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Iwata implies he may resign over poor business performance

ffdgh said:
He did screw up the names for the 3ds and wii u.....but him resigning would probably do more harm than good.....unless they can magically find someone super tech savy that can really improve the online system.
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Oh lord... Yeah, Iwata personally programmed their online backends so he needs to leave and a better programmer to replace him for it to improve. Logic! I also love people holding him responsible for everything that ever goes wrong, because obviously, he makes every decision personally and anyone else on the same task would magically ensure everything is done on time and at their best quality, that's how primarily creatively driven businesses like this work! Magic! Iwata is neither fully to blame for everything that's gone wrong nor fully responsible for everything that went right and without being inside there you can't pinpoint it to any degree just because of the statement he made due to guilt and/or to protect others.
 
zomgbbqftw said:
What they need to do is stop being so deluded with their hardware forecasts. It is getting highly questionable that they start so high and end so low. Nintendo need to get real about how much their hardware is going to sell. They have still overestimated Wii U sales by 500k and that miss is going to hurt them in April, missing a downgraded forecast is bad, worse than missing an originally lower one.
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Indeed. Bullish projections are nice early on, but when you can't/don't hit them, it's damaging. There are realistic goals and then there are Nintendo goals.
 
Petrae said:
I agree with this. Fils-Aime's "tough guy" act has gotten stale and lack of major success over last couple of years should signal opening for a new face at the helm-- even if it would be as a puppet, as many claim that this position entails.
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Reggie is a clown. I''ve long got bored with his act at E3. On the other hand I do like Iwata.
 
Erethian said:
NoA definitely needs a management shakeup, in light of it consistently being their worst-performing territory with the 3DS. It's not like NoE isn't facing a lot of the same issues either, so you can't just put it down to economic or market problems.
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i think noa's problems are mostly ncl's restrictions. often, there's a lot (a lot) of red tape between japanese and american companies, even if they're the same one. the approval process, for instance, can be extremely frustrating.
 
Better late than never.
Iwata's latest mistake was to totally mess up the Wii U launch and squander Wii/Wii Sports appeal/Momentum. He does not have a clue how to rescue the Wii U launch fiasco. Despite pleasing the Nintendo fans, the latest Nintendo Direct will have little effect on the massive stock of Wii U consoles gathering dust in Warehouses and retailer's shelves.

My Message to Nintendo is Keep it simple and you need "Shock & Awe". Remember that your biggest Market for Home consoles is USA and Europe.

A new CEO can change Nintendo. Goodbye Iwata.
 
Petrae said:
Indeed. Bullish projections are nice early on, but when you can't/don't hit them, it's damaging. There are realistic goals and then there are Nintendo goals.
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Well, yes, they need to give more realistic forecasts. Even slightly lower than what you think, just to "surprise" shareholders.
 
Cheesemeister said:
The question was, would he "take responsibility" for not achieving the goal, i.e. resign. Iwata didn't deny that it was a possibility, emphasizing it was his commitment to achieve it.
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This could be cultural, but to me it read more like deflecting/refraining to answer.
 
The thing is, I feel like they (Nintendo) are chasing the unobtainable. They have their sights set way to damn high and its obviously gonna backlash, Its almost as if Iwata is setting his goals extremely high on purpose in order to prove something, as if its all or nothing. The last hurrah if you will. Hopefully he doesn't go, the guys really trying his best and there is no other ceo on the planet as humble as this guy, not to mention he's actually knowledgeable and in love with this industry, he's been apart of Nintendo for a long time contributing a lot to it. Good luck Iwata, I'm rooting for ya.
 
Delio said:
If Iwata was to leave I wonder who would replace him. I also wonder what direction Nintendo would go. High end again? Is that what people are hoping for?
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i think the only way you get a replacement is if you get a person to be a yes-man to the shareholders. nintendo games on phones, technologically competitive systems- that stuff.

i mean, you don't just get rid of a guy because you don't like the way the company is going and then hope you get a guy who's doing pretty much the same thing.
 
