Iwata Is Hoping For a Big Holiday

“In September, which people overseas call ‘back-to-school,’ people start to pay more attention to home consoles. If we can convey the appeal of Wii Sports Resort to existing customers then, it will surely contribute to the sales of hardware and generate good momentum toward the holiday season. So we feel that Wii Sports Resort will drive hardware sales mainly in Q3 from October to December. Last year, we had some internal discussions about the close launch period of Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit but we ended up launching them with the hypothesis that several major title launches in close proximity can produce a synergetic effect. As a result, it went very well. This year we hope to do well again as we will be launching three ten-million class titles consecutively, and would love to hear that ‘Holiday 2009 was the best one ever for Nintendo!’”

Source: Nintendo Everything

Nintendo has big plans every holiday season, as do most game companies. We're seeing a lot of them shift games out of the holiday season this year into the first quarter of next year to avoid the rush and hopefully generate a few more sales. Nintendo has New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Fit Plus, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Metroid Prime Trilogy, and Wii Fit Plus all scheduled to come out before the end of the year. I can see all of those potentially being big sellers so Mr. Iwata may have a lot to look forward to.

I can say without a doubt that New Super Mario Bros. Wii will be the biggest seller of all those games. The DS iteration of the game is still on the NPD best seller list every month and the game has been out for three years. Mario is a huge force in the gaming world and any time a title with his name on it comes out it sells huge. Wii Fit has a bigger install base than the PS3. The updated version this year has made some additions that many people will welcome and it will warrant a second purchase for people who have been happy with that product.

I'm looking forward to all of those titles, and will be out on day one buying Metroid Prime Trilogy and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Which holiday offerings from Nintendo are you looking forward to?

SEGA Says Glory Days For Sonic a Hope to Return

Sonic the Hedgehog has been a franchise in the past I've never really been interested in. I fell into the camp of the Super Nintendo during the glory days of the Sega vs Nintendo feud. Since then, I have played a lot of Sonic games, but never enjoyed them as much as real fans of the series. The newest games Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic and the Black Knight were by far my least favorite of the series.

If you're going to do a Sonic game right, I agree with most people in that you have to get back to the 2-D sidescrolling games of the past and capture that magic again. Sonic is definitely at his best when he's moving fast and never stops. The newer games that have been released really do appeal to audiences who have not played the old school side scrolling Sonic games. They also know Sonic from his recent alliance with Mario to visit the Olympics. Those games haven't captured the old school fan like Sega wants, and I think the best way to do that would be to do a downloadable Sonic game.

“If you read everything, we need to be all things to all gamers with Sonic, and that’s a difficult thing to do. Trying to put everything into one game and making everybody happy is impossible. And I think that’s something clear going forward. I think we’ve had challenges with [the 2006] Sonic the Hedgehog and Unleashed. [The 2006 game] Sonic the Hedgehog sells extremely well at a budget price. So clearly it’s very popular with a young audience. But first and foremost is: We’ve got to make a quality game for that audience. Does quality mean it’s got to be a Metacritic 90 percent? Well not necessarily. It’s just got to be quality that’s appropriate for them. Then we’ve got our core fans, and what we need to do is now and then produce a Sonic that will appeal to those fans specifically. Often it can be looking at another take on the nostalgic take on Sonic. Or re-issues. They’re very popular. Fans do like that.” - Mike Hayes, the head of Sega Europe/Sega America

This quote really does capture what Sega should and hopefully will do. I might even get on board and play a new game that uses the same mechanics as the Genesis versions of the game. Sonic is a mascot that shouldn't die, but I think he's been on a bit of life support lately and it's time to re-invigorate him.
You can't capture the magic of Sonic in the 3-D games we've seen of late and a retro revival may be just what the doctor (Mario) ordered.