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Iwata implies he may resign over poor business performance

Super Metroid. One of the greatest games ever made.

Since then we had nothing for nearly 10 years and then the series got absolutely raped senseless with 2 GBA games that lacked the great level design and 3 cookie cutter western FPS games in quick succession. Completely ruining the special aura that Metroid had.

They can never take Super Metroid from me but they've really tarnished the Series, much like Square has with Final Fantasy!

The less said with farming it out to Team Ninja the better!

Shameful treatment of a legendary series.

Psst: Zero Mission is so much better than Super Metroid that it isn't even funny.
 
I've been thinking about this recently, and I wonder if a lot of those folks (people who bought a Wii) look at the Wii U as a bit of a step back. It doesn't come with a remote and it's back to dual analog with no real motion controls. I almost wonder if Nintendo should have simply improved the remote and saved the tablet for another day. I've heard about people looking at the Wii Pad and just getting confused, not by the screen, but by how many buttons it has and the overall complicated nature of it.

Don't get me wrong, it's a novel idea, but for people who liked the Wii, why would they go back to playing "the old way"? They can do that already with other systems.

I agree. Even though I like the tablet (And love off-tv play), I couldn't help but be disappointed that they "abandoned" the wiimote. Now, of course, they still use it as a secondary controller, but I would have much preferred a refined wiimote to the tablet. IMO putting a slide-pad on the wiimote would have been better. (To give further control options, but not over-complicating the design).

Frankly, I don't want to go back to controls without a pointer. (Especially for shooters).


Also, the design of the wiimote had an apple-like elegance. The gamepad is much more intimidating to the consumer.
 
It was because if he REALLY wanted to buy the full company, he could. Say whatever you want about Rare after it joined the MS ranks, but before the deal it was a very talented studio being made some years before the deal games like Banjo Tooie, Perfect Dark and Conker's.

If Microsoft and Sony REALLY wanted to fund Bayonetta 2, they could.

I think it's fair to suggest that things are changing.
 
As a fan of Doctor Who, it's just struck me that this discussion reminds me of the "RTD must go!" and lately "Moffat must go!" threads from Outpost Gallifrey.

That's really not a compliment.

Ha! Yes, exactly :-)

RTD, then Moffat, took something that people had largely written off and made it hugely popular again, to the initial delight of older fans. Then, when it became apparent that the show was going in a different direction from Classic Who, many of the older fans turned on RTD. I remember lots of complaints about his showrunning, and lots of calls for Moffat to take the reins. Then, when Moffat did take over, there was another honeymoon period before it became obvious that, while he was doing things differently from RTD, he wasn't going to take the show in the direction the older fans wanted either, so he became the target for their ire.

Iwata is in a similar position: he took a company that people had largely written off, made it relevant and hugely popular again, even if it wasn't by catering exclusively to older fans or the "core" gamer constituency. The parallels aren't exact, but the vitriol aimed at him - and the belief that "if only someone else was in charge, it would all go in the direction *I* want" - are eerily familiar.
 
That does bring up a good point, that whoever would replace Iwata might be 100x worse for consumers than Iwata. Yearly NSMB, Kart,etc. games, big focus on iOS games, cancelling games like X that aren't good for the bottom line,etc.
 
Holy fuck, don't strain a ligament with that.
Think about he has a company named Nintendo.. That develop zelda games. Games based on TRIANGULAR pieces that you go out and die for..They have the ALL SEEING EYE everywhere in the game..on shiek, random places, shiekah stones for help..OOT is always regarded as the BEST game of all time...something fishy here. Hyrulian shield now has triforce on it instead of the crucfix or originally had..
 
Think about he has a company named Nintendo.. That develop zelda games. Games based on TRIANGULAR pieces that you go out and die for..They have the ALL SEEING EYE everywhere in the game..on shiek, random places, shiekah stones for help..OOT is always regarded as the BEST game of all time...something fishy here. Hyrulian shield now has triforce on it instead of the crucfix or originally had..

Hmm I wonder where the mirror shield and Fire temple pre-censor fits into this :P
 
I'm glad we have a faceless Nintendo of Europe that makes nothing but awesome decisions.

The hell? Satoru Shibata deserves better than this.

iumRjO2nWP3dq.png
 
I'm so sad to hear about Iwata pulling hara-kiri on himself. Fuck it, Nintendo, just enter the tablet/phone race, since Apple and Android are taking a big chunk of there gaming revenue. Nintendo should buy Blackberry, while the stock is cheap and at least they'll have there foot in the door in the Smartphone/Tablet industry and maybe revolutionize the industry itself. Sooner or later, Nintendo will have to battle Apple for games, might as well start buying tech companies.
They make great games, but a Nintendo phone/tablet would be the most technologically inept piece of shit ever imagined. The company barely understands online/comms stuff. And buying Blackberry? Seriously?
 
