Support NeoGAF

[ThongyDonk]

I searched but couldn't find this.

From Nintendo Europe VIP section

Today, March 11, Nintendo DS is unleashed upon Europe. For many of you, it’s been an agonising few months waiting for this day. But for one man, today’s launch is the result of over two years of painstaking work with a team of 200 people.

That man is Satoru Okada, General Manager of Research & Engineering Department at Nintendo Co., Ltd; our Japanese head office in Kyoto.

Mr Okada has been responsible for the development of almost all of our handheld systems; from the original Game&Watch in 1980, to Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP. As well as handhelds, he also worked on the R.O.B. interactive robot and Zapper light gun devices for the NES.

But we’re here today to talk about his latest – and greatest – achievement: Nintendo DS!


Nintendo of Europe: How many people in total worked on the Nintendo DS project?

Satoru Okada: I cannot fully comprehend how many because it is a huge project which involves not only my R&D department but also EAD [the ‘Entertainment, Analysis, Development’ team, headed by Shigeru Miyamoto] and many others. Roughly, I guess there were about 200 people involved at Nintendo Co., Ltd.


NoE: How did the Nintendo DS project begin?

SO: When we were at the very final development stage of Game Boy Advance hardware, we already started thinking about the next projects. One team had started to work further on the GBA hardware that was just about to be launched, and this project resulted as Game Boy Advance SP. Another was the project to create a brand new handheld platform. At the very beginning, we started thinking about realising the better 3D graphics and the compatibility with GBA. Without having the concrete idea on the resulted hardware, we were discussing a number of different ideas. Specifically about the Touch Screen, I myself raised this possibility, but it was one of the ideas that I myself was not sure if it would be incorporated in the end.


NoE: At the beginning of the Nintendo DS project, was it a conscious decision to create something innovative?

SO: Innovation is something we are always trying to realise whenever we develop new hardware. However, at the beginning, we were not imagining this form of innovation. Nintendo DS is the result of many different ideas, for each of which we have gone through reviews and feasibility experiments.


NoE: Nintendo DS offers something different to traditional handheld game systems. Why did you feel the market needed such a radical shift?

SO: To us, developers at Nintendo, it was not a “radical” shift. I have had a number of experiences on working on handhelds since Game&Watch and our team has been working on Game Boy projects for such a long time. For each project, like I said, we are always trying to make innovation. I know it is always difficult to make the perfect machine, with which we can feel there is nothing we need to change or add. Whenever we reach some development milestones, we always feel we can do more. It is always the repetition of this process. We developed Nintendo DS as the result of such repeated processes. In the end, it may look “radical”, but to us, it was rather a natural progress.


NoE: Did the idea for dual screens come before the Touch Screen? What was the thinking behind the two-screen design?

SO: Mr. Hiroshi Yamauchi, former president of Nintendo, proposed the two-screen idea. He obviously wanted to let us see things from the different angle. I was already thinking about the Touch Screen idea by then but, I should say, the idea of the dual-screen encouraged the adoption of the Touch Screen. Though I myself was thinking about the Touch Screen idea at an early stage, I thought we would adopt the idea not for this device but probably for some future machine. But our software creators thought that they could create something unprecedented if one of the two screens can be a Touch Screen. Touch screens were used in PDAs, but they were never meant to be hit so hard by a stylus for gaming. It was a big challenge for us to develop a durable enough Touch Screen for Nintendo DS.


NoE: Where did the idea for PictoChat come from? And whose idea was it to embed it into the Nintendo DS system?

SO: I recall it was Mr. Miyamoto who came up with the idea of PictoChat. I have to confess that, when he proposed this idea and the idea to incorporate the feature into the hardware for the first time, I did not think it would be something important because I was thinking about ordinary chatting functions that were available elsewhere. When I actually saw the application, I realised I was wrong. I could not imagine the hand-written messages and pictures through wireless communications and by using two screens would be such fun.


NoE: Why did you decide to give Nintendo DS a ‘clamshell’ design?

SO: The most important objective was to protect the LCDs from scratches. I should add that the success of SP has encouraged us to adopt this design on Nintendo DS as well.


NoE: There’s been speculation that Nintendo DS will take advantage of its wireless capability for long-distance multiplayer gaming over the Internet. What can you tell us about this, and are there other innovations we can expect for the DS in the coming months?

SO: In terms of the hardware specs, Nintendo DS is ready to be connected with the Internet. Software teams are working on the appropriate applications.


