Nintendo president Satoru Iwata: Social gamers like the DS too

According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, there is nothing to fear of social gamers. In fact, FarmVille players and their ilk actually are more likely to use a Nintendo DS than those who don't, the head of Nintendo said in a Tokyo press briefing last week. Wired reports that Iwata responded to several hard-hitting questions like the emergence of tablet computers, the Wii's weakness and, most importantly for us, Facebook games.

    I can not say that no one said, 'I recently stopped playing Nintendo DS because I am now playing games on my smartphone,' but statistically, there was no significant difference. On the other hand, we found out that people who play paid social games have a higher Nintendo DS use rate. This was a significant difference. Isn't this the opposite of your impression? Therefore, I think that the people who play paid social games are people who like games. And as a result, they have a higher overall use rate.

This was Iwata's response to a question concerning his opinion of how social games have affected Nintendo. According to him, the effect is not what most would expect, in fact social gamers are more likely to play a DS than those who don't play social games. While he doesn't provide any hard data, this lines up with his previous statement to worried investors, citing an infographic and all. Regardless of whether this is truly the case, Nintendo would be smart to meet the growing social/casual gamer audience at least halfway in the future.

[Image Credit: Nintendo Fuse]

Do you think Nintendo is right in its approach to social and casual gaming? Would Nintendo do better to embrace the two genres or compete with them directly?

Nintendo announces Wii U home console, coming in 2012 [Updated]

This just might change things. Nintendo announced during its E3 2011 keynote address that its Project Cafe is known as the Wii U, a successor to the original Wii headed to stores in 2012. The console features a 6.2-inch touch pad controller that can stream game content between itself and the console, play games on its own, offer video chat and more.

The Wii U will be backwards-compatible with the original Wii games and controllers, and the company displayed multiplayer scenarios where players would use both the Wii remote and Wii U touch pad.Pricing and an exact release date have not been provided, but Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said during his address that the Wii U was not designed to be a portable console to replace the Nintendo 3DS.

The system looks to appeal to fans of Nintendo and touchscreen gaming from devices like the iPhone and iPad, but several hardcore-skewed games have been announced as well from franchises like Assassin's Creed, Ninja Gaiden, Ghost Recon, Tekken and more. In other words, the Nintendo Wii U is looking to be a game console not just for casual players, but for everyone. E3 is still young, and more details (like more about the actual console) from Nintendo are sure to come, so stay tuned.

[Image Credit: Reuters]

Do you think Nintendo will remain on top in the casual games scene with Wii U? Will the Wii U win over hardcore gamers too?