Iwata is just being dramatic. Didn't he say something similar with the 3DS? Despite the Wii U not doing so well yet, I think that it might be too early to judge the Wii U yet. I'd give it until the fall or so to see if things improve. Nintendo hasn't had a good console/handheld launch in awhile.

It was because if he REALLY wanted to buy the full company, he could. Say whatever you want about Rare after it joined the MS ranks, but before the deal it was a very talented studio being made some years before the deal games like Banjo Tooie, Perfect Dark and Conker's.



Factor 5 only shuttered down after the Lair fiasco on the PS3. They were Nintendo second-party and handled one of the best looking games of it's generation: Rogue Squadron II and III. It was never clear on why Factor 5 left Nintendo, but Iwata never shown any interest in keeping them at all.



Silicon Knights left because they felt their gaming philosophy and Nintendo's didn't mesh, even after their partnership brought ED and MGS TTS to light.



Left Field bought their stakes back because there was a very bad vibe between them and Nintendo after Iwata took the office.



He had major influence for them to leave. Iwata seems to have a disdain for western games, hence Nintendo struggles to get support from them.

oh u. Yes, Iwata is a hatemonger, he hates western support so much. He rules everything with an iron fist and got rid of all the board members.
 
Nintendo should create the first handheld/console hybrid. I'm not talking about slapping a screen on a controller, but the entire device is something like one of their typical handhelds that you can take anywhere, same good quality and game support. The difference is it comes with a dock that you connect to your TV, place it in that dock and it connects to your screen like a traditional Nintendo console, completely functional with a controller.

Mobile technology is getting so advanced that they could achieve something like that as their next gen solution.
 
Nintendo should create the first handheld/console hybrid. I'm not talking about slapping a screen on a controller, but the entire device is something like one of their typical handhelds that you can take anywhere, same good quality and game support. The difference is it comes with a dock that you connect to your TV, place it in that dock and it connects to your screen like a traditional Nintendo console, completely functional with a controller.

Mobile technology is getting so advanced that they could achieve something like that as their next gen solution.

I've said a few times: I would be unsurprised if it turns out that the followup to the 3DS is fully compatible with Wii U DD titles.

I wonder if they could also use the Wii U tech in reverse so a handheld unit is able to stream to a small dumb terminal connected to your television in real time.
 
As a fan of Doctor Who, it's just struck me that this discussion reminds me of the "RTD must go!" and lately "Moffat must go!" threads from Outpost Gallifrey.

That's really not a compliment.
FUCKING INSANITY! Moffat may have his flaws, but god damn his episodes are always fucking awesome. More than I can say for RTD. I will never forget JESUS DOCTOR! :(
 
FUCKING INSANITY! Moffat may have his flaws, but god damn his episodes are always fucking awesome. More than I can say for RTD. I will never forget JESUS DOCTOR! :(

Uggh. And now neither will I :-/

...the issues people had with RTD were legitimate - much like the problems the saner heads in this thread are identifying with Iwata's management - but just as here, that vanishes in a cloud of wishful thinking ("his replacement will fix EVERYTHING we don't like!"), bitterness and delusion about the realities of his position.
 
Iwata says this because he is sure that With entertainment its either heaven or hell. If wiiu takes off Q3 and 4 like he hopes to they will be fine. If not they will loose a large chunk of marketshare to ms and sony.. If that happens iwata is out
 
There's so much sentiment attached to the heads of Nintendo. I suppose it's a good thing that a company could pull that off.

Me? Iwata wasn't presiding over Nintendo during my favorite years, so no love lost here. The man has made a slew of questionable decisions (at best) since about 2009, and it has been said before that it was an unprecedented feat in this industry that a gaming company could build so much hype, good faith, and sales in their console, and then squander it all within that same same gen.

Kind of sad, I suppose. But anybody who has been paying attention the last few years shouldn't be surprised. And 100 billion? Good luck with that.

I'm excited about what kind of fresh blood they can bring into leadership positions within the company. This could be the fresh start Nintendo deserves.
 
This means the games are coming. :-) Great year coming up. Super Smash Bros., Mario, Zelda,...and Pokemon. They will meet their 100 billion (yen) target.

I hope.
 
This means the games are coming. :-) Great year coming up. Super Smash Bros., Mario, Zelda,...and Pokemon. They will meet their 100 billion (yen) target.