NoE: You’ve worked on so many big projects over the years. What is your proudest achievement?

SO: To me, everything was so important that I cannot identify any one of them. I was lucky that almost all the systems I worked on have turned out to be huge hits around the world.


NoE: Finally, why should gamers choose Nintendo DS over alternative game systems?

SO: In short, the unprecedented interactive entertainment experiences! You can have this sensation with no other machines than Nintendo DS.


NoE: Mr Okada, thank you very much for your time!

Nintendo DS is in stores today, priced £99.99 and bundled with a free Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt demo.

For more info on the system and the massive selection of launch games, visit the microsite.

 

[Kon Tiki]

Nintendo of Europe: How many people in total worked on the Nintendo DS project?

Satoru Okada: I cannot fully comprehend how many because it is a huge project which involves not only my R&D department but also EAD [the ‘Entertainment, Analysis, Development’ team, headed by Shigeru Miyamoto] and many others. Roughly, I guess there were about 200 people involved at Nintendo Co., Ltd.

I was hoping he would say two blind mules and some tequila. j/k

 

[Kiriku]

Mr. Hiroshi Yamauchi, former president of Nintendo, proposed the two-screen idea.

The soul still burns!

 

[Sho Nuff]

The soul still burns!

NOE: Were there any other ideas that never made it past the drawing board?

SO: Actually, Mr. Yamauchi's first suggestion was to include a device that generated smells and would spray water on the player. We had to explain to him that it wasn't terribly feasible. After that, he suggested a hydraulic seat that would rotate the player, and we replied that it would be difficult to implement in a portable device. His third idea was the two-screen concept, and that we happily went with. (laugh)

 

[GaimeGuy]

NOE: Were there any other ideas that never made it past the drawing board?

SO: Actually, Mr. Yamauchi's first suggestion was to include a device that generated smells and would spray water on the player. We had to explain to him that it wasn't terribly feasible. After that, he suggested a hydraulic seat that would rotate the player, and we replied that it would be difficult to implement in a portable device. His third idea was the two-screen concept, and that we happily went with. (laugh)

 

[ninge]

NOE: Were there any other ideas that never made it past the drawing board? SO: Actually, Mr. Yamauchi's first suggestion was to include a device that generated smells and would spray water on the player. We had to explain to him that it wasn't terribly feasible. After that, he suggested a hydraulic seat that would rotate the player, and we replied that it would be difficult to implement in a portable device. His third idea was the two-screen concept, and that we happily went with. (laugh)

post of the week!

 

[pj]

NoE: Where did the idea for PictoChat come from? And whose idea was it to embed it into the Nintendo DS system?

SO: I recall it was Mr. Miyamoto who came up with the idea of PictoChat.

How does he come up with so much stuff..

 

[Porridge]

How does he come up with so much stuff..

PictoChat is not really a new idea. Whiteboards and PaintChat rooms have been around for years online. they're chatrooms with white canvases to draw on with people simultaneously

 

[Deku]

PictoChat is not really a new idea. Whiteboards and PaintChat rooms have been around for years online. they're chatrooms with white canvases to draw on with people simultaneously

Yeah, i lug my PC around on a large backpack so ican use MS netmeeting.

 

[Zelda-Bitch]

NOE: Were there any other ideas that never made it past the drawing board?

SO: Actually, Mr. Yamauchi's first suggestion was to include a device that generated smells and would spray water on the player. We had to explain to him that it wasn't terribly feasible. After that, he suggested a hydraulic seat that would rotate the player, and we replied that it would be difficult to implement in a portable device. His third idea was the two-screen concept, and that we happily went with. (laugh)

:lol That man has completely lost his mind.

 

[Vark]

People don't read anymore do they?

 

[Chittagong]

NOE: Were there any other ideas that never made it past the drawing board?

SO: Actually, Mr. Yamauchi's first suggestion was to include a device that generated smells and would spray water on the player. We had to explain to him that it wasn't terribly feasible. After that, he suggested a hydraulic seat that would rotate the player, and we replied that it would be difficult to implement in a portable device. His third idea was the two-screen concept, and that we happily went with. (laugh)

:lol :lol :lol

 

[The End]

Little Known Fact: Yamauchi is the inspiration for the evil industrialist Heihachi Mishima from the Tekken series.

 

[Kon Tiki]

Little Known Fact: Yamauchi is the inspiration for the evil industrialist Heihachi Mishima from the Tekken series.