AniHawk said:
i think noa's problems are mostly ncl's restrictions. often, there's a lot (a lot) of red tape between japanese and american companies, even if they're the same one. the approval process, for instance, can be extremely frustrating.
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I could understand that if it was affecting the European arm equally, but it doesn't seem to.
 
Is that number even possible since the Wii U's situation is unlikely to improve until late this year when the heavy hitters start arriving?
 
Alextended said:
Oh lord... Yeah, Iwata personally programmed their online backends so he needs to leave and a better programmer to replace him for it to improve. Logic! I also love people holding him responsible for everything that ever goes wrong, because obviously, he makes every decision personally and anyone else on the same task would magically ensure everything is done on time and at their best quality, that's how creative businesses work!
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Hmm never meant to imply that.
 
EatChildren said:
I like Iwata. I don't know if he has the know how to dig Nintendo out of their current position without doing the things they most definitely do not want to do, but I'm not sure many/anybody does. But I like him. I like listening to him speak. I am convinced he comes from an honest, software quality first place. And I think he has a good head on his shoulders for keeping the games fun at Nintendo.

If he were to resign, it would be nice if he stayed on, at the very least to host Nintendo Direct. I like him as a face of Nintendo.
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I completely agree.
 
AniHawk said:
i think noa's problems are mostly ncl's restrictions. often, there's a lot (a lot) of red tape between japanese and american companies, even if they're the same one. the approval process, for instance, can be extremely frustrating.
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How come NoE isn't struggling with this?
Seriously its just 'blame Japan' - fact is NoA has been fucking up for a while.

If NoJ is stopping them doing stuff NoE is doing; then its obvious that NoA is not being clear or making their case well enough.

Anyway - NoA is not a franchisee; their the local office in the US. Ofc there will be red tape.
If you don't think its similar between America to Japanese local offices then I'd ask for some examples of NoJ's smothering of NoA policies.

Fact that NoE >>> NoA says a lot.
 
AniHawk said:
i think noa's problems are mostly ncl's restrictions. often, there's a lot (a lot) of red tape between japanese and american companies, even if they're the same one. the approval process, for instance, can be extremely frustrating.
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I get that NOA is basically a puppet regime, but that doesn't change the argument that Fils-Aime has become stale and his "kicking ass & taking names" MO no longer works because Nintendo simply isn't dominant. He hasn't backed off of that character one bit, acting standoff-ish around any press that doesn't acknowledge Nintendo's greatness.

Get a new personality already. You can be resolute and supportive of your company without being a dunderhead. New blood, new representation for the Nintendo message would be most welcome.
 
SolidSnakex said:
Is that number even possible since the Wii U's situation is unlikely to improve until late this year when the heavy hitters start arriving?
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Depends how fast they can cut their production costs and how good their marketing will collaborate with their March-games (and summer/fall games).
 
AniHawk said:
i think the only way you get a replacement is if you get a person to be a yes-man to the shareholders. nintendo games on phones, technologically competitive systems- that stuff.

i mean, you don't just get rid of a guy because you don't like the way the company is going and then hope you get a guy who's doing pretty much the same thing.
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A yes man would be terrible. And yet I can see people going for that rather easily.
 
2MF said:
I checked their historical data. Since 1998, the only years they haven't achieved 100 bln yen op. profit were 2001, 2006 and 2012.

I do see a pattern there ;)
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grandjedi6 said:
So console launches. Of course.
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was about to say this too. Not sure what other pattern you were hinting at...

Cheesecakebobby said:
Globally operating Japanese companies really ought to look to Western practices regarding who takes responsibility when there is a problem in the business. Well I guess it isn't just in business, everywhere you look there is this tendency that when a problem arises within a group it must be due to one person and it is up to them to admit error for the good of the collective. I haven't lived here all that long and I've already lost track of how many Prime Ministers have come and gone...
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this is an opinion I can get behind. I find it hard to believe one man at the top of the chain is responsible for all of Nintendo's troubles. Maybe resigning as president is considered the noble thing to do in Japan, because it protects the jobs of those in the company which may otherwise be considered accountable for its performance.

But that sure as hell doesn't seem to be in the best interest of Nintendo as a whole.
 
