It seems like eons ago that Nintendo of Europe funnyman Laurent Fischer said “geeks and otaku” were the only people worried about a Wii storage solution. Today, we revisit the topic with Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime, who put a decidedly different kind of spin on the issue.

“As we continue to have things [...] like Mario Kart that has its own channel when you’re playing from an Internet perspective, we’re just making this challenge tougher and tougher. So in our view this is becoming much more of a mainstream problem, which is why we have a sense of urgency to solve it.”

Now, what, exactly, will this “storage solution” be? We’re still kind of where we were originally—in the dark. But hey, at least they’re dedicated to solving the issue as it starts to infringe on people who don’t necessarily consider themselves “geeks or otaku” of any kind.

I think we’ve visited this topic before, perhaps in 2007, but once again NOA president Reggie Fils-Aime was singing the praises of Take Two and Grand Theft Auto. As for a GTA game on the Wii? Take Two should probably take note that it shouldn’t be a port. That might make Reggie angry, and you don’t want to see Reggie when he’s angry…

All I can tell you is that since the day I walked in the door, I’ve had a very good relationship with the folks at Take Two, continue to have a good relationship. And so in our view we want just the best content coming on our platforms… You know, a GTA on the Wii is all based on what Rockstsar and Take Two want to do. And again, from our standpoint, if they build a bottoms-up game that takes advantage of what we do well, I’d love to see it on the platform

So many veiled little comments in that statement. I assume he means “no dead hookers of any kind” by that last sentence, or something. Anyone have any thoughts on what a great “bottom up,” or original GTA game on the Wii should look like?

One last post-E3 interview, during which I break my word and mention E3 one more time. I guess I do this because I know that like all knee-jerk, vocal minority-driven “public outcries,” this one has been incredibly short-lived. Wii Music was awkward and borderline offensive with its boredom, Blake said, and there were no first party megatons announced on stage during the keynote, this we know. But, given a closer look, with a bigger lens and greater understanding of Nintendo’s past and present behavior, things are, predictably, not as bad as the forums would have you think. They’ll get even less so as we get closer to the holidays and 2009.

Already we know new Mario, Pikmin and Zelda titles are underway; that there are some WiiWare titles forthcoming that will knock retro gamers socks off (Mega Man 9 *ahem* — now with t-shirts!); and that even solid first party IP in the form of Wario and Animal Crossing are going to hit Nintendo consoles this fall and winter. And, unlike Sony with Killzone 2, the Nintendo of today will never show off some rendered cutscene or incomplete demo to showcase a game. They’ll show it when it’s ready to kick your ass, and then they’ll release the game soon afterward:

“There’s one thing I do want to reinforce,” [said Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime.] “I could almost put myself into the ‘geeks and otaku’ camp. I grew up playing all those great Nintendo games. And so for me I look at product like “Animal Crossing” and I get tremendously excited. I look at “Wario” and get tremendously excited. I look at “Sluggers” coming out and get tremendously excited. So this mentality that we have somehow lost our soul and [are not] speaking to our fanbase, there is nothing further from the truth. And if you talk to Mr. Miyamoto, you really understand that we really have the interest of our core fanbase right at the top of the list. The recognition is — and I think this is really the point — we’re not going to tease you over 18 months or 24 months. We’re going to show you something that’ll make your jaw drop and make it available shortly thereafter.”

That’s a pretty Apple approach to things (show jaw-dropping products and then release them on the same day). I guess I don’t want to be teased with my games. I want to play them. If that makes me some biased fanman, so be it. At least I’ll be having fun, instead of camped out on some game blog riddled with misplaced angst.

So apparently some people thought the Nintendo E3 press conference blew chunks. There were games worthy of being played by core gamers coming out for Nintendo systems this year, that’s undeniable, but for some reason Nintendo chose not to feature a majority of them during its time on center stage.

In that vein, Wired took a crack, It’s A Wonderful Life-style, at creating the E3 Nintendo presser that could have been. It’s a distinctly un-Shaun White affair, with plenty of shout-outs to games we mentioned here on Infendo during E3, like MadWorld and Pikmin 3, as well as trailers for games that did not show up at all (Mario, Zelda, Kid Icarus).

