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[Nuclear Muffin]

In such a circumstance, we are more conscious that we must once again re-think how we can create a good balance between what we do internally at Nintendo and what can be done externally. Looking back, certain experiences enabled by the Nintendo DS and the Wii were created just because Nintendo took on these challenges internally, and these experiences were able to drive the overall sales of these platforms. Nintendo was fortunate to have that kind of successful experience. Although I try not to use the term “success” at all, and particularly for this kind of opportunity, but this time I’d like to use this expression. With the experience of success, we tended to have the mindset that it would be the safest and most secure if we took care of everything by ourselves. As I said, however, the time always comes when we must prepare for the next platform. When that time comes, rather than trying to do everything by ourselves, we must try to narrow down what we really have to do inside the company and think of how we can best collaborate with people from other companies. For example, the teams led by Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo’s Entertainment Analysis & Development Division have already been cooperating with external developers in order to create titles which would have been developed internally at Nintendo in the past. Now that we realize there may be times when we need to take care of four platforms at once, we are initiating these new challenges, and I believe that such a fixed notion as, “we have to do everything by ourselves,” has faded inside the company to a large degree. So, I am expecting the situation to further improve from now. On a similar note, we often receive criticism that Nintendo is not good at deploying its services on the Internet.

More collaborative development/outsourcing! (just as I predicted, this will be the standard for most internally produced Nintendo software from now on. 3rd party devs like Q Games and Greezo will assist with graphics because Nintendo lack the manpower and expertise in this field. They're 6+ years behind the rest of the industry after all, how else did you think they were going to catch up?!)

We are also internally discussing whether it is the best use of our development resources if those developers who are capable of making hit video game titles have to devote themselves to Nintendo’s Net-related services. Our basic idea today is that our internal game developers should focus on making new, unique and fun software while we collaborate with outside resources, especially in the fields for which Nintendo is not specialized in.

Seems that this may also extend to their online offerings too. Puts what Nintendo said about the Wii U's online into a different light! (maybe the backend really will be based on EA's Origin afterall!)

If I may add one more remark in this regard, about the quality Nintendo 3DS software made by Japanese software publishers, this is the great opportunity for them to expand their market to outside Japan. Nintendo has been creating its software in Japan but these software titles have received strong support in various markets around the world. I think one of the very important jobs of Nintendo is to identify the third-party software made in Japan which, we believe, will have a strong affinity with the tastes in the overseas markets and, thus, have a strong market potential there, and we will collaborate with them to make these titles into hits. So, with these different efforts, we would like to enrich the software lineup for the markets outside Japan as well from next year, which will become one of the contributing factors for our improved profitability in the next fiscal year.

More Nintendo published/localised JPN 3rd party titles for us! (Monster Hunter 3G please!)

As for our direct communications with consumers, there aren’t many things I can discuss other than what I confirmed at the beginning of my presentation today, but, in a few words, we believe that, depending on the information, we have to separate the places where we communicate our messages. For example, as for the information and details of the game contents that we shared during Nintendo Direct we held last week, it does not make sense for us to explain this information to those who do not play video games and ask them to report about it. Now that we have the means to deliver this kind of information directly to our consumers, we believe we should take that approach. On the other hand, we are not saying that any and all information should be delivered by us directly to consumers. After all, there is always a certain limit in the number of people who are willing to access our messages through such media. When it comes to messages which we wish to spread as widely as possible, we must depend upon the mass media. For us to deliver our messages to our investors, we have to ask for help from those who are attending meetings like this one. We have no notion that we will be all right in directly dispatching any and all the information. We are trying to change the way we communicate, depending on the nature of the information. Depending on the recipients of the message, we identify the information that is relevant to them, and we will structure our messages so that these recipients will be able to receive information they want to know and deliver it to them at the most appropriate opportunities, such as at our events or through various other methods.

