Iwata: Wii U still has considerable room for growth, teases Mii smartphone app

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has maintained his staunch support for Wii U, arguing that the machine’s best days are ahead of it, particularly in the West.

I believe the Wii U business still has considerable room for growth, as a number of software titles that are compatible with the console are slated for release in 2015,” he told Nikkei.

The way Japanese gamers enjoy video games is different from their counterparts in the West. More and more Japanese gamers play on smartphones and 3DS hand-held devices. On the other hand, a majority of gamers in Europe and the US still connect their consoles to TVs and play them on a bigger screen. In the global video game market, game titles for consoles are still dominant, and that market is much larger.”

The comments come after analyst Michael Pachter accused the company of being "still in denial” about the console’s prospects.

Sales of the Wii U in the half year ending September hit 1.12m – over double the 460k sold in the same period the year before.

Iwata also confirmed the development of a Mii app for smartphones.

In the past, I have opposed making smartphone and tablet versions of Nintendo titles,” he added. Prices for content aimed at smartphones and tablets are falling quickly. I am still wary of the category. We intend to develop products that will allow customers to identify with Nintendo products and make people pay attention to Nintendo games.

For example, some Nintendo game consoles incorporate Mii, which creates a digital avatar to represent players. It would be fun for players to use their Mii characters as icons on social media. We are currently developing an application that will allow users to do that. The app will be announced around the time our full-year results are released.”