Iwata/Reggie/Miyamoto: amiibo origins, more mobile talk, Wii U situation, future
A second article from TIME covers several Nintendo-related topics in addition to mobile gaming. President Satoru Iwata, Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aime, and Shigeru Miyamoto participated in the discussion. We’ve rounded up all of the tidbits and quotes below.
On amiibo…
– Iwata started sketching out the amiibo idea while on a bullet train in late 2013
– Iwata got more and more excited as he mulled the concept
– He dashed off a four-page pitch to his engineers
“It was something I believed would be completely new for us.”
Reggie and Iwata on how pursuing smart devices helps Nintendo…
“We view it as that marriage of the software with the hardware that together creates a compelling experience.” – Reggie
“If we don’t take an approach that looks holistically at the form a video-game platform should take in the future, then we’re not able to sustain Nintendo 10 years down the road. We would like to create several hit titles by effectively leveraging the appeal of Nintendo IP.” – Iwata
Miyamoto/Iwata on new hardware…
“Our job is to continue to create new platforms that enable us to create fun new ways to play.”
“For us to create unique experiences that other companies cannot, the best possible option for us is to be able to develop hardware that can realize unique software experiences.”
On New 3DS
– New 3DS is one example of how Nintendo will conduct itself going forward
– Late into the development of the system, Nintendo met with a company that had the technology capable of improving its 3D
– After previewing the technology, Miyamoto stunned his engineers
“He said, ‘Why aren’t we putting that in this system? If we don’t put this in, there’s no point in making the system.’ I was personally asked many times by many engineers internally, ‘Are we really going to do this?’ This is where my background in technology is quite helpful, because it means the engineers can’t trick me.” – Iwata
Iwata on the situation with Wii U…
“Certainly I’m not satisfied with the current situation. It may not be [people’s] first console of choice, but they recognize it as perhaps the best second console.”
Iwata on doubts about Nintendo continuing the way it does business the same as before…
“We do have doubts [about] continuing to extend our business in the way that we have in the past. We have doubts about whether or not people will continue to see those simple extensions of what we’ve done as new and surprising If it takes a lot of explanation for people to understand your entertainment product, you’re doing something wrong.”
