Nintendo president puzzled by investor reaction to Wii U

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said he was surprised at the tumble in the company's share price following the unveiling of a successor to its smash hit Wii games console, adding that the new gadget had to be played to be understood.

Shares in Nintendo fell almost 10 percent in the two days following the company's splashy presentation of the Wii U, which features a tablet-style controller and high-definition graphics, and goes on sale next year.

"Honestly speaking, the reaction to (Tuesday's) presentation and what I heard from people I met and the mood of the convention did not chime at all with what happened in the stock market," Iwata said in an interview at the E3 games show in Los Angeles on Wednesday. "It's very strange."

But he added that the reaction reminded him of the mixed reaction to the original Wii in 2006 and that it showed that those who had not experienced the new gadget did not fully understand its potential.

"In the end, it is easy to get the mistaken impression that this is just a game console with a tablet," he said. "People who came to the presentation and tried it out have understood very well that it opens up a lot of new possibilities. But people who have not tried it will find it hard to believe that this controller will change things."

In the year following the launch of the first Wii in November 2006, shares in Nintendo tripled but have since given up all those gains. The stock was down 0.6 percent at 16,080 yen on Friday.

Nintendo is emphasizing its plans for the Wii U to bring together the casual gamers who bought the Wii and the more dedicated "core" gamers who tend to prefer rival Sony's Playstation or Microsoft's Xbox.

"At the moment, there is a barrier between the Wii, which is seen as for casual users and the other companies' consoles, which are seen as for core gamers. We are questioning whether that barrier needs to be there," said Iwata.

To that end, Nintendo worked hard on winning over the third-party game developers favored by serious gamers, who failed to back the Wii.

At E3 this week, both Electronic Arts Inc, known for its sports titles, and Activision Blizzard, the owners of the Call of duty shooter franchise, voiced strong support for the Wii U.

Sony back in stride at E3 videogame extravaganza

People queued for hours on Thursday to try Sony's next-generation gaming handset or peeks at a 3D "Drake's Uncharted" videogame being released later this year.

Crowds thronged Sony booths each day of an Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) extravaganza as the Japanese firm put its back to an embarrassing hack of its online network for games, films and music.

"It's been a great E3 for us," Sony spokeswoman Julie Webber said as videogame industry insiders tried upcoming titles and the PlayStation Vita gaming handset.

"There has been a lot of buzz," she continued. "We're 100 percent committed to consumer satisfaction and safety with PlayStation Network, but this is our chance to really show all the new content and hardware we have coming out."

Sony introduced "PS Vita" and blockbuster 3D console titles at E3 as it sought to shake off the stigma of cyber attacks on its system.

PSN was shut down after hackers broke in and looted user data. Sony brought the system back online gradually the week before E3 after hardening its defenses.

"Despite all the craziness, it was a very proud moment, in a way, to be working there because there was so much resilient focus on how to make this right and bring back the best entertainment experience," PSN senior director Susan Panico said in an interview.

"A lot of people in the company hunkered down for days working on a 24-seven basis to resolve this," she continued. "I was proud of the way people pulled together."

Content is king when it comes to entertainment, and Sony believes its troves of movies, music and videogames put it in a position to keep and win fans of its devices and services.

"We have movie studios, record labels, games and consumer electronics technology," she said. "We see PSN as a backbone of entertainment that ultimately transcends Sony devices."

PSN boasts about 77 million registered accounts, with nearly half of those belonging to people in North America.

Panico saw current trends in playing games on smartphones or tablet computers as complementing videogame consoles which offer more cinematic and sophisticated experiences and link to the Internet "cloud."

"Certainly every form of entertainment competes for people's time," Panico acknowledged. "What's great about smartphones or tablets is they are gateways into gaming when people want more immersive, deeper experiences."

A "holy grail" for the videogame industry is to have content converge in the "cloud" where it can be accessed through arrays of Internet-linked devices, according to Panico.

"For the foreseeable future there is a place in the living room for consoles like the PlayStation," she said. "You're not going to download one of these games on the infrastructure in the United States, that's for sure."

In a bid to make 3D more ubiquitous, Sony will release a 24-inch (61-centimeter) display for the format bundled with special glasses, an HDMI cable and a copy of the coming "Resistance 3" videogame at a package price of US$500.

Sony is certain that console videogame lovers want to be more immersed than ever in big, bold on-screen adventures.

The gamemaker is backing its belief with blockbuster 3D titles, motion-based controls and a Sharp Shooter faux assault rifle which players can use to pick off in-game enemies.

Sony expanded the appeal of its Move motion-sensing PS3 controls with an array of sophisticated titles, including basketball, shooters and a coming version of "Bioshock" tailored for the devices.

A PS Vita model that connects to the Internet only using Wi-Fi will be priced at US$249, while a version of the gadget featuring 3G connectivity to telecom data services will be priced at US$299.

PS Vita is due to launch in Japan, Europe and the United States by the end of the year.

