Nintendo on 3DS eye warnings and response, wide game range, core games, 3rd parties, piracy, innovation, Wii successor

A portion of a SPOnG interview with Nintendo UK’s James Honeywell…

SPOnG: It’s been recommended that children under the age of six do not use the 3D functions of the handheld because it might cause undesirable effects on their eyes.

James Honeywell: Ah! You’re right. Ultimately, all 3D technology has that kind of warning on it. And all Nintendo has done is just try to make sure we’re responsible and try to make sure we’re communicating that information up front. We’re suggesting that anyone under the age of six doesn’t use the 3D functionality. We’ve provided a parental lock, so that responsible parents can make sure that they can choose what’s right for their children.

It’s just something that we are aware of, and therefore we want to make sure we’re being completely above-board. You’re right, there is a warning on the packaging, again to make sure that people are aware of it. And it’s just for people to make up their own minds at the end of the day, whether or not they think it’s right for their children.

SPOnG: And how have retailers reacted to that sort of publicity? Have they been supportive? Have they cut down their shipments in response?

James Honeywell: No, I don’t think it’s affected any form of appetite for the unit whatsoever. I don’t think we actually ever promote gaming to the under-six anyway. I know you get age ratings from the age of “3+”, but people often misunderstand what that means.

A “3+” title just means that the content within the game is suitable for anyone over that age, not that you should be playing it from the age of three. So we’re just making sure we’re being upfront. None of our retailers are having any kind of issue, and I think part of that is down to how we’ve handled this situation.

SPOnG: The launch lineup looks to be quite heavy on the core games, like Mario Kart, but also has the odd casual title like Nintendogs. A good mix, basically. Is this all reaction to core gamer feedback regarding the Wii’s current situation? Are you trying to make amends?

James Honeywell: I think that really all we’ve done is created the Nintendo 3DS, and given developers a toolkit of various different functionalities - one of which is the 3D, obviously. It’s kind of up to the developers to decide what games that they launch on the platform. Whether it’s Konami with PES or Team Ninja with Dead or Alive, it’s actually been their choice as to what games they create for it.

You can also see from our side, that we’re trying to make sure that we have our big franchises out there. You mentioned Mario Kart - but that’s actually a massively popular title that appeals to a huge kind of audience. I think overall, what we wanted to do was work with teams who can bring something new to their franchises, and try to offer as wide a possible range of games for the platform. Hopefully we’ve succeeded in that we’ve got games from everyone, whether you like shooting, driving, first-person, third-person… pet sims… there’s something for everyone.

SPOnG: Did you have the Wii’s current situation in regards to core games in mind, when you decided on your 3DS lineup? I remember a while ago hearing Satoru Iwata say that how the company had shifted its focus towards its blue ocean strategy in recent years and that it has to grab back its core fanbase. Do you think this lineup is Nintendo following through on that?

James Honeywell: I know people talk a lot about Nintendo’s success recently, and how a lot of that seems to come from titles like Wii Fit and Brain Training and so forth. But perhaps some people forget that we still make all of the classic games that we’ve always made.

Today we showed Legend of Zelda, hinted at Mario Kart, we have things like Kid Icarus… but even when you look at the Wii and DS, we still make all of those classic Nintendo titles that everybody grew up with and love. So I don’t think, from our point of view, that the 3DS lineup was any kind of reaction. Nintendo’s still doing what it does best, and it’s allowing its third party partners to develop the games that they want to develop.

SPOnG: Are you worried about hacking devices like the R4 popping up on 3DS? With new technologies you’re obviously going to be a bit more forthcoming in how you protect your hardware. Do you have anything in place, infrastructure wise, that might combat that behaviour, like software updates?

James Honeywell: It’s a difficult question to answer really, because it’s almost like a rag to a bull in that anyone who says “anything is uncrackable” is going to get a lot more attention…

SPOnG: Oh, no - I simply meant to ask if you were aware of any potential threat?

James Honeywell: Well, we’ve had a few landmark cases recently, and obviously again it’s devices like the R4 and so forth - so now it is technically illegal to distribute and sell those products here. So I would hope that any legislation that is in force and that will allow us to have that safe security against similar activity on Nintendo 3DS.

SPOnG: There’s a lot of support from third parties such as Capcom, Tecmo Koei and Konami. One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of their support seems to be in the form of ports of already-existing titles. Would you be trying to nurture a relationship with them to get more original content from them further down the line? Where do you see third party support going forward?

James Honeywell: Again, ultimately it comes down to their decisions as to what titles they bring to our format. Obviously, we try to have good relationships with them, we try to encourage them to innovate and to try new things. I think we’ve seen some fantastic games today, things that will give us an amazing lineup. And I’m sure there’ll be a hell of a lot of innovation still to come. Once they really understand how to combine various different functions you’ll see a whole new wave of games come out in the future.

SPOnG: With the 3DS succeeding the Nintendo DS, it seems that we’re entering a new cycle of consoles across the board. How long do you think it will be until a Wii successor is announced?

James Honeywell: [Laughs] I really couldn’t say. Today is about 3DS, and for us to talk about hypothetical or theoretical other platforms. We’re all aware that as a company we don’t stand still. No-one stands still. We’re always looking to develop something new. That latest thing we’re bringing to the market is Nintendo 3DS - what comes after that? Who knows.