Microsoft sold a pitiful 100,000 units by Dec. 31 in Japan).
"I know Peter Moore, (head of the game business at Microsoft), and I can't believe he is happy with the performance in th eU.S.," Fils-Amie said. "The GameCube sold more in December than his new console did."
Fils-Amie thinks that Microsoft misjudged the strategic importance of handhelds, especially in Japan. He said the Xbox 360 games seemed rushed, and there was only one that he would pay full price for. And he said the supply problem was a "massive miscalculation."
But I turned the tables a bit and asked if Nintendo would truly line up developers to support the Revolution this time. I noted that Electronic Arts is preparing to support the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 equally for the first six months of each launch, but the biggest game software company does not seem like it will support the Revolution to the same degree. Fils-Amie said he wasn't aware of EA's position, but he said that most developers are excited about the controller and offering support.
But the problem for Nintendo could very well be the uniqueness of its platform, said one developer. He said that Nintendo's controller is so different that developers will have to create a brand new game for the Revolution. That' s a bad thing because it drives up a developer's cost. If the developer can take a game and port it across a lot of platforms, it can spread the costs out efficiently. But someone really has to believe in the Revolution to do a unique game that runs only on the GameCube. Fils-Amie disagreed, noting that developers will be drawn to innovation and to the console that allows them to do something unique. He touted Brain Age, but said that Nintendo will support both its traditional, youthful demographic and expand its efforts to win over adults.
He noted that the GDC will be important again.
"The battle for the hearts and minds and hands of developers started last fall, and it comes to a head at GDC," he said.