Interview: Satoru Iwata - Transcript
Exclusive and extensive interview with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata on Nintendo DS, PSP, Shigeru Miyamoto, Hiroshi Yamauchi and Nintendo Revolution.
Page:
1
2
3
4
Page 4
|
"Mr Yamauchi specifically hit upon the idea, and proposed: 'Why not have the two screens?'"
- Satoru Iwata
|
Satoru Iwata: Yes, Mr Yamauchi is still one of the board of directors at Nintendo Co. Ltd, and at the same time he is the principal shareholder of Nintendo - I should tell you that he is fine, physically, and he is smart as usual! [laughs] So when something very significant about Nintendo is happening, as one of the board member, he speaks out his opinion. However on everyday subjects, what to do and how to operate the company, he never makes any specific directions or instructions at all now. Also, among only the senior executive board of directors at Nintendo, we are forming so-called executive committee meetings, and to that meeting, Mr Yamauchi has never attended. Talking specifically about the DS, Mr Yamauchi specifically hit upon the idea, and proposed, "Why not have the two screens?" And at that time he was simply saying, "you have to be bold enough in coming up with new ideas like including two screens simultaneously." Our management team was also thinking about many other possibilities and the two screens idea became quite suitable for a combination of other ideas - and that is why we said, "thank you, we are going to take your idea!" [laughs].
Kikizo: We could ask the same about Mr Miyamoto as well, because I believe that his job description changed somewhat recently as well, perhaps you could tell us what his general involvement is now, and also his specific involvement in DS and maybe the next generation home console.
|
"What we want Mr Miyamoto to do right now is concentrate on making the firstparty software titles."
- Satoru Iwata
|
Satoru Iwata: Actually, the shift in the responsibility of development has occurred not only on Mr Miyamoto, but also me, myself. More specifically what we want Mr Miyamoto to do right now is concentrate making the firstparty software titles. His job description is not defined by specific game products like Nintendo DS or GBA - as far as the internal software development is concerned, we want him to focus on it. We want him to be involved on then actual development that before. And then, what happens with other collaboration titles or titles that have been made outside of Nintendo, we have created a new department, and that department is headed by me myself.
Kikizo: Perhaps we can ask a financial question, because the share price fell somewhat earlier in the year but I believe that Nintendo has a lot of cash. Perhaps you could clarify the current financial position?
|
"As the manager of Nintendo I should not be too concerned with very short term share price changes, otherwise, we are going to lose something important in the management."
- Satoru Iwata
|
Satoru Iwata: Well, because I am the President of Nintendo I should not say anything about we are targeting this kind of price point for our share price and so forth, but the fact of the matter is, in terms of the power Nintendo has as a whole, for a few months last year the share price, I have to say, was beyond the level it should have been at the time, but I think it coincided with a time period when we were simply advocating to the market that we needed to change, that the market needs to change with new gameplay, but unfortunately we couldn't provide customers with tangible examples. Now, we have the DS and excellent GameCube and GBA software titles, which we can offer to the market this year and next, so I am really hopeful that people's view towards Nintendo shall be changed, and accordingly that can be reflected upon the share price. Having said that however, as the manager of Nintendo I should not be too concerned with very short term share price changes, otherwise, we are going to lose something important in the management.
Kikizo: Thank you very much for your time Mr Iwata.
Satoru Iwata: Thank you!
Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo
Interview conducted by Steve Boxer and Adam Doree
Page:
1
2
3
4
WATCH VIDEO >>
Satoru Iwata Video Interview - the late Nintendo president spoke with Kikizo in 2004 as 'Nintendo Revolution' loomed.
Kaz Hirai Video Interview - the first of Kikizo's interviews with the man who went on to become global head of Sony.
Ed Fries Video Interview - one of Xbox's founders discusses an epic journey from Excel to Xbox.
Yu Suzuki, the Kikizo Interview - we spend time with one of gaming's most revered creators.
Tetris - The Making of an Icon: Alexey Pajitnov and Henk Rogers reveal the fascinating story behind Tetris
Rare founders, Chris and Tim Stamper - their only interview? Genuinely 'rare' sit down with founders of the legendary studio.
The History of First-Person Shooters - a retrospective, from Maze War to Modern Warfare