Iwata on failure, doing new things, Blue Ocean Strategy, challenges pushing Pokemon/Brain Age
More quotes from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata’s session at B Dash Camp Osaka 2013 have appeared online, courtesy of translations from The Bridge. Among the topics discussed include Nintendo’s tradition of doing new things rather than competing and the challenges pushing Pokemon abroad as well as Brain Age in the west.
You can find all of Iwata’s comments below.
Iwata on how Nintendo is an old company, but always one that wants to make something new…
When we talk about Nintendo we cannot ignore (former president) Hiroshi Yamauchi who just recently passed away. He always said that if you have failure, you don’t need to be too concerned. You always have good things and bad, and this reflects the history of Nintendo.
Iwata on how Nintendo focuses on doing new things instead of competing with others…
If you do the same thing as others, it will wear you out. Nintendo is not good at competing so we always have to challenge [the status quo] by making something new, rather than competing in an existing market.
Iwata on the Blue Ocean Strategy…
It’s often called the ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’, looking for something that no one else is working on. When we created the DS, people said it was strange to have a dual display, and people said elderly people don’t play games. But they did. Opening the first door is when things are most interesting.
Iwata on the difficulty pushing Pokemon abroad and Brain Age globally…
Will America accept cute monsters? No, they said. Some people even recommended to make Pikachu more muscular. If we followed their advice Pokemon would never have been the success that it was. Brain Training software (Brain Age) became a hit in Japan, and I proposed that we sell it globally. And even as I said that as the president, no one listened.
Iwata on how motivated Nintendo employees are…
It’s easy for our employees to see the benefits of the work they do, and when employees are excited, well, that’s the best possible state for a company.
