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Great quote that (IMO) demonstrates Nintendo's philosophy towards new technology: ----- [2003] Each time Satoru Iwata did an interview with the press, the sub

Great quote that (IMO) demonstrates Nintendo's philosophy towards new technology: ----- [2003] Each time Satoru Iwata did an interview with the press, the subject of online gaming would rear its head. As you can imagine, Iwata became increasingly annoyed with answering the same question over and over. He slammed critics who claimed that Nintendo couldn’t survive as a business unless they embraced online gaming as the future. “All the talk in the industry regarding online gaming has been misleading. Network swindlers have made it seem like companies can’t survive in this business without network compatibility,” said Iwata. “That’s the same type of rhetoric people have been saying about the newspaper business, that the paper-based periodical business will be dead in three years. In reality, the number of users willing to pay a monthly fee for online games is small. Many of the American companies who were focusing almost exclusively on network games last year now view network capabilities as an advertising tool. The fact of the matter is, network games can’t provide a stable source of profit for a company of Nintendo’s scale.”

username223 13y ago
> the paper-based periodical business will be dead in three years. That quote was apprently from 2003. Many (formerly) paper-based periodicals may be dying, but some, like the Financial Times and the New Yorker, seem to have a reason to live.
- mpyne 13y ago
  Read the quote again. Iwata was saying it was rhetoric, not fact.
vinkelhake 13y ago
It could also be argued that their target group is younger than Sony's and Microsoft's. This age group generally have less money to spend so Nintendo's consoles have to be cheaper. Online gaming is also less important for this group.
wvenable 13y ago
Nintendo is used to selling games for $40-$60 a pop. They don't want to be lead into the situation like on the iPhone where the average game is 99 cents. Their strategy so far is to pretend that it's still 2001 and that isn't a strategy that they can sustain forever.
- ANTSANTS 13y ago
  I dunno, it seems to be working pretty well for them on the 3DS (the WiiU, not so much...): http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/hard_soft/index.html http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/hard_soft/index.html http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/software/3ds.html http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/software/3ds.html What's wrong with making good games and charging more than a fast food lunch for them? It's not like anybody levels this complaint at Microsoft or Sony, who tend to charge even more for new releases.
ZeroGravitas 13y ago
A more classic quote about their approach to tech is (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpei_Yokoi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpei_Yokoi): Yokoi articulated his philosophy of "Lateral Thinking of Withered Technology" (枯れた技術の水平思考?, "Kareta Gijutsu no Suihei Shikō") (also translated as "Lateral Thinking with Seasoned Technology") in the book, Yokoi Gunpei Game House (横井軍平ゲーム館 Yokoi Gunpei Gēmu-kan?), which consists of a collection of interviews. "Withered technology" in this context refers to a mature technology which is cheap and well understood. "Lateral thinking" refers to finding radical new ways of using such technology. Yokoi held that toys and games do not necessarily require cutting edge technology; novel and fun gameplay are more important. In the interview he suggested that expensive cutting edge technology can get in the way of developing a new product.[10]

username223 13y ago

> the paper-based periodical business will be dead in three years. That quote was apprently from 2003. Many (formerly) paper-based periodicals may be dying, but some, like the Financial Times and the New Yorker, seem to have a reason to live.

mpyne 13y ago
Read the quote again. Iwata was saying it was rhetoric, not fact.

vinkelhake 13y ago

It could also be argued that their target group is younger than Sony's and Microsoft's. This age group generally have less money to spend so Nintendo's consoles have to be cheaper. Online gaming is also less important for this group.

wvenable 13y ago

Nintendo is used to selling games for $40-$60 a pop. They don't want to be lead into the situation like on the iPhone where the average game is 99 cents. Their strategy so far is to pretend that it's still 2001 and that isn't a strategy that they can sustain forever.

ANTSANTS 13y ago
I dunno, it seems to be working pretty well for them on the 3DS (the WiiU, not so much...): http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/hard_soft/index.html http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/hard_soft/index.html http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/software/3ds.html http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/software/3ds.html What's wrong with making good games and charging more than a fast food lunch for them? It's not like anybody levels this complaint at Microsoft or Sony, who tend to charge even more for new releases.

ZeroGravitas 13y ago

A more classic quote about their approach to tech is (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpei_Yokoi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpei_Yokoi): Yokoi articulated his philosophy of "Lateral Thinking of Withered Technology" (枯れた技術の水平思考?, "Kareta Gijutsu no Suihei Shikō") (also translated as "Lateral Thinking with Seasoned Technology") in the book, Yokoi Gunpei Game House (横井軍平ゲーム館 Yokoi Gunpei Gēmu-kan?), which consists of a collection of interviews. "Withered technology" in this context refers to a mature technology which is cheap and well understood. "Lateral thinking" refers to finding radical new ways of using such technology. Yokoi held that toys and games do not necessarily require cutting edge technology; novel and fun gameplay are more important. In the interview he suggested that expensive cutting edge technology can get in the way of developing a new product.[10]