Nintendo’s president said yesterday that anti-piracy measures would be beefed up in its planned handheld game device with 3D technology in a move to guard against software theft.
Nintendo Co president Satoru Iwata was otherwise tight-lipped about the machine, which the Japanese game maker said in March would be shown at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles next month.
It’s set to go on sale sometime in the fiscal year through March next year, according to the Kyoto-based maker of Super Mario and Pokemon games.
The problem of piracy is serious, especially in Asia and Europe, and contributed to the recent drop in game software sales in Europe, Iwata said at a Tokyo hotel.
He declined to go into details on the planned measures, saying such comments would merely give “hints” to the culprits.
Iwata was also concerned people were becoming more tolerant of piracy.
“We fear a kind of thinking is becoming widespread that paying for software is meaningless,” he said. “We have a strong sense of crisis about this problem.”
Nintendo is banking on a new DS-type handheld with 3D capabilities that doesn’t require special glasses to spur new growth in the gaming industry. But analysts are withholding judgment because no one has yet seen the machine.
Iwata acknowledged people were already worried about the possible health effects of 3D gaming, such as on children’s eyesight.
He promised it would be easy to turn off the 3D function on the new machine, allowing people to play games with or without 3D.
Nintendo’s earnings dropped for the fiscal year ended March 31, battered by a price cut for the Wii home console and sliding global sales despite some signs of recovery in year-end sales, sending Nintendo stock tumbling 9 percent to close at ¥27,800 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
It is forecasting sales to fall 2.4 percent and profit to slide 12.5 percent for the fiscal year through March next year.
The company expects to sell 18 million Wii machines during the year following sales of 20 million for the previous year.
Iwata noted Japanese media reports on Wii sales losing momentum following the earnings report on Thursday, but stressed that 20 million and 18 million were both good numbers and a “high hurdle” as a sales record to beat.
“I’m not pessimistic, and this is not a pessimistic forecast,” he said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source