Nintendo Direct will expand to become their main source of communication with consumers, bypassing the rotten and corrupt gaming media all together! (outside of press releases, which will be spoon fed to them)

BTW I laughed when I saw this at the start

If you quote any or all of this Q&A, please display the URL of this website or put a link to this website

LOL! Sad that they feel the need to state the obvious here.

Isn’t this reality rather different from the impression you had?

A big slice of STFU to those wankers in the media!

 

[east of eastside]

Quite the opposite, they were ahead of the market and launched features people didnt even know they wanted till years later.

So, when Moore's focus group testing respondents likened Sega to a "granddad with dementia who used to be cool but you couldn't remember why," how do you interpret that? The features you mention might have been ahead of the market (that wouldn't include DVD, though), but the software was stuck in old-school, quirky and arcadey gaming mode when the industry was beginning it's mainstream explosion with the likes of GTA, Tomb Raider, Madden, Tony Hawk and Halo eventually extending to the dudebro fps/tps industry dumbing down craze of today.

Funny GTA might be in that "used to be cool" category now.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Oh noes. As long as the quality is Nintendo level this would be a great move, but I just don't see that happening.

Every single 3DS retail game that Nintendo has made (with the sole exceptions of Nintendogs + Cats and Super Mario 3D Land) has been developed in collaboration with another developer (including Retro's involvement with Mario Kart 7)

It has worked a treat so far.

 

[scitek]

What is this?

Like said above, Retro. Just about everything that studio had done up till Donkey Kong Country: Returns had been from a first-person perspective, going all the way back to their Iguana days with Turok 2. Employees were supposedly leaving because they weren't allowed to work on an original IP. It's just frustrating Nintendo feels the need to have big FPSes in order to compete, yet they won't allow their own studio to try their hand at one.

 

[jman2050]

Really, it shouldn't take years for a company like Nintendo to suddenly realize "wait a second.. we could just outsource the grunt work to other companies and save time, money, and manpower instantly! It's brilliant!"

Then again, when your company is steeped in a particular culture in can take a while to change gears, especially for a company as specialized as Nintendo.

 

[Truth101]

Like said above, Retro. Just about everything that studio had done up till Donkey Kong Country: Returns had been from a first-person perspective, going all the way back to their Iguana days with Turok 2. Employees were supposedly leaving because they weren't allowed to work on an original IP. It's just frustrating Nintendo feels the need to have big FPSes in order to compete, yet they won't allow their own studio to try their hand at one.

You have no idea what type of original ips Retro wants to make or have proposed to make.

 

[Uncle Rupee]

Like said above, Retro. Just about everything that studio had done up till Donkey Kong Country: Returns had been from a first-person perspective, going all the way back to their Iguana days with Turok 2. Employees were supposedly leaving because they weren't allowed to work on an original IP. It's just frustrating Nintendo feels the need to have big FPSes in order to compete, yet they won't allow their own studio to try their hand at one.

Uh, they gave them a beloved series and three games to try and be successful at it. Metroid Prime never became the success it was supposed to be. And knowing how averse Nintendo is to new IPs, you shouldn't expect them to be given free reign.

 

[Medalion]

Like said above, Retro. Just about everything that studio had done up till Donkey Kong Country: Returns had been from a first-person perspective, going all the way back to their Iguana days with Turok 2. Employees were supposedly leaving because they weren't allowed to work on an original IP. It's just frustrating Nintendo feels the need to have big FPSes in order to compete, yet they won't allow their own studio to try their hand at one.

A brand new internally developed Nintendo FPS that is not based on any established franchises would peak a lot of curiousity, but it won't go through till the genius game developers at Nintendo HQ think of it first, not a company they acquired

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Really, it shouldn't take years for a company like Nintendo to suddenly realize "wait a second.. we could just outsource the grunt work to other companies and save time, money, and manpower instantly! It's brilliant!"

Then again, when your company is steeped in a particular culture in can take a while to change gears, especially for a company as specialized as Nintendo.

