For full effect read it in that cute tone Iwata has (NEENTENDO). Anyway, this transcript is courtesy of AdvancedMN, and the full thing can be found here:
http://ds.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=1695
Its four pages on their site, but the site is very unstable right now (I had to refresh about 5 times to get it to load). So, since I don't want to steal from them TOO hardcore, I'm pasting pages 1 and 2 here. While you're reading those, you can periodically refresh to get 3 and 4 to load
~~~~~
Thank you very much, Jamil. On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heartI am a gamer. Today, I'd like to speak to you from my heart... about our jobs... and about our industry.
I remember the first video game I ever played. It was Pongand I loved it! By the time I was in high school, I was the first person in my class to buy an early Hewlett-Packard pocket calculator. I think I was one of the original early adopters! But where most people used their calculators for higher mathematics... I used mine to program video games. My first creation was a baseball game. I dont think anyone can say it had bad graphics. Because it had no graphics! Game play was represented only by numbers. But when I saw my friends playing that game ... and having fun... it made me feel proud. To me, this was a source of energyand passion. As that passion for games began to blossom ... I think my life course was set.
In 1978 I entered the Tokyo Institute of Technology. I would have loved to study video game programmingbut no one was teaching it then. So I went to classes on engineering and early computer science. But after class, when my friends went back to their rooms to study, I took off on my motorcycle for one retail store in Tokyo. This was the first store to have a department entirely dedicated to personal computers. That was my hangoutand I was not alone. There were others there who also looked at those early computers, and thought the same thing I did how could we play games on them? We became friends... formed a club... and soon rented an apartment in the Ahkihabara district of Tokyo, where we began designing our own games. We worked until midnight or later every night.
That group of friends is what became the company known today as HAL. The name came from the computer in the movie 2001: A Space Oddyssey. "HAL." We thought that name was very cool. Also, this is what I looked like back then. (old photo of Iwata appears on the screen) Like all game creators... I was extremely cool too, dont you think? So, I don't really remember how, but I managed to keep up with my classwork and graduated from the institute. But when it came time to take a job, I had the distinction of joining the smallest company of any graduate in my class. I left to become only the fifth full-time employee of HAL. And when I told my father this, you can imagine it was not the happiest moment in the history of my family.
People sometimes ask me what I did when I was hired at HAL. Well, the answer is that I was a programmer. And an engineer. And a designer. And I marketed our games. I also ordered a lot of take-out food. And I helped clean up. Andit was all great fun! Perhaps the biggest moment in the history of HAL came when we heard the rumor that Nintendo was developing a machine capable of incredible new graphicsthe Famicom, or NES as it was called here in the states. We knew that this machine was for us. So we used every contact we could to get a meeting with Nintendo, sure that one of our ideas would become an instant hit. Yes, Nintendo did hire us. But not to amaze the world with one of our projects. Instead, they told us to fix one of their projectsa game that had seriously fallen behind schedule. Instead of "creating" a game, we "repaired" a game and it eventually was released as NES Pinball. That experience taught us that even "artists" must know the business side of game development. After all, if a game never comes to market, there is very little chance of it making any money! Working in those days was also instructive in another way. Because the graphics were so primitive by today's standards, we asked ourselves how we could spur the players' imaginations... as a substitute for what we couldn't display on the screen. Think about this. Someday our games won't look any better. What will we do then?
Well, our work was satisfactory enough that we formed a close association with Nintendo. And as HAL invented a couple of early franchises, we also learned other lessons. Our first Kirby game taught us the value of teamwork. Since not everyone can be a Miyamoto, we discovered that ideas can come from several team members, building on each other, to make something superior to what one person could invent. Then, we worked with the famous Japanese creator Shigesato Itoi, who was already an avid gamer himself, to develop his first idea for a game. That series, called Mother in Japan and released here in America as Earthbound, proved to us that ideas take on a special appeal when they become interactive. Many years and many projects later I went to work for Nintendo full time... and then one day, about three years ago, Mr. Yamauchi appointed me to succeed him as company president.
Of course, this was a great honor, but it was also a great challenge. I knew this would require committing much more time, and assuming much more responsibility. But fortunately, game developers are familiar with such things!
So, I'd like to move on this morning and answer two questions that I'm often asked, now that I've had two decades of experience in the video game world. First, over the last 20 years as a developer, what things have changed? And second, what things have stayed the same? One thing that has not changedand will not changeis our nature as a form of entertainment. Like any other entertainment medium, we must create an emotional response in order to succeed. Laughter... fear... joy... anger... affection... suprise... and most of all, pride of accomplishment. In the end, triggering these feelings from our players is the true judgement of our work. This is the bottom-line measurement of success. Secondly, we must always weigh challenge and reward. How much workand frustrationa player is willing to withstand? Depends on the personality and skill of the player. Core gamers have a huge appetite for challenge. Casual gamers want less difficulty. At Nintendo, we believe it is our responsibility to make games for all skill levels. And most definitely, that includes people who are not playing our games now.