The portable system features a five-inch (12.7 cm) multi-touch OLED screen with a touch control pad on the back for "touch, grab, trace, push and pull" finger motions. The handset also has front and rear facing cameras, along with a pair of console-like toggles for playing fighter, shooter and action games.

Sony Computer Entertainment chief Kazuo Hirai acknowledged that Vita is launching at a time when smartphones are becoming increasingly popular gaming gadgets but was confident the new-generation portable would win over players.

■単語

throng
音節throng 発音記号/θr????｜θr???/音声を聞く
【名詞】【可算名詞】
[集合的に] 群衆; 人だかり 〔of〕《★【用法】 集合体と考える時には単数，構成要素を考える時には複数扱い》.
用例
a throng of people [seagulls] 人[カモメ]の群れ.
【動詞】 【自動詞】
群がる，殺到する.
用例
They thronged around him. 彼らは彼の周りに群がった.
【他動詞】
〈場所に〉群がる; 押しかける，殺到する 《★しばしば受身で用い，前置詞は with》.
用例
People thronged the church to hear the sermon. その説教を聞こうと人々が教会に押しかけた.

embarrass
embarrass
音節em・bar・rass 発音記号/?mb?ar?s, em‐/音声を聞く
【動詞】 【他動詞】
1〈人を〉(人前で)恥ずかしい思いをさせる，きまり悪がらせる，まごつかせる 《しばしば過去分詞で形容詞的に用いる; ⇒embarrassed 1; ★【類語】 ⇒→bewilder》.
用例
Meeting new people embarrasses Tom. 初めての人たちに会うとトムはどぎまぎしてしまう.
2〈人を〉金銭上困らせる，〈人に〉借金を負わせる 《★通例 過去分詞で形容詞的に用いる; ⇒embarrassed 2》.
［スペイン語「妨げる」の意; 【名詞】 embarrassment］

blockbuster
音節block・bust・er 発音記号/bl?kb`?st?｜bl??kb`?st?/
【名詞】【可算名詞】
1超大型爆弾.
2《口語》 強い影響[感銘]を与える人[もの]; 大ヒット作.
用例
That movie is a blockbuster. あの映画はすごいヒット作だ.
3《米口語》 ブロックバスティング (blockbusting) をする投機家.

stigma
音節stig・ma 発音記号/stigm?/音声を聞く
【名詞】
(《複数形》 音節stig・mas，3 では stig・ma・ta 発音記号/st?gm????, stigm?‐/)
1【可算名詞】 汚名，恥辱.
2【可算名詞】 【植物, 植物学】 柱頭.
3【可算名詞】 [the stigmata] 【キリスト教】 聖痕(こん) 《聖人の身体に現われた，十字架上のキリストの傷と同一形状のもの》.
［ギリシャ語「印」の意］

loot
音節loot 発音記号/lu?t/音声を聞く
【名詞】【不可算名詞】
1a[集合的に] 戦利品，略奪品; 盗品.
b略奪(行為).
2(公務員などの)不正利得.
3《俗語》 金(かね).
【動詞】 【他動詞】
1a〈物品を〉分捕る.
b〈都市・家などから〉略奪する.
2〈…を〉不正収得する，横領する.
【自動詞】
1略奪を行なう.
2横領する.
音節loot・er 発音記号/‐??｜‐t?/ 【名詞】
［ヒンディー語から］

craziness
【名詞】
1
愚かな、または無分別な行為
(foolish or senseless behavior)

2
軽率でばかげていること
(the quality of being rash and foolish)

3
精神異常のための非公式の用語
(informal terms for insanity)

resilient
音節re・sil・ient 発音記号/r?zilj?nt/
【形容詞】
1はね[とび]返る; 弾力のある.
2たちまち元気を回復する; 快活な，溌刺(はつらつ)とした.
resiliently 【副詞】

hunker
音節hun・ker 発音記号/h???k?｜‐k?/
【動詞】 【自動詞】
しゃがむ，うずくまる 〈down〉.

troves
名詞
Plural form of trove.
アナグラム
stover
strove
voters

ubiquitous
音節u・biq・ui・tous 発音記号/ju?bikw???s/
【形容詞】
1(同時に)至る所にある，遍在する.
2〈人が〉至る所に姿を現わす.
ubiquitously 【副詞】
ubiquitousness 【名詞】

faux
のど

assault
音節as・sault 発音記号/?s???lt/音声を聞く
【名詞】
1【可算名詞】 突然襲いかかること，急襲，強襲 〔on，upon〕.
用例
carry [take] an enemy position by assault 敵陣を強襲して占領する 《★by assault は無冠詞》.
2【不可算名詞】 [具体的には 【可算名詞】]
a【法律, 法学】 暴行.
b《婉曲》 強姦，レイプ.

名詞としての「assault」のイディオムやフレーズ
assault and battery
【動詞】 【他動詞】
1〈人・陣地を〉急襲する，強襲する.
2a【法律, 法学】〈人に〉暴行する.
b《婉曲》〈女性を〉レイプする.
［ラテン語「跳びかかる」の意 (AS‐+sal?re 「跳ぶ」); ASSAIL と同語源］