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Nintendo hopes to use a new Super Mario movie, various merch and theme parks to get more people playing its video games, President Shuntaro Furukawa said on Wednesday.
Nintendo content, including Donkey Kong and Pokemon, has been attracting fans for more than four decades, and parents and grandparents are now playing games with children. But the intellectual property now extends beyond games, Furukawa told reporters and investors in an online presentation.
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Among the key efforts for what he described as “building a relationship” with game lovers was The Super Mario Bros. Movie, due for release next April. There are also theme parks like the one that opened more than a year ago at Japan’s Universal Studios, which features restaurants, merchandise and rides, Furukawa said. A Nintendo theme park is slated to open in Hollywood, United States, early next year
A man walks past a Nintendo poster in Tokyo in December 2019. Japanese video game maker Nintendo said Thursday that its half-tax profit fell 19% from a year earlier, which had seen a big boost as people were stuck at home Kor (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara/AP Newsroom)
According to Nintendo, special events, pop-up stores and mobile applications also help attract players. Nintendo’s mobile phone downloads now total 800 million in more than 160 countries and regions around the world. Merchandising includes collaborations with other companies like Lego.
“We want all those who have supported us over so many years to lead to more players,” Furukawa said.
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Furukawa’s comments come a day after Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. raised its earnings forecast for the April-March fiscal year to 400 billion yen ($2.7 billion) from a previous 340 billion yen ($2.3 billion). Has.
People stand in front of Nintendo’s logo in Tokyo, Japan, January 13, 2017. (REUTERS/Kim Kyung Hoon/Reuters)
Powerful gaming software included Splatoon 3, Nintendo Switch Sports, and Mario Strikers: Battle League.
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The coronavirus pandemic has proved a boon for some entertainment companies, with people avoiding going out and turning to gaming, movies and other activities at home.
Nintendo Switch video games are on display at the Nintendo Tokyo Store in Shibuya. (Stanislav Kogiku/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Japanese exporters like Nintendo are also getting a boost from a weaker yen, which is boosting the value of their overseas earnings in yen terms. The US dollar, which was trading at about 110 Japanese yen a year ago, is now close to 150 yen.
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However, Nintendo has been impacted by a shortage of computer chips and other components caused by COVID-19-related lockdowns and other supply disruptions. Nintendo Switch sales fell 19% year over year to 6.68 million units in the first half of the fiscal year.
Nintendo’s profit for the six months ended September was 230.45 billion yen ($1.6 billion), up 34% year over year.