The third thing that has not changed is the importance of the idea. Of course it is valuable to devise an extension or offshoot of a current idea. But it is invaluable to come up with a brand-new idea of what a game can be. I'm sure there are a few of you out there in the audience today with such creativityand our industry needs you! Fourth, this truth never changessoftware sells hardware. People buy game systems to play the games they love. I agree with Steve Jobs, the head of Apple, when he says, "software is the user experience. Software is the driving technology not just of computers... but of all consumer electronics." Finally, what has not changed is the value of intellectual property. If it is true that software sells hardware...it is more true than ever that franchises sell software. While our industry has made hit games with names like Spider-Man and James Bond and NFL Football, I think we should be proud that our best games are those whose heroes and worlds we invented ourselves. So then, on the other side of the coin, what do I think of when I consider what has changed? One word immediately comes to mindbigger!
Especially here in the Western Hemisphere, the business is bigger the North American and European retail markets alone are now worth approximately $17 billion. In the U.S., game sales were up another 8 percent last year. There are games in your living room... your office... on your PDA... your cell phone... and of course, best of all, on your Nintendo DS!
Many in the media are shocked to learn that young men now spend more time playing games than watching TV. I think those of us in this room could have told them that a long time ago! Of course, the games themselves have become much bigger in several ways. They are bigger in a technical sense... occupying more digital space. That, in turn, requires bigger teams... bigger budgets... and bigger challenges in meeting deadlines. This also means that big game companies are getting biggerby consuming smaller ones. We know that in the next generation, budgets for AAA console games will regularly move into eight digitsand that's before any marketing money is spent. Only the biggest companies can afford such costs. Not surprisingly, the success of our industryand the profit margins for hit gameshas again drawn big interest from larger entertainment companies. But we may not be compatible. Their books, movies and TV shows are exactly the same for every user. But our games let players help write their own screen playsand their own endings. Now, I don't think any of this is newsbigger budgets, bigger staffs, bigger companies. It's there for all of us to see. "Big" is obvious.
On the other hand, what's more prominent in my thinking these days is how our industry is getting "smaller." We are "smaller" in the amount of risk we're willing to accept. We are also "smaller" in how we define video games. The list of genres seems fixedshooters, sports, platforms, puzzles and so on. When is the last time we invented a new genre? But as importantly, even within these genres, we have reduced the "environments" we use. The racing tracks... the sound tracks... the bosses... the heroes... are starting to look more and more alike. Consider Tiger Woods Golf and Mario Golfeach a successful franchise, but using two different looks for the same genre. Such variety is becoming harder and harder to find. We are even getting "smaller" in how we define progress. Making games look more photorealistic is not the only means of improving the game experience. I know, on this point, I risk being misunderstood. So remember, I am a man who once programmed a baseball game with no baseball players. If anyone appreciates graphics, its me! But my point is that this is just one path to improved games. We need to find others. "Improvement" has more than one definition.
And finally, I am most concerned with what we think of as a gamer. As we spend more time and money chasing exactly the same players, who are we leaving behind? Are we are creating games just for each other? Do you have friends and family members who do not play video games? Well, why don't they? And, I would ask this: How often have you challenged yourself to create a game that you might not play? I think these questions form an important challenge for all of us. So, I have preached more than enough about the state of our industry. You may be wondering, how does Nintendo plan to respond? Let me answer a couple things in a straightforward way. First, has Nintendo turned its back on the hard-core gamer? I don't believe so. If we were not interested in core gamers, we would not have packed-in Metroid Prime Hunters for each of you, when you went out and bought your Nintendo DS. This is not just excellent game entertainment, but also a signal that we want the DS to be for core gamers, too. We would not have partnered with n-Space in order to take a new look at shooters in the game Geist, which is coming exclusively to Nintendo GameCube. It will move your emotions, and move your definitions of this genre. And if we were not interested in core gamers, GameCube would not be the home to the first big hit of 2005 here in AmericaCapcom's Resident Evil 4. It's a sign that not only do we care about core gamers, but core gamers care about Nintendo.
And most of all, we would not be finishing the most-anticipated game in our industry this year... a brand-new Legend of Zelda. I would love to tell you all about it. But actions speak louder than words. We have chosen you to see the first new footage of Zelda, since E3 ten months ago. So take a look!
(Legend of Zelda video trailer runs...)
