• May 19, 2004    Home > Features > Feature

    Interview: Satoru Iwata - Transcript

    Exclusive and extensive interview with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata on Nintendo DS, PSP, Shigeru Miyamoto, Hiroshi Yamauchi and Nintendo Revolution.

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    Kikizo: Yes, although talking in strategic terms Microsoft has established itself in the marketplace, and thinks it has a chance to become a major player such as Sony or yourselves. It thinks the next generation will be a level playing field, and I am wondering what you think in strategic terms about for example how important it is to enter the market at roughly the same time as them?

    "The more important thing is to come up with a really worthwhile console for people to purchase... one that must bring about revolutionary changes in the gameplay."

    - Satoru Iwata

    Satoru Iwata: Time-wise, we have repeatedly said that we won't be late; the next generation home console shall be launched at around the same time as our competitors will be launching their own products. It's simply that in the past, the delay of GameCube worked very disadvantageously to Nintendo. Having said that however, it's not the only issue we have to tackle. The more important thing is to come up with a really worthwhile console for people to purchase in the first place, one that must bring about revolutionary changes in the gameplay, and making sure that point is much more important - especially when other companies are trying to beef up the current technology in order to call them the next generation console.

    Kikizo: Perhaps we could talk about PSP, obviously it's a bit of a shot in the dark for Sony, as they've never done a handheld before, and obviously Nintendo owns the handheld market, but the way I see it, Sony is very good at marketing and a company you cannot underestimate. Do you think it will compete with Nintendo DS and do you think it will be a success?

    "DS is not going to compete with PSP, it is trying to create a brand new market that doesn't even exist for GBA."

    - Satoru Iwata

    Satoru Iwata: Well, please do not misunderstand that DS is not going to compete with PSP, it is trying to create a brand new market that doesn't even exist for GameBoy Advance. The PSP will first have to fight against the GameBoy Advance. The installed base of GameBoy Advance will be 16 million units [correction made 20 years later on May 19, 2024 (!): 60 million not 16 million] units worldwide when PSP hits any part of the world. And when DS launches it will be changing how the portable game is played, so they have to tackle with the huge installed based of the GBA as well as try to challenge the new concept DS is establishing.

    Kikizo: There was a documentary on British television recently that investigated the story behind Nintendo and its history and so on. It was trying to get access to Hiroshi Yamauchi to find out what his role in the company is nowadays, because I believe he still plays quite an active role in Nintendo, and I was wondering if you could shed any light on perhaps what involvement he has in current projects like DS and the next generation home machine?

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