Iwata on the importance of momentum, never thought about resigning
Momentum is something that we often hear Nintendo discussing. The 3DS, for example, saw a tough start, but Nintendo turned things around with a price drop and steady stream of software. This provided a momentum boost for the system.
Unfortunately, Wii U has yet to see any sort of momentum. This is something that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata reaffirmed to investors last week.
In spite of the Wii U’s struggles though, Iwata says he “never thought of resignation as an option, and I believe that my job is to do whatever I can do to deliver results, and I am as passionate about this responsibility as ever.”
Read Iwata’s full comments on momentum below.
Whether a platform can achieve great market penetration or not depends on its momentum. With momentum, we can expect a lot of synergistic effects. On the other hand, when a platform loses momentum, various forces work against it. Nintendo DS, while it struggled in the beginning, achieved a turnaround later. With Wii, we were fortunate enough to cross the chasm* between early adopters and early majority, something one must overcome in order to popularize products, including video game systems, before we even knew we did. Nintendo 3DS had a difficult beginning, but we managed to turn it around later. So far, we have not been able to do so with Wii U. This is where we stand right now. I have never thought of resignation as an option, and I believe that my job is to do whatever I can do to deliver results, and I am as passionate about this responsibility as ever. However, as we need to take responsibility in some way, we announced that our management would receive compensation cuts.