I don't know if I would go that far, but I assume that 1) holiday 2013 was already targeted as the time to launch the real heavy hitters and 2) with the recent financial results all hands are on deck.

Nintendo is really going to have to fight for oxygen with the next Sony and Microsoft consoles coming- they need to show big IP's looking great to capture mindshare this year.
 
I don't know if I would go that far, but I assume that 1) holiday 2013 was already targeted as the time to launch the real heavy hitters and 2) with the recent financial results all hands are on deck.

Nintendo is really going to have to fight for oxygen with the next Sony and Microsoft consoles coming- they need to show big IP's looking great to capture mindshare this year.

It's another reason why the need to right the 3DS ship was so urgent. Nintendo are well aware that they cannot push both systems equally - or even near equally - at the same time, so they couldn't afford to let the 3DS coast - or drop further - when they had the launch of the Wii U coming up so soon. Now that they've secured the future of the 3DS in Japan and positioned it better in the US/EU, they can turn their attention more fully to the Wii U. The push to localise more titles - esp. third-party titles - for the West is necessary as they won't have the resources to give it a push with lots of their own original software for a while.

The nightmare scenario would have been to have a plodding 3DS worldwide when they needed to turn their attention to the first 12-18 months of the Wii U.
 
I agree. Even though I like the tablet (And love off-tv play), I couldn't help but be disappointed that they "abandoned" the wiimote. Now, of course, they still use it as a secondary controller, but I would have much preferred a refined wiimote to the tablet. IMO putting a slide-pad on the wiimote would have been better. (To give further control options, but not over-complicating the design).

Frankly, I don't want to go back to controls without a pointer. (Especially for shooters).


Also, the design of the wiimote had an apple-like elegance. The gamepad is much more intimidating to the consumer.

At this point I have to agree. The Wiimote was a gamechanger, it introduced a completely new way of controlling games. It was a successfull evolution of standard home console gaming controls.

With the Wii Nintendo innovated the shit out of the market and succeeded tremendously. At this point I thought: "Man, they don't even have to do much for their next system. Improve upon this ingenious "wiimote" idea, improve the hardware, get online and name the thing Wii 2".

That said, the new controller IS fun. I don't yet own a Wii U myself, but had losts of oppotunities to play it. As long as the Wiimote itself doesn't get neglected, I'm ok with the Wii U Gamepad. I even think there are many cool ways it can improve the gaming experiences or make them more convenient, just like the second DS screen did.
 
Did OP put the "Iwata implies he may resign" just to draw people to his thread?

Because I don't see that here, I doubt he's going anywhere.
 
and it has been said before that it was an unprecedented feat in this industry that a gaming company could build so much hype, good faith, and sales in their console, and then squander it all within that same same gen.

I really don't know what the hell are you talking about because neither the Wii nor the WiiU had hype, much less good faith, like at all. If anything people are salivating at the idea if Nintendo failing.
 
FUCKING INSANITY! Moffat may have his flaws, but god damn his episodes are always fucking awesome. More than I can say for RTD. I will never forget JESUS DOCTOR! :(

People complain about Murray Gold but he fucking saved that episode:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=KdeF8eg8bIU#t=187s

Clear from his Moffat stuff he generally only got 'shit' and 'obvious' cause he had to create obvious music moments that the directors/actors/writers weren't creating. He goes all out cause someones got to do something.

His music is always best in the best episode. I don't think thats an accident.

This scene in comparison this is series 5 finale under Moffat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ORkeHmADDhg#t=198s

The action on screen dictates the music; your drawn to the action as oppose the music - the characters, events and actions dictate everything. As such Murray actually gets to be playful as oppose to being the one trying to keep the audiences attention.


Anyway: This is more like the 'bring back RTD' or 'bring back Tennant'; as if they didn't chose to leave and the situation has changed.
 
WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU ON ABOUT!?

For years metroid was seen as a AAA franchise. It was revered and looked up to by everyone.

The GC Metroids completely took that away and over the last 10 years the series has gone from AAA to bomba.

Metroid is dead now.
 
I really don't know what the hell are you talking about because neither the Wii nor the WiiU had hype, much less good faith, like at all. If anything people are salivating at the idea if Nintendo failing.

Wut. The Wii was hyped to hell and back. Maybe not by the crowd who frequents NeoGAF, but it was a pretty big thing in 2006 and the years to come... And even then, I remember a lot of gamers being very excited by what Nintendo has shown at E3 06. Same is true for the 3DS, which got a lot of hype here ... until it launched with no games.

