Nintendo to introduce new games console

Nintendo Co Ltd has plans for a new kind of games console and software for emerging markets as early as next year, to capitalise on higher entertainment budgets amidst a growing middle class, the chief executive of the company told Reuters today.

According to Satoru Iwata, Nintendo would develop hardware and games oriented towards consumers with lower incomes and less gaming experience than those in developed countries.

Also, Nintendo was looking for new business opportunities as it buckled down and sought to stem losses on its latest home game console, the Wii U, which had flopped in sharp  contrasted with blockbuster sales for rival Sony Corp's Playstation 4.

According to Satoru, there were no plans for launching hardware such as the Wii U or 3DS in emerging markets, including China.

He said it would be difficult to enter those markets if the company did not create something new. He said for the mass market one needed to provide something that most of the middle class could afford.

Iwata declined to offer more details about the design and specification of a new device of the type. He also did not specify the countries where it would be sold, but said only that "emerging markets" referred to those whose gaming potential had not yet been cracked.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that Nintendo was also planning to boost the use of characters such as Mario by offering figurines that allowed the transfer of game information between devices through near-field communications (NFC). Disney's Infinity and Actvision's Skylander had used the tactic successfully.

Nintendo had resisted making its games available on smartphones as it did not see a sustainable way to make money in a business with such boom-and-bust cycles, Iwata, who had been president since 2002 said. Making products specifically aimed at markets was a change for the company, which until now had sold the same products globally.

Bloomberg quoted Iwata as saying in Tokyo today, that the company wanted to make new things, with new thinking rather than a cheaper version of what it currently had.

He added, the product and price balance needed to be made from scratch.

In a recent move China lifted a 13-year ban on selling video-game consoles, after which Microsoft said it would introduce its Xbox One there in September.

The country's video-game industry was expected to generate $10 billion in sales next year, PricewaterhouseCoopers said and according to Iwata the company was studying regulations regarding entry into China.