Pages 3 and 4 on AMN:
http://ds.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=1695&pg=3
http://ds.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=1695
Its four pages on their site, but the site is very unstable right now (I had to refresh about 5 times to get it to load). So, since I don't want to steal from them TOO hardcore, I'm pasting pages 1 and 2 here. While you're reading those, you can periodically refresh to get 3 and 4 to load
~~~~~
Thank you very much, Jamil. On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heartI am a gamer. Today, I'd like to speak to you from my heart... about our jobs... and about our industry.
I remember the first video game I ever played. It was Pongand I loved it! By the time I was in high school, I was the first person in my class to buy an early Hewlett-Packard pocket calculator. I think I was one of the original early adopters! But where most people used their calculators for higher mathematics... I used mine to program video games. My first creation was a baseball game. I dont think anyone can say it had bad graphics. Because it had no graphics! Game play was represented only by numbers. But when I saw my friends playing that game ... and having fun... it made me feel proud. To me, this was a source of energyand passion. As that passion for games began to blossom ... I think my life course was set.
In 1978 I entered the Tokyo Institute of Technology. I would have loved to study video game programmingbut no one was teaching it then. So I went to classes on engineering and early computer science. But after class, when my friends went back to their rooms to study, I took off on my motorcycle for one retail store in Tokyo. This was the first store to have a department entirely dedicated to personal computers. That was my hangoutand I was not alone. There were others there who also looked at those early computers, and thought the same thing I did how could we play games on them? We became friends... formed a club... and soon rented an apartment in the Ahkihabara district of Tokyo, where we began designing our own games. We worked until midnight or later every night.
That group of friends is what became the company known today as HAL. The name came from the computer in the movie 2001: A Space Oddyssey. "HAL." We thought that name was very cool. Also, this is what I looked like back then. (old photo of Iwata appears on the screen) Like all game creators... I was extremely cool too, dont you think? So, I don't really remember how, but I managed to keep up with my classwork and graduated from the institute. But when it came time to take a job, I had the distinction of joining the smallest company of any graduate in my class. I left to become only the fifth full-time employee of HAL. And when I told my father this, you can imagine it was not the happiest moment in the history of my family.
People sometimes ask me what I did when I was hired at HAL. Well, the answer is that I was a programmer. And an engineer. And a designer. And I marketed our games. I also ordered a lot of take-out food. And I helped clean up. Andit was all great fun! Perhaps the biggest moment in the history of HAL came when we heard the rumor that Nintendo was developing a machine capable of incredible new graphicsthe Famicom, or NES as it was called here in the states. We knew that this machine was for us. So we used every contact we could to get a meeting with Nintendo, sure that one of our ideas would become an instant hit. Yes, Nintendo did hire us. But not to amaze the world with one of our projects. Instead, they told us to fix one of their projectsa game that had seriously fallen behind schedule. Instead of "creating" a game, we "repaired" a game and it eventually was released as NES Pinball. That experience taught us that even "artists" must know the business side of game development. After all, if a game never comes to market, there is very little chance of it making any money! Working in those days was also instructive in another way. Because the graphics were so primitive by today's standards, we asked ourselves how we could spur the players' imaginations... as a substitute for what we couldn't display on the screen. Think about this. Someday our games won't look any better. What will we do then?
Well, our work was satisfactory enough that we formed a close association with Nintendo. And as HAL invented a couple of early franchises, we also learned other lessons. Our first Kirby game taught us the value of teamwork. Since not everyone can be a Miyamoto, we discovered that ideas can come from several team members, building on each other, to make something superior to what one person could invent. Then, we worked with the famous Japanese creator Shigesato Itoi, who was already an avid gamer himself, to develop his first idea for a game. That series, called Mother in Japan and released here in America as Earthbound, proved to us that ideas take on a special appeal when they become interactive. Many years and many projects later I went to work for Nintendo full time... and then one day, about three years ago, Mr. Yamauchi appointed me to succeed him as company president.
Of course, this was a great honor, but it was also a great challenge. I knew this would require committing much more time, and assuming much more responsibility. But fortunately, game developers are familiar with such things!
So, I'd like to move on this morning and answer two questions that I'm often asked, now that I've had two decades of experience in the video game world. First, over the last 20 years as a developer, what things have changed? And second, what things have stayed the same? One thing that has not changedand will not changeis our nature as a form of entertainment. Like any other entertainment medium, we must create an emotional response in order to succeed. Laughter... fear... joy... anger... affection... suprise... and most of all, pride of accomplishment. In the end, triggering these feelings from our players is the true judgement of our work. This is the bottom-line measurement of success. Secondly, we must always weigh challenge and reward. How much workand frustrationa player is willing to withstand? Depends on the personality and skill of the player. Core gamers have a huge appetite for challenge. Casual gamers want less difficulty. At Nintendo, we believe it is our responsibility to make games for all skill levels. And most definitely, that includes people who are not playing our games now.