My own Fantasy E3 Nintendo presser would have included some online stuff: “We said WiiWare would redefine console gaming and indie development before, and we’re not going to completely blow it off at E3 and not say anything about it! Here are 12 classic games we’re giving proper 8-bit and 16-bit sequels to, and here’s a release schedule for WiiWare and the Virtual Console for the rest of the year! Oh, look, it’s Mother 3!”

That’s just a start. Judging from the comments last week, you probably have some fantasy E3 announcements of your own. What “should have” been included? How would Reggie and company have worded it? That’s the key to these comments. Keeping it funny. Humor trumps negativity any day of the week.

Are you one of the doubters? When you saw Wii Fit debut earlier this year, did you scoff and sneer like 95% of the “enthusiast press?”

News today from Japan goes a long way towards making people like you the left out in the cold variety, as Wii Fit has not only sold decently, it also boosted the sales of other Wii games that many people were ready to right off as disappointments in the land of the rising sun. Like Super Mario Galaxy, which had slipped out of the much ballyhooed top ten list picture until today. It was a shame, really, and this new trend, I hope, is indicative of a resurgence for the plucky plumber, whose latest effort is perhaps one of his best ever.

On a related note, Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime was peppered earlier this month about the “attach rate” of the Wii and how it was perceived to be poor, especially when compared to the Xbox 360 (here’s some free analysis: it is lower, but it’s not as bad as the press was reporting in 2007. Surprise). I bring that up because I’d like to know if there’s ever been reporting done on the attach rate of an accessory for any given console.

Anyway, here’s the list, which is very reminiscent of Nintendo-themed top ten lists from earlier this year… (more…)

Nintendo of America president Reggie FIls-Aime and I share a nuber of redeeming traits. We both are able to turn coal into diamonds using nothing but brute strength and our fists, for example (related note: Merry Xmas, babe!). We can also affect weather patterns worldwide using nothing but the white hot intensity of our personalities, which burn with the combined heat of a thousand suns. Oh, and we both hate console bundles.

We especially the ones that are ocasionally — OK, incessantly — forced upon us by retailers see consoles like the Wii as the incredibly popular moneymakers that they are. (more…)

Leave it Reggie to say what everyone I was already thinking months ago.

Today, GameDaily quotes Reggie Fils-Aime, the current godfather of all things Nintendo in the ever important American market, and he spewed a mouthful once again. Basically, Reggie told BMO Capital Markets today that, “The challenge that our competitors have is significant. They’ve gone down the path with building expensive machines that they lose money on. They’ve gone down the path with games that are hard to develop. They’ve put themselves in a box. I don’t know how they’re going to get out of it.”

GameDaily says it’s hard to argue with that sentiment today, given Nintendo’s insane profits compared to those other two, and I, obviously, agree. But I’m finding that my opinion is becoming less “fanman bias” every day and more what we in the biz call “fact.” Game drought? Anyone with Google can tell you it never really happened as badly as the Intertubes would have you believe.  Basically, it’s only been the most passionate of gamers who have felt its effects as far as the Wii’s software library is concerned. Still disagree? I’d argue now that you probably slept through 2007. Zak and Wiki? Trauma Center? Rabbids? Madden 2007? Resident Evil? All third party, all decent, and we haven’t even hit the Nintendo titles yet.

Now, is Reggie arrogant? Obviously yes, he is. But as the head of Nintendo USA that’s his job. He’s the hired muscle, and now he’s armed with an immense amount of market research and facts. And money. He is Donkey Kong personified, with a killer system and a dominant handheld to boot. And he’s going to let you know it.

I promise you I am not Reggie Fils-Aime blogging as a Nintendo fanman, nor am I channeling the great Reggie when I write posts like this one today. Put simply, over the weekend Reggie attacked the Nintendo attackers who say the Wii is a fad the proceeded to praise Halo and BioShock as tour de forces in the industry. He also said LittleBigPlanet is being released on the wrong system (too true, Regginator, too true!).