There's a big difference between outsourcing and collaborative development. What Nintendo has been doing with the 3DS is collaborative development, what they were doing before with the likes of Starfox Assault and Yoshi's Island DS was outsourcing.

Nintendo have been dealing in outsourcing for years (hell, they've been outsourcing since the NES days! Tetris GB was outsourced to Blue Planet Software for instance). What is happening is that Nintendo are moving away their previous model of having games fully developed internally or outsourced and instead are moving towards having most of their games developed collaboratively (like Sin & Punishment 1 & 2, Metroid Other M, Ocarina of Time 3D and Starfox 64 3D)

Like said above, Retro. Just about everything that studio had done up till Donkey Kong Country: Returns had been from a first-person perspective, going all the way back to their Iguana days with Turok 2. Employees were supposedly leaving because they weren't allowed to work on an original IP. It's just frustrating Nintendo feels the need to have big FPSes in order to compete, yet they won't allow their own studio to try their hand at one.

First off, you have no idea whether or not Retro want to work on a FPS game, secondly, Iwata's comments don't mean that Nintendo need to make a big FPS franchise of their own (rather it means that they plan to better accommodate FPS games and plan to fight for 3rd party support, even if moneyhats are required)

Thirdly, NST are a far better fit if Nintendo were looking to make a traditional western FPS game. Hunters shows that they're itching to get at a game like that!

 

[scitek]

Uh, they gave them a beloved series and three games to try and be successful at it. Metroid Prime never became the success it was supposed to be. And knowing how averse Nintendo is to new IPs, you shouldn't expect them to be given free reign.

If I expected them to be given free-reign, it wouldn't be frustrating. It's frustrating precisely because I know they won't be given free-reign. Likely ever.

You have no idea what type of original ips Retro wants to make or have proposed to make.

Truth101
Member
(Today, 09:51 PM)

No, I don't, but I know Nintendo hasn't been right about what consumers want lately.

 

[jman2050]

There's a big difference between outsourcing and collaborative development. What Nintendo has been doing with the 3DS is collaborative development, what they were doing before with the likes of Starfox Assault and Yoshi's Island DS was outsourcing.

Nintendo have been dealing in outsourcing for years (hell, they've been outsourcing since the NES days! Tetris GB was outsourced to Blue Planet Software for instance). What is happening is that Nintendo are moving away their previous model of having games fully developed internally or outsourced and instead are moving towards having most of their games developed collaboratively (like Sin & Punishment 1 & 2, Metroid Other M, Ocarina of Time 3D and Starfox 64 3D)

Outsourcing was the wrong word to use, I was actually referring to the exact relationship you just described.

Truth101
Member
(Today, 09:51 PM)

No, I don't, but I know Nintendo hasn't been right about what consumers want lately.

Didn't DKCWii sell in the multimillions?

 

[jman2050]

Edit - DP

 

[Momo]

Interestingly enough, I think its a combination of both what you and caj are thinking. SEGA provided a ton of ideas and executions way ahead of their time while somewhat neglecting what was going on in their "here and now", most primarily regarding their budgeting and the growth in mind share on the (then) dark horse that was PS1/Sony.

I agree, they would have been better off providing a more traditional box(for that time period). Or at least have not skewed so heavily into unknown directions.

 

[scitek]

Didn't DKCWii sell in the multimillions?

Sure did. How'd that 3DS launch go?

 

[jman2050]

I agree, they would have been better off providing a more traditional box. Or at least have not screwed so heavily into unknown directions.

The real problem is that those unknown directions were either incredibly cost-prohibitive or had too many problematic compromises. Or in the case of the 32X for example, both.

 

[Boney]

Looking forward on how they work with Japanese publishers to bring their work to the west.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Outsourcing was the wrong word to use, I was actually referring to the exact relationship you just described.

Oh, in that case you're right. It's a big cultural shift for them that would take a long time to complete.