The Wii U never had any hype, though. Nintendo failed to show anything substantial till after launch, which is quite a feet.

This is also why I don't understand the goal to make a billion dollar next year. Even if this should turn out to be possible -- and I think it's not completely unlikely, with the 3DS being profitable by now and with a price cut and a third game besides 3D Mario and Mario Kart for the holidays I can see the Wii U doing okay --, it's obvious that Nintendo needs to spend a lot of money in order to stay competetive with the Wii U. They simply don't have enough people working on games and they really should invest in a few new games, especially by Western studios. And not only at B-tier studios like Monster oder Next Level (which have done some great stuff for Nintendo, but nothing that makes more people than just fans excited).
 
Well, the strength of Nintendo in relation to Sony and Microsoft is in their philosophical mobility. They're a smaller company, with minimal red tape and business burden outside of video games, and thus can undergo a relatively quick 180 at a moment's notice.

1.) I am not convinced Reggie is to blame for any of this. NoA has, historically, been handcuffed by NoJ.

2.) I'm perplexed as to why Nintendo has refused to more aggressively penetrate the first-person shooter or sandbox genre. I mean, what is that? Both genres blew up in the console market 2 generations ago, and Nintendo has done very little since in trying to set their own, unique mark there. No one is suggesting that Nintendo goes all western, but who thought it was a good idea to green-light fucking Pikmin 3 as a launch-window game, as opposed to something fresh or more appealing? This is a series whose games barely broke 1 million worldwide individually, and somehow it's expected to move Wii U units? Pikmin 1, Pikmin 2, Pikmin 1 Wii, Pikmin 2 Wii....someone tell Miyamoto to SHUT UP and take his pet project to the handheld.

How do you explain NOE then? For years seen as the sickman of Nintendo and now kicking NOA ass on a daily basis!

Of course Reggie is to blame. Sack him NOW!

NOA is a joke!
 
For years metroid was seen as a AAA franchise. It was revered and looked up to by everyone.

The GC Metroids completely took that away and over the last 10 years the series has gone from AAA to bomba.

Metroid is dead now.

When was Metroid AAA? I don't think the term even existed when Super Metroid released.

Metroid was never a big franchise for Nintendo. Until Metroid Prime the series had only seen three games and was on a hiatus for an entire generation. It was Metroid Prime that resurrected the franchise and made it kinda relevant again.
 
For years metroid was seen as a AAA franchise. It was revered and looked up to by everyone.

The GC Metroids completely took that away and over the last 10 years the series has gone from AAA to bomba.

Metroid is dead now.

What is your definition of AAA? Sales? Critical acclaim? Because SM and the Prime series are on pretty equal footing there.

The series had had one poorly received outing. We'll see what the future holds.
 
They make great games, but a Nintendo phone/tablet would be the most technologically inept piece of shit ever imagined. The company barely understands online/comms stuff. And buying Blackberry? Seriously?

Yup, I'll always buy Nintendo consoles and games, but I'd never buy a phone from them. The tablet would suffer from the same problem BB does right now, no one really bothers developing for anything outside of iOS and Android.
 
What is your definition of AAA? Sales? Critical acclaim? Because SM and the Prime series are on pretty equal footing there.

The series had had one poorly received outing. We'll see what the future holds.

No way are the Prime games on an equal footing. Wash you mouth out!

Super Metroid was a AAA game of it's time. It was bigger in the West than Japan and the only reason it missed the N64 gen was because they didn't know how to do the ball mechanics.

Metroid Prime was a sad sad cash in so the GC could have its own Halo and Nintendo were left with egg of their face. The only people who are revisionist are the vocal minority who liked Metroid.
 
The fuck? What kind of revisionist shit is this?
I was under the impression it was a struggling IP sales wise and Prime was pretty damn successful.

"Pretty damn successful" may be overselling it a bit. But yeah, they did fairly well from what I understand. I know at least the first and third were million sellers. Anyhoo, yeah, he's way off about it being a AAA franchise. Super Metroid had a strong cult following, but it certainly wasn't a breakout hit. The fact that it didn't show up on the N64 at all and was subsequently farmed out to a Western studio is a good indication that it wasn't one of their core franchises anymore.

But, remember, this is Brera. I keep waiting for the Heath Ledger's Joker of Nintendo trolls to come along and lament "This forum deserves a better class of troll. And I'm gonna give it to them!"
 
How do you explain NOE then? For years seen as the sickman of Nintendo and now kicking NOA ass on a daily basis!

Of course Reggie is to blame. Sack him NOW!