You would think that the DS, which was immediately labeled technologically weak and a fad by its competition, would have been enough to qualm these silly little diatribes about the Wii being a fad. Or even its game library which was nothing short of anemic in the period after its launch in 2005. That said, if anything we as a species have proven we are incapable of learning from the past and history, it would seem, is best digested in small chunks of time with an age no greater than one year. Anything beyond that and we risk inducing a headache. Reggie, fists bear and brow furled, is as always ready to address the criticism with equal parts education and ass kicking. (more…)

We often joke about Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime’s no holds barred quotes and conference keynote bravado, and we really shouldn’t since he can apparently fly and shoot lasers from his eyes.

But on a more serious note, he really does appear to believe in his products and that they will, ultimately, extinguish conventional thinking about video games.

For that Brandweek has bestowed their Marketer of the Year award on Reggie’s ass kicking brow. (more…)

Far be it from me to tell a high powered, high paid, ass kicking executive how to do his job, but I will anyway.

Reggie, where the heck is my Nintendo September Surprise? I forgot to change my desk calendar, so it still *appears* to be September, but deep in my gut I know it’s really October 8. On this fine Columbus Day here in the Americas I am feeling, in a word or five, let down and ripped off.

Where is the hard drive announcement? Or the surprise $50 price cut? Or the Midna full body massages?

So far, the Smash Bros. online functionality was cool if not a little ambiguous, and the NEO GEO VC games are a nice touch, but both are neither mega or ton in their impact on the daily lives of Nintendo supporters everywhere. If it weren’t for my blind devotion to the House of Mario I might dare say I feel a bit … disappointed this morning.

Straight from the source.

For all of the success the Wii has wrought for Nintendo, there is one area where the machine (and Nintendo’s strategy) has been woefully inadequate: production.

And it’s going to stay that way. Today, I found an interview at GameIndusty.biz with Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime that all but confirms there will be massive Wii shortages this holiday season.

Lest there be any remaining doubt about that in you minds:

“We’re working very hard to make sure that consumers are satisfied this holiday, but I can’t guarantee that we’re going to meet demand. As a matter of fact, I can tell you on the record that we won’t,” he said. “What I can tell you is that typically, our inventory is lasting a day… I don’t think we will know when supply crosses with demand until after the holiday season,” he said.

This whole production thing is vexing to me. On the one hand, I know nothing about supply chain management or manufacturing. On the other I have a calender and can see it’s been almost one year since the system launched. That said, I can also see that two sure-to-be incredible games are due out for the system in November and December. But, again, it’s been a frickin’ year! See? It’s confusing. Are they squeezing the chain to put the hype train into ludicrous speed, or have they fumbled the ball with poor facilities and management? Either way, Nintendo has had plenty of time to iron this out in time for the second holiday season. Right, or wrong?

Only 10 months after the release of Wii, Jack finally proposed. When Reggie tried to respond with a joyful profession of love for his new fiancé, Jack stopped him and said, “You had me at DS.”

The happy couple will recite their vows on the 19th of November, the one year anniversary of Wii going on sale. The Fanman and The Prez are registered at the Nintendo World Store.

Congratulations from your Infendo Family!

Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime is promising a Wii inventory stream of Flomax proportions this winter to coincide with the holiday season. With every analyst and industry watcher predicting that this holiday will be a megaton event for the entire video games industry in terms of sales, I hope he’s right.

System sellers like Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy are sure to strain that supply chain, and even Reggie is telling people to key an eye on the shelves to snatch up Wii’s when they see them. Add on top of that the fact that WiiFit currently has a Jan 2 listing (and a new $99 price point!), and the situation could reach Disaster Day of Crisis proportions (no, I don’t mean that it will be non-existent, I mean things could get very riot-like).

There was a question posed this weekend on Infendo radio of who has had more of an impact on Nintendo, Reggie or Miyamoto. My initial answer was that since being hired in 2003 Reggie has been the driving force for the rebirth of Nintendo and is the reason I am here so for me Reggie is the impact player at Nintendo. So a day goes by and I am watching my girlfriend play Super Paper Mario. I ask her which of the characters she enjoys plaing more and while I assume her answer would be Princess Peach (she always leans towards the female characters) she responded withour hesitation “Mario”.
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