The third thing that has not changed is the importance of the idea. Of course it is valuable to devise an extension or offshoot of a current idea. But it is invaluable to come up with a brand-new idea of what a game can be. I'm sure there are a few of you out there in the audience today with such creativityand our industry needs you! Fourth, this truth never changessoftware sells hardware. People buy game systems to play the games they love. I agree with Steve Jobs, the head of Apple, when he says, "software is the user experience. Software is the driving technology not just of computers... but of all consumer electronics." Finally, what has not changed is the value of intellectual property. If it is true that software sells hardware...it is more true than ever that franchises sell software. While our industry has made hit games with names like Spider-Man and James Bond and NFL Football, I think we should be proud that our best games are those whose heroes and worlds we invented ourselves. So then, on the other side of the coin, what do I think of when I consider what has changed? One word immediately comes to mindbigger!
Especially here in the Western Hemisphere, the business is bigger the North American and European retail markets alone are now worth approximately $17 billion. In the U.S., game sales were up another 8 percent last year. There are games in your living room... your office... on your PDA... your cell phone... and of course, best of all, on your Nintendo DS!
Many in the media are shocked to learn that young men now spend more time playing games than watching TV. I think those of us in this room could have told them that a long time ago! Of course, the games themselves have become much bigger in several ways. They are bigger in a technical sense... occupying more digital space. That, in turn, requires bigger teams... bigger budgets... and bigger challenges in meeting deadlines. This also means that big game companies are getting biggerby consuming smaller ones. We know that in the next generation, budgets for AAA console games will regularly move into eight digitsand that's before any marketing money is spent. Only the biggest companies can afford such costs. Not surprisingly, the success of our industryand the profit margins for hit gameshas again drawn big interest from larger entertainment companies. But we may not be compatible. Their books, movies and TV shows are exactly the same for every user. But our games let players help write their own screen playsand their own endings. Now, I don't think any of this is newsbigger budgets, bigger staffs, bigger companies. It's there for all of us to see. "Big" is obvious.
On the other hand, what's more prominent in my thinking these days is how our industry is getting "smaller." We are "smaller" in the amount of risk we're willing to accept. We are also "smaller" in how we define video games. The list of genres seems fixedshooters, sports, platforms, puzzles and so on. When is the last time we invented a new genre? But as importantly, even within these genres, we have reduced the "environments" we use. The racing tracks... the sound tracks... the bosses... the heroes... are starting to look more and more alike. Consider Tiger Woods Golf and Mario Golfeach a successful franchise, but using two different looks for the same genre. Such variety is becoming harder and harder to find. We are even getting "smaller" in how we define progress. Making games look more photorealistic is not the only means of improving the game experience. I know, on this point, I risk being misunderstood. So remember, I am a man who once programmed a baseball game with no baseball players. If anyone appreciates graphics, its me! But my point is that this is just one path to improved games. We need to find others. "Improvement" has more than one definition.
And finally, I am most concerned with what we think of as a gamer. As we spend more time and money chasing exactly the same players, who are we leaving behind? Are we are creating games just for each other? Do you have friends and family members who do not play video games? Well, why don't they? And, I would ask this: How often have you challenged yourself to create a game that you might not play? I think these questions form an important challenge for all of us. So, I have preached more than enough about the state of our industry. You may be wondering, how does Nintendo plan to respond? Let me answer a couple things in a straightforward way. First, has Nintendo turned its back on the hard-core gamer? I don't believe so. If we were not interested in core gamers, we would not have packed-in Metroid Prime Hunters for each of you, when you went out and bought your Nintendo DS. This is not just excellent game entertainment, but also a signal that we want the DS to be for core gamers, too. We would not have partnered with n-Space in order to take a new look at shooters in the game Geist, which is coming exclusively to Nintendo GameCube. It will move your emotions, and move your definitions of this genre. And if we were not interested in core gamers, GameCube would not be the home to the first big hit of 2005 here in AmericaCapcom's Resident Evil 4. It's a sign that not only do we care about core gamers, but core gamers care about Nintendo.
And most of all, we would not be finishing the most-anticipated game in our industry this year... a brand-new Legend of Zelda. I would love to tell you all about it. But actions speak louder than words. We have chosen you to see the first new footage of Zelda, since E3 ten months ago. So take a look!
(Legend of Zelda video trailer runs...)
Pages 3 and 4 on AMN:
http://ds.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=1695&pg=3
