Q&A with Iwata!
Q&A: Nintendo exec shrugs off Sony's talk
By Kim Peterson
Seattle Times technology reporter
DAMIAN DOVARGANES / AP
Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, spoke at the E3 event this week.
Satoru Iwata has been president of Nintendo for only about a year, but he's been busy.
Iwata, who took the post upon the retirement of longtime president Hiroshi Yamauchi, oversaw the release of the Kyoto, Japan, company's new handheld game player, the Game Boy Advance SP. He is also shepherding the development of the newest games Nintendo has announced this week at the Electronics Entertainment Expo, or E3.
He sat down with The Seattle Times this week to discuss, with an interpreter, Nintendo's place in the video-game market and the industry in general.
Q. How is E3 going for you so far?
Iwata: I have been unable to look around, even around the Nintendo booth itself, so I don't know what kind of impression people may have toward Nintendo's exhibitions. But at least I have attended a couple of events yesterday and presented some information and game-related material. And I know that the reaction and people's impression of our presentation were generally good.
Q. What do you think is the most significant announcement that Nintendo has made?
Iwata: The most important message during E3 is that we can show a very understandable example of connectivity. In other words, I think we were able to have enough explanation and understandable presentations to the public of how attractive the connectivity titles are for the Nintendo GameCube.
At E3 2003 we are showing so many attractive connectivity titles on the show floor which are really easy to be understood. We are really hopeful that those who have played the games are going to convey the message that connectivity is really something you need to look for in the actual market.
Q. You were very open at Nintendo's briefing in talking about some of the problems Nintendo had with the GameCube. Do you think the company has overcome these challenges?
Iwata: At last year's E3, many people believed, and Nintendo itself believed, that Nintendo was going to make great advancements toward the end of 2002. Is wasn't only Nintendo's opinion, but I heard the same from many people in this industry.
But unfortunately, we could not meet that kind of expectation. Now that we have analyzed the reasons, and have implemented countermeasures, what we need to do is carry out our mission, carry out our strategies. Until the time we can deliver the real content to customers, what's most important is that we must be careful that we not lose our sight.
Q. Is there one main problem that contributed to the GameCube's troubles?
Iwata: I think the biggest problem we were having was that thinking (that) one single software can make a great change on hardware sales. But we have come to realize by now that the circumstances have changed.
No single software can do it, but rather, Nintendo, or more specifically GameCube, does need a great variety of different software which must be put into the market at appropriate intervals. Nintendo has to concentrate on something which is really unique to Nintendo.
Q. At Nintendo's press conference this week it seemed that Nintendo is not very worried about the PlayStation PSP, the new handheld game player Sony said it will launch late next year. What are your thoughts on Sony entering the handheld business?
Iwata: What troubles me most is that what they showed yesterday was simply one small optical disc. Other than that, no information is available and they are just talking about a thing which may or may not come out a year and a half from today. We don't know how much it will be, what kind of exterior design and what kind of specifications it will have and most importantly what kind of games they can offer.
And now, people ask me, "Are you worried?" That kind of questioning itself troubles me most. Maybe we should be thankful that Sony has given us such a long notice, one year and a half ahead of the launch. So we can make any preparations, if necessary, but the fact of the matter is they need to challenge the market occupied by Game Boy Advance.
By the time Sony may be able to introduce the system, at least 16 million units of Game Boy Advance will be there, against which they will have to compete.
Q. Nintendo has been able to dominate this market without competition for a long time. Do you think the handheld market is big enough for Sony to enter?
Iwata: I think Sony is seeing this portable video-game market as very attractive, especially because we have a very good head start with the Game Boy Advance SP. The Game Boy Advance SP is such a cool-looking gadget for adults, which Sony is mainly aiming at. That is specifically the reason why they had to make such an announcement yesterday.
Q. Talk about the work you're doing on the next machine. What are some things you want it to do?
Iwata: Whenever one project is completed — in other words, one hardware is introduced to the market — we immediately start making so-called next-generation machines. So in that sense, we are always working on a new console. It's just a matter of timing, exactly when we should make the announcement of the next-generation console.
When it comes to the contents of the next-generation console machine, we always believe that the latest technology or emerging technology has to cater to the people's attention. More specifically, the new console must have some seeds of surprise, unprecedented surprise, for the game player. This is the basic structure of this industry.
Q. Some people have said that Sony's PlayStation has created such a reputation as a market leader that it will be hard for Microsoft and Nintendo just to compete with the PlayStation name in future console wars. What are your thoughts on that?
Iwata: If that were true, then Nintendo would have had better market share right now because, after all, Nintendo has an established name. But now, as you point out, PlayStation 2 has the lion's share in the marketplace. So as long as we can come up with more surprises than what the next generation PlayStation can do, then we can reverse the situation.
If what we can offer is just similar to what PlayStation 3 can offer, then we will have trouble because PlayStation has such an established name right now. If we can offer the customer something very attractive that they feel like buying by any means then there is a great chance for Nintendo to reverse the situation.
Q. Nintendo has a lot of players who are teenagers and in their 20s and 30s, but Nintendo seems to have a reputation of just being for younger players. Is it important to reach that older audience or is it good to have that reputation?
Iwata: We have never said that Nintendo is making our products for our children. It's rather the images created by the PR strategies of our competitors. What Nintendo actually is doing is we are creating software that can be played by any generation of people, starting from very small children to grandparents. It can cater to a wide variety of different demographics.
I think Nintendo should be proud of that fact because we are one of the very rare companies which owns a creative team who can cater to a wide variety of different people.
On the other hand, it is true that there is some perception that Nintendo's main titles are for children. Of course, if the adults start playing they should understand that it is for them, too. But unfortunately, if they think, "This Nintendo is for kids, not for me," then unfortunately they will not buy our products.
That is why we need different kinds of software for Nintendo as well. I have been eagerly talking with third-party allies, and together we are trying to establish a lineup which is really taking advantage of the GameCube's ability. Their software may not look like Nintendo's at all, but it sometimes appeals specifically to adult audiences. That's the reason why I was able to show so many different titles from our top party licensees this week.
Q. You seem to be working more with third-party developers than ever before. Why is that?
Iwata: It was not my decision, but I talked with many different people inside of the company. I made the judgment that as a company we should talk with many different companies so that a great variety of third-party licensed titles shall become available for the GameCube.
Taking the example of cuisines: If you eat Italian cuisine every day, you want to say, "Tomorrow I'm going to have Chinese or try Japanese or even hamburger." We always need some fresh new taste. Otherwise we cannot increase our console's installed base. That's what we had in mind leading up to the decision to start negotiating with third parties.
Q. Was there one video game that affected your life or one experience with video games that still affects you today?
Iwata: There are several games which made some changes in my mind. I think the game which made me start doing work related to video games was "Space Invaders" introduced in the late 1970s. The game software which made me realize the great potential of video gaming was Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario for the Nintendo 64. Among the games I myself created, the one I like best is Super Smash Bros.
They'd pass as $20-30 GBA games, but GCN? No way.