Damn you. I just got a mental picture of Yamauchi in some Depends.

 

[Gaia Theory]

:lol That man has completely lost his mind.

I hope you realize that Yamauchi DID NOT suggest a rotational seat.

 

[GDJustin]

I hope you realize that Yamauchi DID NOT suggest a rotational seat.

As far as you know.

 

[Bishman]

The R&D team for the DS is 200 people. Ok. Then how big is the overall R&D team, and how many people are working on the next gameboy?

 

[Chittagong]

NoE: How did the Nintendo DS project begin?

SO: When we were at the very final development stage of Game Boy Advance hardware, we already started thinking about the next projects. One team had started to work further on the GBA hardware that was just about to be launched, and this project resulted as Game Boy Advance SP. Another was the project to create a brand new handheld platform. At the very beginning, we started thinking about realising the better 3D graphics and the compatibility with GBA. Without having the concrete idea on the resulted hardware, we were discussing a number of different ideas. Specifically about the Touch Screen, I myself raised this possibility, but it was one of the ideas that I myself was not sure if it would be incorporated in the end.

This pretty much confirms my suspections on how Nintendo's R&D works. It seems that they do not have a clear roadmap with goals and technologies. Instead they have a bunch of engineers toying around with whatever they consider interesting. Then, every couple of years, whenever there is a need, The Suits pay a visit to the R&D labs. They take a look at the random shit they are tossing around and try to figure if any of it would make a decent product. There is no direction or leadership. It's fully random process based on a group of individuals.

 

[Companion Cube]

This pretty much confirms my suspections on how Nintendo's R&D works. It seems that they do not have a clear roadmap with goals and technologies. Instead they have a bunch of engineers toying around with whatever they consider interesting. Then, every couple of years, whenever there is a need, The Suits pay a visit to the R&D labs. They take a look at the random shit they are tossing around and try to figure if any of it would make a decent product. There is no direction or leadership. It's fully random process based on a group of individuals.

Isn't that natural when you try to do new things?

 

[Chittagong]

Isn't that natural when you try to do new things?

There is experimentation and explorative R&D on one hand. And on the other hand, you should have (based on conventional western hemisphere wisdom) a clear game plan of going forward, indicating your next steps, their reasons and tasks required to make them happen.

I think this example shows that Nintendo is still more of a toy company than I even realized, because toy companies often operate in this "explore and go crazy, invent the latest fad" mentality. However, for a complex consumer electronics product, this way of working can be very very risky.

 

[cvxfreak]

:lol @ Sho Nuff

 

[Firest0rm]

There is experimentation and explorative R&D on one hand. And on the other hand, you should have (based on conventional western hemisphere wisdom) a clear game plan of going forward, indicating your next steps, their reasons and tasks required to make them happen.

I think this example shows that Nintendo is still more of a toy company than I even realized, because toy companies often operate in this "explore and go crazy, invent the latest fad" mentality. However, for a complex consumer electronics product, this way of working can be very very risky.

WTF? From one paragraph you act like you know everything that goes down in R&D, don't make assumptions unless you've seen first hand what these guys do in their studios.

 

[jarrod]

They take a look at the random shit they are tossing around and try to figure if any of it would make a decent product. There is no direction or leadership. It's fully random process based on a group of individuals.

I'm not entirely sure that's a fair evaluation though given that DS was intended from the start to be a unique and seperate product line. Sure it uses some old Game Boy technology, but the agenda Nintendo's been pushing since it was first announced even is that it's seperate from the Game Boy line. It's natural to assume then it simply wouldn't fit into the Game Boy roadmap rather than there being no Game Boy roadmap at all. Of course there's going to be more "brainstorming" for DS than most Nintendo products, it's something entirely new. But we shouldn't assume it's history as the standard for R&D within NCL, that seems like a bit of a leap to me

 

[Cold-Steel]

All R&D messes around. That's why they are called R&D.

Don't think for a second that Nintendo just lets their engineers play with money.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

There is experimentation and explorative R&D on one hand. And on the other hand, you should have (based on conventional western hemisphere wisdom) a clear game plan of going forward, indicating your next steps, their reasons and tasks required to make them happen.

So they should've decided in the 90s that touch screen was the future and incrementally built towards it, or what?

