Nintendo's Uncertain future.

[Rocca]

It's nice that he thinks that not everything better looking means more fun, but come on, open your eyes a bit. Here's the full article thanks to IGN. Tell me what ya think.

Interview: Satoru Iwata
Says that a higher performance machine is not the answer.
February 13, 2004 - The Nihon Keizai Shimbun recently interviewed Nintendo Co. Ltd. president Satoru Iwata, who talked about the company's plans for the immediate future, how it has taken to studying Internet feedback to gauge trends, why he's still not convinced of the online model and more. Here are some highlights from the interview:

Iwata told the paper that the price cut of Nintendo's home console GameCube to $99.99 helped the company overtake Sony in sales at one point. He said that overall sales of the console in North America and Europe have "been going as we intended," but that the company is "having a hard time reading the Japanese market." He added that strong sales last year proved that GameCube is far from a dead platform.

The Nintendo president said that one of the firm's long-term goals is to increase its customer base. "The development of the Nintendo DS, which features a unique videogame experience, is one of our attempts at it," he said.

In addition, Nintendo has started to study customer responses on the Internet, Iwata explained and added: "My predecessor was a genius at sensing what people want, but I want to take a more scientific approach to read customer needs."

Quizzed by the paper on Nintendo's next-generation console, Iwata replied: "I do not believe releasing a higher performance machine is the solution. Our hardware development team is thinking about the next move, but I cannot tell you about it."

Iwata continued to criticize the online business model. "Many people believe that online games are the next big thing. But I wonder how much revenues Microsoft and Sony have made from online games," he said and added, "I don't think the current online games have adopted the right business model, and people will not pay money for them."

Iwata did note, however, that Nintendo would continue to explore networked videogames. "For example, we may think about using wireless communications to enhance the enjoyment of a videogame."

Source: Nikkei Business Daily

[NoFace]

Iwata continued to criticize the online business model. "Many people believe that online games are the next big thing. But I wonder how much revenues Microsoft and Sony have made from online games," he said and added, "I don't think the current online games have adopted the right business model, and people will not pay money for them."

Translation: While gamers might have tons of fun playing our titles online, since Sony and Microsoft aren't making money off of this concept, we won't let our fans enjoy online titles. Also, I have no idea that Xbox Live is quite popular and that lots of people frequently pay money to take advantage of it.


...God that's depressing.

[Rocca]

Yeah, alot of Gc titles would be a hell of alot of fun online, shame they won't wake up and just try it, even if the main goal is profit they can try taking a risk here and there.

[RedCoKid]

$40-50 for internet access through my cable company isn't cheap. Would I prefer to play 1-3 good online games per year or play 12 more alone? Tough call. I don't blame Nintendo for not jumping on the internet bandwagon, but creating games that require >$50 extra with peripherals is even worse. I wish they would've spent the time & money invested in DS development on developing original GCN games instead.

[Rocca]

Yeah, would have made their situation a whole lot easier and maybe more people would have bought the GC.

[Drewbacca]

haha.

[Roufuss]

$40-50 for internet access through my cable company isn't cheap. Would I prefer to play 1-3 good online games per year or play 12 more alone? Tough call. I don't blame Nintendo for not jumping on the internet bandwagon, but creating games that require >$50 extra with peripherals is even worse. I wish they would've spent the time & money invested in DS development on developing original GCN games instead.

Shit, if they made Mario Kart, F-Zero, or Pokemon online, and wanted to charge for them, I'd be all over that shit.

Pokemon is BEGGING for the MMORPG treatment, so fuck you Nintendo.

And about the DS, Nintendo is going to concentrate more on it's handheld market because it's where they currently make the majority of their cash from. It's way too late in this generation for Nintendo to make it up with the GC now.

[Mzo]

I want them to support the Cube until 2007 or whenever they originally said they'd support it until.

[Tommy Tallarico]

Anyone who's shocked at the fact that everyone at Nintendo is dangerously out of touch needs to pay attention more.

[Mamoscott]

Also, I have no idea that Xbox Live is quite popular and that lots of people frequently pay money to take advantage of it.

Less than 5% of Xbox owners utilizing the service is quite popular? And who are these idiots that are frequently paying money for Xbox Live? You get free trials for almost every Live-enabled game these days, and a lot of people are still on their free year of service for buying the kit.

I know it's cool to hate on Nintendo for not going online as soon as possible, but neither Microsoft nor Sony has proven that Nintendo's position in this regard is a stupid one.