Redestium Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 February 13, 2004 - The Nihon Keizai Shimbun recently interviewed Nintendo advisor and former company president Hiroshi Yamauchi, who had many things to say about the future of the videogame industry and how Nintendo will succeed or fail. We've provided some highlights below:Yamauchi reiterated his longstanding belief that the videogame industry is moving in the wrong direction, but added that it's approaching a critical point. "I have been saying this for some time, but customers are not interested in grand games with higher-quality graphics and sound and epic stories," he said. "Cutting-edge technologies and multiple functions do not necessarily lead to more fun. The excessively hardware-oriented way of thinking is totally wrong, but manufacturers are just throwing money at developing higher-performance hardware." Yamauchi told the paper that in a move to oppose the "bigger is better" mentality he thought up the idea of the Nintendo DS, a dual-screened portable device set to be shown at E3 2004 in May. The former NCL president dismissed the quick arrival of a next-generation console. "Nintendo has no plans to release a so-called 'next-generation' videogame console at the next year's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas. We will rather make a new proposal that uses the GameCube at its core," he said. "Only people who do not know the videogame business would advocate the release of next-generation machines when people are not interested in cutting-edge technologies." Yamauchi added that Nintendo's leadership shares his view of the business. The executive said that Nintendo will "give [its]all" to promote the Nintendo DS. He conceded that the device may not immediately overwhelm audiences, but that he hopes it will help ring in a new era, which may revitalize the games industry. "If we are unsuccessful with the Nintendo DS, we may not go bankrupt, but we will be crushed. The next two years will be a really crucial time for Nintendo." Seems the DS is going to be very crucial to Nintendo's game plan. IGN GameCube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danrarbc Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 This is the same paper that drastically took Iwata's words out of context. "I have been saying this for some time, but customers are not interested in grand games with higher-quality graphics and sound and epic stories," I seem to remember a sentence exactly like this in another interview, except he said "...are not just interested in..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Flaco Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 When will they learn... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danrarbc Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 (edited) Today's Nihon Keizai Shimbun includes a discussion with Nintendo's Yamauchi, as well as an interview with the president of the company, Iwata.Iwata: (about the GC) - The main reason for GC's surge in sales at the end of the year was the price cut - I heard we even managed to surpass Sony's sales in the US for a moment - In Europe too, we were up on the previous year - We have been able to provide proof positive that the GC is not a dying platform - We were looking for the right time to drop the price from early 2003 (medium term targets) - Today's games are complex and take time to produce - the age where we would struggle with graphics and memory is over - How can we expand the industry - the Nintendo DS is one way we are trying to do so - Yamauchi has the genius perception to see the customers' trends - I am thinking more from a scientific viewpoint of what we can do to achieve this (about the next generation) - I don't think our problems can be solved by just increasing the power of the consoles - It's not clear what other companies are trying to achieve with their new consoles, we will not make something incomplete just for the sake of it - Nintendo's hardware development team is thinking about when we should release the next machine (about online games) - I wonder how much money companies like Sony and Microsoft are making from this? - You can't say that appropriate business models are in place yet - customers are also not jumping on board - But Nintendo doesn't hold a negative view of "net technologies" - For example, we're thinking about new forms of play using wireless communication Yamauchi: - Because of other companies' pricing policies, we had no choice but to cut the price of the GC - I think the game industry is maturing in different ways to those I imagined - The industry is displaying certains aspects of being in a crisis - Gamers don't just want beautiful graphics, sounds and epic stories - We cannot guarantee interesting and fun games just by using better technology and increasing the functions of the machines - But makers have plenty of money, so they won't stop making that kind of game - The truth is, I thought about the idea for DS about 18 months ago - We plan to show the successor to the GC at next year's E3, even though typical gamers aren't demanding high specs. The people who call it the "next generation" are people who don't know games - The management are expecting good things from the DS - If we can increase the scope of the industry, we can re-energise the global market and lift Japan out of depression - that is Nintendo's mission - If the DS succeeds, we will rise to heaven, but if it fails we will sink to hell - The next two years will decide Nintendo's fate - Dual screen games is my final suggestion - From now on, I won't interrupt management flow, though I can still ask for their strength. Source: Nikkei Shimbun (gameonline) Linky It looks like somebody in IGN or whoever passed this on to them took it out of context. Edited February 14, 2004 by Danrarbc641 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threetonesun Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 If the DS succeeds, we will rise to heaven, but if it fails we will sink to hell Now I really want to see this thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tran Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Sounds like one hell of a gamble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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