Didn't DKCWii sell in the multimillions?

Yes it is and the FPS genre has reached the point of saturation now (with games like Resistance 3 completely bombing in the charts). The last thing the market needs is yet another generic FPS franchise.

 

[Truth101]

If I expected them to be given free-reign, it wouldn't be frustrating. It's frustrating precisely because I know they won't be given free-reign. Likely ever.



Truth101
Member
(Today, 09:51 PM)

No, I don't, but I know Nintendo hasn't been right about what consumers want lately.

How do you think?

Most of the original titles Nintendo has released lately have been rather successful. More so than other publishers to say the least.

They have also admitted that they made some bad choices with the Wii and 3DS, and are remedying those issues.

So, if they acknowledge they made a mistake when it comes to dealing with their consumers and are fixing those issues how can you say Nintendo doesn't know what the consumers want?

Sure did. How'd that 3DS launch go?

Sure, ignore the fact Nintendo admitted to their mistakes and are changing the issues.

 

[Lord_Byron28]

They should do another Prime game if the Wii-U is as powerful as they say they could really try to aim for a Halo level shooter.I mean the prime series was fantastic and played grea,t better than alot of shooters today.

Metroid Prime will never be mainstream or sell anywhere near as close to Halo. They dipped their toes into that kind of mentality with MP3 and MP:H by trying to make Metroid more appealing to the Halo crowd and it didn't work. Honestly, I think they should've tried the strategy with Star Fox. Starfox 64 is looked back fondly by the teen-college crowd and I still occasionally at work/school/parties here people quote or reminisce on it. I think they should've done a SF64 style campaign and did a complex online multiplayer system and given that a shot. I think that style of play better suits Star Fox than Metroid ever did.

Anyway most of this stuff seems like the same thing Iwata has been saying since 2009 or so. I appreciate his honesty and I see what Nintendo is doing to fix the problem but they still aren't doing it fast enough. However, I will give them credit that from August onwards I've seen some of the most drastic decisions that Nintendo has ever done. I'm intruiged with their comments on outsourcing. For the most part I've thought Nintendo has had a good track record with outsourcing and 2nd parties but that was mainly handled by another division not the teams under Miyamoto's guidance.

 

[rpmurphy]

Even if Retro were to go back to FPS development, I would argue that they haven't yet proven themselves capable of designing an FPS with a modern and solid multiplayer design, such as is the kind of FPS's that are most popular today. It would be an even bigger risk to attach a new IP to it as well. At the moment, they should prioritize getting third party support on board, and perhaps for the long term they could plan what IP's they want to pursue to expand their presence on Western ground.

 

[jman2050]

Sure did. How'd that 3DS launch go?

I'm not sure how that's relevant to Nintendo's selling of its software, which I presume is the context you were operating under by pointing out Retro's lack of autonomy.

 

[Stumpokapow]

So...

What's a wireless device? A tablet?

 

[Momo]

The real problem is that those unknown directions were either incredibly cost-prohibitive or had too many problematic compromises. Or in the case of the 32X for example, both.

I don't feel the 32X was more problematic than either the Motion+, Kinect or Move really (talking about games that require it specifically , not optional implementations). SEGA was half assed with marketing, dedicating developer resources and had an obnoxious price point iirc. It could have worked(at least not spectacularly bombed and alienated plenty) if handled properly.

 

[rpmurphy]

What's a wireless device? A tablet?

Includes iPad and iPod Touch.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Like said above, Retro. Just about everything that studio had done up till Donkey Kong Country: Returns had been from a first-person perspective, going all the way back to their Iguana days with Turok 2. Employees were supposedly leaving because they weren't allowed to work on an original IP. It's just frustrating Nintendo feels the need to have big FPSes in order to compete, yet they won't allow their own studio to try their hand at one.

This gets repeated a lot, but is there a link?