NOA is a joke!

I swear to god half of your posts never fails to include "SACK ___ NOW"

its kind of amusing but also irritating at the same time

no offense jim
 
I wonder how much the Gamepad truly costs. Nintendo usually make a huge profit on controllers and peripherals. If costs decrease slightly this year and they drop a retail version of the Gamepad with the new Mario Kart this holiday, they could get a boost.
 
No way are the Prime games on an equal footing. Wash you mouth out!

Super Metroid was a AAA game of it's time. It was bigger in the West than Japan and the only reason it missed the N64 gen was because they didn't know how to do the ball mechanics.

Metroid Prime was a sad sad cash in so the GC could have its own Halo and Nintendo were left with egg of their face. The only people who are revisionist are the vocal minority who liked Metroid.

I'm not sure if you're being serious or not.

Sure, Metroid Prime games weren't very popular, but they were excellent games just like Super Metroid. Especially the first one.
 
I really don't know what the hell are you talking about because neither the Wii nor the WiiU had hype, much less good faith, like at all. If anything people are salivating at the idea if Nintendo failing.

WUT? The Wii had tons of hype, mindshare, and sales for the first half of its life. Unprecedented growth.
 
Thread was more fun when it was speculating whether Iwata was a member of the Illuminati. 1880s Nintendo was probably established with Templar gold!

That's enough material to make a Wii U-exclusive Assassin's Creed based in Japan.

WUT? The Wii had tons of hype, mindshare, and sales for the first half of its life. Unprecedented growth.
If you ignore the press and the 'adult, tech-savvy' gamers
 
No way are the Prime games on an equal footing. Wash you mouth out!

Super Metroid was a AAA game of it's time. It was bigger in the West than Japan and the only reason it missed the N64 gen was because they didn't know how to do the ball mechanics.

Metroid Prime was a sad sad cash in so the GC could have its own Halo and Nintendo were left with egg of their face. The only people who are revisionist are the vocal minority who liked Metroid.

http://www.gamerankings.com/gamecube/447244-metroid-prime/index.html

I know you're a joke character but this is fun.
 
Super Metroid had a strong cult following, but it certainly wasn't a breakout hit. The fact that it didn't show up on the N64 at all and was subsequently farmed out to a Western studio is a good indication that it wasn't one of their core franchises anymore.

Wasn't there some form of a Metroid game in development for the N64? I swear I remember seeing a screenshot or two back in the 90's.
 
The title of this thread is a translation of the ITmedia report headline. If you don't believe me, here's a breakdown...

ITmedia said:
任天堂・岩田社長、業績不振で辞任も示唆 ゲーム機開発部門を一本化へ

任天堂・岩田社長、 Nintendo President Iwata
業績不振で due to poor business performance
辞任も even resignation
示唆 implication

ゲーム機 console
開発 development
部門を group(s)
一本化へ integrate

The first sentence of the article...

ITmedia said:
任天堂の岩田聡社長(53)は31日のアナリスト向け説明会で、平成26年3月期に1千億円以上の営業利益を目指すことについて、「コミットメント(公約)」と説明し、達成できない場合は辞任を含め経営責任を取る可能性を示唆した。

任天堂の岩田聡社長(53)は Nintendo President Satoru Iwata (53)
31日のアナリスト向け説明会で、 at the analysts' meeting on the 31st
平成26年3月期に in the fiscal year ending March, Heisei 26 (2014)
1千億円以上の over 100 billion yen in
営業利益を operating income
目指すことについて、 about aiming for,
「コミットメント(公約)」 "commitment"
と説明し、 thus said,
達成できない場合は if not achieved
辞任を含め including resignation
経営責任を取る take management responsibility
可能性を possibility
示唆した。 implied.

The specific question and answer...

ITmedia said:
岩田社長は「達成できなかった場合は、どう責任を取るのか」という質問に対し、「コミットメントという言葉を使ったことで、ご理解頂きたい」と強い決意を示した。

岩田社長は President Iwata,
「達成できなかった場合は、 "If you couldn't achieve it,
どう責任を取るのか」 how will you take responsibility?"
という質問に対し、 in response to the question:
「コミットメントという言葉を "The word 'commitment'
使ったことで、 I used,
ご理解頂きたい」 please understand,"
と強い決意を with strong determination
示した。 indicated.
 
WUT? The Wii had tons of hype, mindshare, and sales for the first half of its life. Unprecedented growth.

Yeah, the hype was always there from the Nintendo loyal and then after that E3 06 blowout, awareness really started to skyrocket. It was pretty incredible how it blew up.
 
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