On the other hand, I might say that the DS is a continuation of trends they have been working towards for years. Wireless play is a clear evolution of the multiplayer that's been popular in their portables for over a decade. Likewise the two screens is a continuation of GBA-GCN connectivity. Even touch screen is just the latest attempt to make controls more versatile yet user friendly; but should it really be surprising that touch screen was only one of several possibilities in this regard? We know a built in motion control was one such alternate.

 

[Chittagong]

WTF? From one paragraph you act like you know everything that goes down in R&D, don't make assumptions unless you've seen first hand what these guys do in their studios.

First of all, I didn't make my assumption based on one paragraph. There has been earlier interviews to indicate similar things. I'm too lazy to dig them up, but I've replied to such before.

Second, I still think you may not be very well aware how companies usually operate towards the future. Typically, companies have one group of people looking at all sorts of cool stuff new technologies enable, and even inventing new technologies. Those are the guys meant to go crazy and do all sorts of crazy stuff without boundaries. Then, companies have a group of planners who plan their future product evolution, say, 5 years ahead. This includes updates, refreshes and totally new products. These planners must understand the both the market and the technologies available from the crazy guys doing the explorative work. They then concept product concepts that fit the company's portfolio and are desirable to the market, and fit the competitive situation. When this concepting has been done, the product will be actually implemented following the blueprint set out by the planners, adjusting slightly along the way based on studies.

What I am suggesting, based on this interview and others, that Nintendo does not have this division or structure - that they don't have the planners to package the wierd R&D stuff with their knowledge of consumers, competition and trends. Instead, the same teams doing the explorative R&D actually continue to creating products. Often, this results into very innovative products because it removes an over-rationalization layer. Sometimes, however, it makes Nintendo's product evolution seem random, or even leads into releasing this explorative R&D boldly to the market who does not want it - like Virtual Boy.

I apologize if I sound patronizing, but I feel that pointing what I feel is an unique characteristic to Nintendo gives better understanding to why they make the decisions they do.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

However you have to understand that most of those interviews you have read come from the perspective of frontline R&D or EAD guys. Not the people behind it who look at business modules, market conditions and the like.

I think you are far mistaken. Nintendo are not idiots. Nintendo have been in this business for quite a while and whatever they're doing up there in term's of finance and product development, seems to be working quite well.

Sometimes, however, it makes Nintendo's product evolution seem random, or even leads into releasing this explorative R&D boldly to the market who does not want it - like Virtual Boy.

The only real failure for Nintendo (in hardware development) has been the Virtual Boy. All of their other products in electronic gaming have found themselves a market - however small (GCN, which is only small by Nintendo standards) or large (NES, SNES, N64, GameBoy franchise).

All companies have their failures, looking at the Virtual Boy, it was Gumpei's project, the man who found success for Nintendo with the GameBoy, so they backed it. Well, it failed.

But looking at Sony's failure in Ken's project the PSX, did not the same thing happen?

Really what you are saying is highly unfounded and calls for alot of assumptions, until you can convince me otherwise, I think you are incorrect in your statements.

 

[soundwave05]

I still maintain Virtual Boy could have been a great, mindblowing product.

It was just ... oh, ten years too early, the technology was no where close to realizing that idea's potential.

Today, Virtual Boy could have very high-end 3D graphics, 3D sound, rumble even tactile feedback, WiFi networked play, etc and probably have lighter stand-free glasses.

 

[Erdrick]

Little Known Fact: Yamauchi is the inspiration for the evil industrialist Heihachi Mishima from the Tekken series.

Can I just ask where you heard this? I mean, I can totally see it, but still, I would like to read more up on it.

 

[PkunkFury]

I still maintain Virtual Boy could have been a great, mindblowing product.

It was just ... oh, ten years too early, the technology was no where close to realizing that idea's potential.

Today, Virtual Boy could have very high-end 3D graphics, 3D sound, rumble even tactile feedback, WiFi networked play, etc and probably have lighter stand-free glasses.

I agree, the virtualboy was ahead of its time. Even now, we probably still aren't ready for a good virtual boy at a consumer price but looking at the PSP display and considering gyro technology we could probably get great performance out of a head mounted stereo console. I hope the VB's failure doesn't dissuade any of these companies from making a proper head mounted console when the time is right, the popularity of the FPS genre begs for something like this.

 

[Porridge]

Yeah, i lug my PC around on a large backpack so ican use MS netmeeting.

Cute attempt at sarcasm but I wasn't knocking the DS. You can cross me off your "To kill" list