Nintendo will bring a new console out some time next year, but it will be aimed exclusively at emerging markets.
It’s the news that many disgruntled Nintendo fans have been longing to hear - that Nintendo is all ready with a brand new console. But don’t think that this is the troubled Kyoto company putting the Wii U out of its misery.
According to a new Bloomberg report following a recent analyst briefing, Nintendo will not release the Wii U at all in emerging markets. Rather, it will develop an all-new console for such regions.
"We want to make new things, with new thinking rather than a cheaper version of what we currently have," said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. "The product and price balance must be made from scratch."
In addition to new affordable hardware, Nintendo will apparently seek to capitalise on its recognisable cast of characters in such markets by offering NFC-equipped figurines. These will enable the transfer of data between devices.
Chief in Nintendo’s thoughts is the recent lifting of the 13-year ban on foreign games consoles in China. It’s an incredibly lucrative new market, and it seems as if Nintendo has decided to tackle it directly by treating it (and other similar markets) as a separate entity.
Both Sony and Microsoft, conversely, are said to be planning on launching the PS4 and Xbox One respectively in China over the coming months.
Such a radical change of tack on Nintendo’s part could be just the boost that it needs, having recently announced another calamitous sales quarter. It represented the third consecutive annual operating loss for the house of Mario.
Elsewhere, Iwata reiterated the company’s stance on making games for smartphones. "We have had a console business for 30 years, and I don’t think we can just transfer that over onto a smartphone model," he said.
Read More: Best games of 2014