I've said it before, but I am not a fan of Iwata-run Nintendo. Once he took the "pedestal" in early/mid GCN generation, is when I (and I assume many others) started noticing his philosophies and business strategies become apparent in the product...and it's a stark difference to what was just a few years before. And of course, once he got a console launch all to himself (Wii), many of the elements were glaringly apparent.

It would be interesting to see who would replace him, but it would have to be someone better. I know I said I'm not a fan of Iwata outright, but there could be worse.
 
Some change clearly would benefit Nintendo (if they manage to have the right people... so who? I don't know).

But in a way I think that giving the economy and the context (f2p, mobile phones...) and the very optimistic objectives Nintendo had, he can have some time. Maybe till next Christmas.

And seriously 3DS is selling bad? I must have the fanboy blindness because for me it was selling pretty good :/
I'm having fun with mine for sure and if I can understand why a lot of people are not interested in the Wii U, I think the 3DS clearly deserves more attention.
 
thuway said:
Please start. I worked at NOA at one point in time as well. So feel free.
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Really briefly:

You said Iwata is responsible for the company's "conservative approach" which is ridiculous. A conservative approach would be to release hardware that is simply the same+ but instead Nintendo went with the incredibly risky decision to drop the Gameboy line and run with motion controls, both of which could have been abysmal failures.

You also state that on the software front, Nintendo relies on past success, also ignoring that a large portion of Nintendo's best performing games were new IPs (Wii Sports, Brain Age, Wii Fit, etc).

Bonus points: what does working at NOA have to do with a discussion about macro Nintendo decisions, or Iwata specifically?
 
Petrae said:
Get a new personality already. You can be resolute and supportive of your company without being a dunderhead. New blood, new representation for the Nintendo message would be most welcome.
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I don't think its an act. In fact I think NoA's problems go to serious culture issues within management.

Look at Black Friday. Reggie basically decided to sell the DS; Wii and WiiU whilst leaving the 3DS blowing in the wind. December tells you that the product and software is there; the rest of the year tells us that NoA isn't managing to catch the consumers attention up front.

They should have done much better. Reggie instead decided handhelds weren't where it was at and went all in with the WiiU; this is despite both NoE and NoJ holding back - probably because Iwata made everyone aware of the software situation months before launch.

NoA is fucking up and when your the one part of the organisation taking a different route and also the least well performing part of the organisation then you are the problem. Blaming Japan is silly; NoA needs to communicate more effectively and strategise better.
 
I don't see that implication anywhere, I read it as Iwata saying that he feels responsible for the bad performance and that gives him the drive to turn it around.
 
He should put resources into making a new Nintendogs. Not only did it sell gangbusters software-wise, but it pretty much was the turning point for DS sales. I am surprised it has not been done already infact with the 3DS or WiiU, but it is probably too late t this point.
 
that will be a very bad day next year if this comes true

when Nintendo is in trouble Iwata stepping down could easily kill the company, or in the least change it forever
 
Perhaps it might be for the best when it comes to the company's business ethics. At the same time it'd be kind of sad though. I like Iwata, I think he has a charming image to him that just doesn't exist with the other companies and he's got quite of a humble stage presence for lack of a better word. It just adds onto what I feel is part of all the character associated with Nintendo. It's not just the games we associate with them, it's the people behind them.
 
Well, ultimately, this is a business and in any good business, three years of losses would get most CEOs canned. It would be sad though, Iwata is easily likeable and I have always felt he is a true champions for the industry. I think the core values he holds for Nintendo are good ones.

I think he's stuck in a hard place. He is loyal to the principles that made Nintendo insanely rich and successful, which is what you'd expect him to do, but he I don't think he has adapted the company enough. The software drought for Wii U is inexcusable, especially so when you consider they suffered the exact same problems with 3DS.

On the positive side, you best believe Super Mario Wii U & Mario Kart are coming 2013.
 
Eaten By A Grue said:
He should put resources into making a new Nintendogs. Not only did it sell gangbusters software-wise, but it pretty much was the turning point for DS sales. I am surprised it has not been done already infact with the 3DS or WiiU, but it is probably too late t this point.
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Nintendogs was a 3DS launch title. Those games are done.
 
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