Every casual conversation I've had with a Retro employee has been more about how Nintendo wasn't greenlighting anything for a long time, not that they had this killer idea for a new IP and Nintendo was like "NO NEW IPs EVER"

 

[scitek]

My point is they had a studio to, if not outright make, at least help with the development of an exclusive FPS, but that never happened, and they're now thinking, "well, shit, HD and dual-analog were all we needed. Done and done." They're behind with all of this. HD and a lack of shooters weren't THE things holding the Wii back. It was a whole host of other problems combined with those, first and foremost being the perception of the Wii brand itself by the so-called "core" audience.

This gets repeated a lot, but is there a link?

Every casual conversation I've had with a Retro employee has been more about how Nintendo wasn't greenlighting anything for a long time, not that they had this killer idea for a new IP and Nintendo was like "NO NEW IPs EVER"

I thought I read a few weeks ago, when the last small group of employees left Retro, one of them saying somewhere something about not making what he wanted. But ultimately, no, I don't have any specific links, hence why I used "supposedly" because I see it a lot, too.

 

[MetatronM]

A big slice of STFU to those wankers in the media!

Eh, that first chart is pretty disingenuous, since it is completely divorced from real numbers and only works on percentages. How MASSIVELY has the userbase for smartphones and tablets increased in three years?

(That being said, those "Nintendo should make iPhone games cuz they're missing the Angry Birds boat!!1" people are still morons and need to STFU.)

 

[jman2050]

Eh, that first chart is pretty disingenuous, since it is completely divorced from real numbers and only works on percentages. How MASSIVELY has the userbase for smartphones and tablets increased in three years?

Wouldn't it stand to reason that such an increase in userbase would be reflected by a much larger percentage of users in the "more" category? After all, a significant portion of people who own a smartphone probably didn't three years ago.

Or maybe, just maybe, it turns out that a significant number of people who buy smartphones now aren't actually planning on playing games on it?

 

[Projectjustice]

So, when Moore's focus group testing respondents likened Sega to a "granddad with dementia who used to be cool but you couldn't remember why," how do you interpret that? The features you mention might have been ahead of the market (that wouldn't include DVD, though), but the software was stuck in old-school, quirky and arcadey gaming mode when the industry was beginning it's mainstream explosion with the likes of GTA, Tomb Raider, Madden, Tony Hawk and Halo eventually extending to the dudebro fps/tps industry dumbing down craze of today.

Funny GTA might be in that "used to be cool" category now.

While this is true to some extend. Sega Sports NFL2k series was amazing, Madden might of never appeared on the console but it surely wasnt missed. Tony Hawk and Tomb Raider were released on DC. Sega did recognized this changing trend but it was a bit too late. Head Hunter is a good example of this.

The future of Wii U is looking pretty bright.

 

[blu]

What's a wireless device? A tablet?

A walkie talkie.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

What's a wireless device? A tablet?

Yes, it's iPad + iPod Touch according to Iwata.

Eh, that first chart is pretty disingenuous, since it is completely divorced from real numbers and only works on percentages. How MASSIVELY has the userbase for smartphones and tablets increased in three years?

(That being said, those "Nintendo should make iPhone games cuz they're missing the Angry Birds boat!!1" people are still morons and need to STFU.)

That doesn't matter. It's not comparing growth between the platforms (which would be disingenuous), it's showing how the growth of Smartphone and SNS platforms has not resulted in a decrease in the amount of time people spend playing dedicated handhelds and how it has not resulted in a decrease in the amount of games planned to be purchased per person.

It was a response to those people who refused to belive this chart published back in June this year...

 

[qq more]

Sure did. How'd that 3DS launch go?

Despite the rough sales... but didn't the 3DS broke the record for best handheld launch week sales (in at least a region)? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Oh and I love how you ignore the fact Nintendo has been fixing the issues the 3DS had for the market.

 

[scitek]

Despite the rough sales... but didn't the 3DS broke the record for best handheld launch week sales (in at least a region)? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Oh and I love how you ignore the fact Nintendo has been fixing the issues the 3DS had for the market.

