Miyamoto: Nintendo working to generate a wider audience for its games

In response to a question about small launch lineups for the Wii U and 3DS systems during an investor Q&A, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto acknowledged the lack of first-party games during this time and noted attracting wider consumer interested in its titles is something the company is working on.

Miyamoto said Nintendo has "not been able to deliver results" during its console launch windows the past few years. Miyamoto acknowledged that the Nintendo 3DS and DS launched without first-party software from any of Nintendo's major franchises, although the Wii U launched with Nintendo Land and received New Super Mario Bros. U shortly after. He feels Nintendo has "overcome the challenge of releasing enough first-party franchises" for Wii U because it released Pikmin 3 and Super Mario 3D World last year and will launch Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. this year.

"Also, despite their sales falling below our expectations so far, I do not think that these games were not well-received because they lacked appeal," he said, citing Super Mario 3D World's top scores. But although these titles are popular among children — Miyamoto notes Cat Mario has become popular in Japan following the game's release — they failed to generate a "wider consumer interest" in Nintendo's titles. Part of this problem is that, according to Miyamoto, Nintendo has continued to fail at communicating the value of the Wii U.

"Our biggest downfall last year was that we failed to communicate the true value of Wii U, failed to make children persuade their parents to buy our products for them, and failed to offer products that parents could not resist," Miyamoto said. "What we can do about it from now on is our theme. As Mr. Iwata explained earlier, we are confident that Nintendo Land offered compelling as well as Nintendo-like gameplay experiences for, say, four or five people when they gathered in the living room by taking full advantage of the two screens, but some of the single-player experiences were rather weak. It is my conviction that we will need to put more focus on creating experiences that utilize the GamePad that can also be fully enjoyed when playing alone."

Miyamoto added that Nintendo is working to utilize outside developers more in building up the software lineup for its consoles, and that he is "confident" Nintendo has made significant strides towards its goal of building a stronger software library.

Last week, Nintendo reported in its latest financial report that despite strong software sales, the Wii U still has not recovered from a lackluster year following its launch.