Iwata: Wii U dual screen idea nearly canned, not worried about competition, more
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has divulged lots of new Wii U tidbits in an interview.
He discussed how Nintendo came close to ditching the second screen idea for Wii U, how he’s not concerned about third-parties using similar ideas, the improved situation for third-parties, and more. Iwata even commented directly on the possibility that Wii U could find itself in the same situation as Wii once Sony/Microsoft release their own new hardware.
Head past the break for Iwata’s comments.
Iwata on the difficulty of explaining Wii U on stage at E3…
“On the stage we couldn’t fully explain what’s so unique about our product. It’s only after people come to our booth and have the hands-on experience with the Wii U they started to realise that it is a surprise. The excitement is very high every day, and I’m really happy to see smiling faces at our booth.”
Iwata on conveying the ideas behind Wii U…
“It’s our homework to come up with the most effective way to communicate the newness of the Wii U. The people who came to the hands-on appreciate the uniqueness, but we have come to realise that people don’t get it when we just show what it looks like.”
Iwata on how people immediately got excited about Wii at its conference in 2006…
“As soon as we showcased the Wii in 2006 people immediately understood. At that E3 show I was up on the stage with other Nintendo staff playing Wii Tennis and I could hear the excitement behind me.
Iwata on the skepticism surrounding Wii following its presentation…
“I knew there was a lot of scepticism after our presentation asking if the uniqueness would be appreciated by the consumer. But what happened was that more people came to our show booth every day and started to appreciate the unique approach of the Wii. Even so, that excitement wasn’t fully communicated. In Europe we packed in Wii Sports with the console, so one way or another people processed the Wii by enjoying Wii Sports. The unique interactive nature of the game was spread thanks to the excitement from the consumer.”
Iwata on the idea behind dual screens for Wii U…
“We had been discussing what we can do with a successor to the Wii since 2008. One way to highlight the shape of its successor was how do you make advancements on the Wii, the other way was to highlight the issues of the Wii. We wanted to further motion control, but doing that alone wouldn’t be attractive to the consumer.
“It was very fortunate for Wii that a lot of households around the world decided to connect the Wii to the living room TV. On the other hand, we felt something was lost. And that is that the TV in the living room is shared by every member of family, and if someone wanted to play a Wii game for a long time period, other members of the family may find that troublesome. So at the early stages of the discussion between ourselves, we came up with the idea of the additional screen.”
Iwata on how Nintendo nearly ditched the second screen idea…
“Sometime during that final discussion we almost gave up on the idea of the additional screen. This was due to our concern over the expected high cost, it may not have been feasible to create this and sell it at a reasonable price point for the consumers.
“From that we discussed how we could use that additional screen. Like asymmetric gameplay and using it as a touchscreen device to change how people interact with a TV set. The touchscreen is just one foot away from you, so you can read small letters easier and input letters more easily. And then you have the big TV screen ten feet away, which has its own advantages, in that it can be viewed by many people simultaneously.”
Iwata on Nintendo’s competitors using somewhat similar ideas as Wii U…
“It’s quicker than before. After our showing of motion control, it took three years for other companies to follow suit. But this time it’s just one year after our proposal, even before we’ve released the actual product. I think that proves the great potential of what we showed last year.
“However, I have to point out that there are essential differences between what we are doing and what other companies are doing. The main difference is that anyone who has a Wii U will be able to enjoy the two screen experience, while the other companies are saying its optional, but only if you have this device or that device.
“You might be able to get away with latency for streaming video, but not for video games. They can never realise the same gaming experience on a tablet. They don’t have the same devices that are requisite to play the rich gaming experiences we are talking about. Just imagine that you are playing with the traditional game controller and they are saying that you need an additional screen aswell. Most of us just have two arms, so how are we meant to hold this additional device?”
Iwata on third-party support…
“In terms of graphical capability, there was a sheer difference between the Wii and the other two devices, most notably between SD and HD. We decided to differentiate the Wii not with graphics but with motion control. We believed that motion control was unique and would create more attraction rather than trying to make the Wii HD. On the other hand, we had lost the third-party support when they were focussing on multi-platform titles.
“In the case of the Wii U, we have decided to make it so that it is capable of doing whatever the other two consoles can do, so games are easily portable. Even though the other machines are six years old, they have the advantage now because developers are capable of maximising the graphic capabilities, while with the new machine they will have to start from scratch to create the most capable graphics. So the Wii U has that room for improvement.
“So in terms of performance, we don’t see any issues for third-parties to be willing to make their software available. As we expand the install-base of the Wii U, I see greater opportunities for the third-parties to be able to provide the Wii U with quality software titles. And as well as the third-party multi-platform titles, we will have publishers making exclusive Wii U titles.”
Iwata on the thread of new hardware from Sony/Microsoft creating the same problem…
“My impression is that the things that happened with Wii v 360 or Wii v PS3 won’t happen again. If they decide to increase the spec numbers, will the consumers be able to realise the difference enough so that they can understand it’s much superior to today’s machine? And also, if they beef up the processing power, that simply means much more work for software developers to take advantage of those spec numbers. So I have to ask the question if that type of differentiation really makes sense. But I think further arguments must wait until probably next year, when they have finalised and disclosed whatever they are thinking about for the next generation of consoles.”
Iwata on how he doesn’t see what other companies do as a threat…
“I never think in terms of how we can compete against the other companies, rather our primary focus is to make consumers feel the uniqueness and attractiveness of our products. So any improvements in graphics are just a portion of what we want people to enjoy from Nintendo. More importantly, I want people to say Nintendo are offering unique experiences.”
Iwata on how history won’t be repeated when it comes to Wii U (compared to the 3DS)…
“What happened in the last fiscal year was due to the fact the company failed to create enough momentum for the Nintendo 3DS. We learned some grave lessons. But this year, we have already come to the stage where I can say the problem has been fixed. The most important thing for me, is that we should never repeat what happened last year with the 3DS. We haven’t made the announcement yet, but what we have to do is do our best so that we don’t have to mark down the price soon after the launch of the Wii U, like we did with the 3DS.”
It’s fighting talk from a man under extreme pressure to turn around Nintendo’s fortunes after a tough 12 months. In the run-up to the release of the Wii U this Christmas, Iwata will need to mastermind a precise set of decisions regarding price and software lineup. Most importantly, Nintendo will need to recapture that eureka moment that greeted the Wii U at the Nintendo booth at E3, but amplified to a global scale. A big ask, but if there’s one thing industry observers have learned over the years it is to never write off Nintendo.