Historically speaking, I don't think it's been catastrophic, but it was bad enough for them to slash the price by a third(?) within months and issue apologies, etc. That's what I was getting at.

 

[SlipperySlope]

We are also internally discussing whether it is the best use of our development resources if those developers who are capable of making hit video game titles have to devote themselves to Nintendo’s Net-related services. Our basic idea today is that our internal game developers should focus on making new, unique and fun software while we collaborate with outside resources, especially in the fields for which Nintendo is not specialized in.

VALVE! Bring in Valve!

 

[scitek]

To clarify my point, go back and watch the interview Reggie did with Geoff Keighley at E3. In it, he stresses the point that developers can no longer claim the reasons they aren't developing games for Nintendo's console is because of the controller or lack of power. That's reiterated here, but it comes off like they're completely oblivious to the fact that, if they go after Sony and Microsoft's market, they'll be behind in the tech space again in a couple of years. Will that matter to consumers? I don't really know, maybe not, but still being a "Wii" could possibly do more to deter people in that demo than attract them.

The issue with selling games to the specific audience they're trying to once again appeal to is the same one they've had since their N64 days. As stupid as it is to generalize, Nintendo's consoles are known as family-oriented, kid-friendly systems, and that won't change over the course of a single console launch.

I'm not saying the Wii U will sell poorly, or making any predictions, just saying I think they need to realize that the lack of horsepower the Wii had was only a small part of the problem, and really just a convenient excuse publishers and developers latched onto in order to avoid saying "Assassin's Creed isn't a Nintendo audience's type of game."

 

[Cosmozone]

The FPS market is a bit crowded these days. How about going the RTS route instead. It's kind of blue-oceanish with that tablet controller. New console-exclusive RTS IP would sound nice in my ears.

 

[watershed]

I'm glad to hear about more collaborations with outside developers for everything from games to services.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

What's a wireless device? A tablet?

 

[Gaborn]

To clarify my point, go back and watch the interview Reggie did with Geoff Keighley at E3. In it, he stresses the point that developers can no longer claim the reasons they aren't developing games for Nintendo's console is because of the controller or lack of power. That's reiterated here, but it comes off like they're completely oblivious to the fact that, if they go after Sony and Microsoft's market, they'll be behind in the tech space again in a couple of years. Will that matter to consumers? I don't really know, maybe not, but still being a "Wii" could possibly do more to deter people in that demo than attract them.

The issue with selling games to the specific audience they're trying to once again appeal to is the same one they've had since their N64 days. As stupid as it is to generalize, Nintendo's consoles are known as family-oriented, kid-friendly systems, and that won't change over the course of a single console launch.

I'm not saying the Wii U will sell poorly, or making any predictions, just saying I think they need to realize that the lack of horsepower the Wii had was only a small part of the problem, and really just a convenient excuse publishers and developers latched onto in order to avoid saying "Assassin's Creed isn't a Nintendo audience's type of game."

I don't think they'll be as far behind as you seem to think. To use a simple analogy, the PS2 was SIGNIFICANTLY weaker than either the Xbox or the Gamecube. obviously that didn't hurt it from developers perspectives. The Wii however was another level still weaker than either the PS3 or 360. What matters isn't whether the Wii U is weaker or stronger than the competition, it's the size of the gap that developers are looking at.

I do not believe we'll see the tech jump with the 720/PS4 that we saw with the 360/PS3 because I don't think the industry can handle it. As it is the rising development costs this generation drove a number of small studious out of business, if they go THAT far again it will only lead to further contraction.

I don't see technology being a barrier this time around.

 

[Rehynn]

Our basic idea today is that our internal game developers should focus on making new, unique and fun software while we collaborate with outside resources, especially in the fields for which Nintendo is not specialized in.

Good. Now do it.

 

[H_Prestige]

I can't see how Wii U won't get all the same third party stuff Sony and MS do, even if they try their hardest to screw up. The system has the processing power to handle anything, disc space is not a concern, and the controller is essentially a 1:1 match with Sony and MS' pads. When's the last time a Nintendo system had so much in common with the competition? Moreover they have MH and DQ series as exclusives, and they could probably pull off a huge coup with Kingdom Hearts 3. The competition with PS4 and Xbox 3 will be heated IMO.

 

[scitek]

I don't see technology being a barrier this time around.

No, I feel the same way, but I don't think Nintendo's console would necessarily be treated like the PS2 was just because it's Nintendo.

The notion that only first-party games and select third-party efforts sell on Nintendo systems has little-to-nothing to do with the lack of horsepower and more to do with being a self-fulfilling prophecy this generation, and I don't see the Wii U being capable of receiving downscaled ports of next-gen third-party games meaning it'll receive them.

 

[Jintor]

Man, I love Iwata's insights.

 

[watershed]

So when Iwata talks about having enough games to release next year I'm assuming he's referring to stuff like Luigi's Mansion 2, Kid Icarus, and Animal Crossing. Its kinda crazy but if Nintendo does it right the 3ds will have new entries in just about every major franchise before the end of its 2nd year. I just hope each game meets Nintendo's high standards. I would hate for quality to suffer for the sake of a quick turn around.

 

[speedpop]

So when Iwata talks about having enough games to release next year I'm assuming he's referring to stuff like Luigi's Mansion 2, Kid Icarus, and Animal Crossing. Its kinda crazy but if Nintendo does it right the 3ds will have new entries in just about every major franchise before the end of its 2nd year. I just hope each game meets Nintendo's high standards. I would hate for quality to suffer for the sake of a quick turn around.

Nintendo's latest stance as of late is to have re-entries in to existing franchises within the first 2 years. What really determines success is whether the Animal Crossing/Mario Kart big hitters can be replicated on the 3DS.

 

[Gaborn]

No, I feel the same way, but I don't think Nintendo's console would necessarily be treated like the PS2 was just because it's Nintendo.

The notion that only first-party games and select third-party efforts sell on Nintendo systems has little-to-nothing to do with the lack of horsepower and more to do with being a self-fulfilling prophecy this generation, and I don't see the Wii U being capable of receiving downscaled ports of next-gen third-party games meaning it'll receive them.

I think a lot of that is simply PR bullshit from developers. If they can make money with a Wii U port they'll do it, and I think that will clearly be the case. There's a reason that we're already seeing a lot of PS3/360 ports and I expect we'll see a lot when the next gen consoles are out. I think the Wii U will be strong enough to be sort of a bridge. Good enough to get up ports from PS3/360, good enough to get down ports from PS4/720. Also good enough to be a lead platform for games that eventually get ported to the other systems. If it's easy and it's cheap to do which it sounds like it will be then it's going to happen.

 

[radioheadrule83]

The most exciting thing for me is that they recognise they should play to their strengths and not try to take too much on or get too involved in things which they do not excel at. The specific mention of development time being better spent on games, while seeking outside expertise for networking etc could bear some significant fruits if they shop around properly.. I love Nintendo but they make some rubbish GUI choices sometimes, so I hope they get some help / advice with that too. And of course, more collaborations / outsourcing means they can give more undivided attention to their next Mario Galaxy or Skyward Sword 10/10 type title, and ensure we endure fewer droughts.

There's no way Iwata is in the ejection seat he's transforming Nintendo for the better

 

[NinjaTehFish]

I would accept that as the console's final look. PURE SEX.

 

[Pureauthor]

Always nice to read Iwata interviews. Even if I don't agree with a fair bit of Nintendo's policies, he's still one of the best CEOs in the gamnig industry.

 

[The Technomancer]

Since I have repeatedly explained about this in this type of opportunity (*), I do not intend to repeat the same explanations

Iwata, he pissed.