Nintendo on how it approaches product development, investing in technology
This information comes from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa, speaking during the company’s Corporate Management Policy Briefing…
The people who make Nintendo products understand and embody the Nintendo brand, craft everything with care, and deliver each product responsibly. To become a trusted consumer brand, we have long worked to develop products that continuously surprise, delight and ultimately put smiles on the faces of our consumers.
The 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. demonstrates how our entertainment experiences stay with children as they become adults, then parents and grandparents, resulting in two or three generations sharing these experiences together. We will continue our efforts so that our entertainment brand will be enjoyed by consumers across multiple generations.
Let me describe our philosophy on investing in technology.
We allocate internal resources very carefully so that technologies we adopt can turn into a source of fun. We strive to create products that consumers didn’t realize they wanted until the moment they’re announced. To do this, we can’t simply follow what other companies are doing or chase the latest technology trends. For example, no other home game console can be taken on the go like Nintendo Switch. When we first set out to develop Nintendo Switch, it was not possible to do so by simply combining existing technologies.
When adopting a new technology, we go to great lengths to ensure that we offer new and innovative content that complements it.
And when we do decide to use an existing technology, we active pursue collaborations with partner companies that specialize in the technology. From an investment standpoint, it is critically important that we carefully select the technologies that are best suited to delivering fun. For example, we pay close attention to any potential negatives, such as when adding more features to hardware or services results in a more complicated configuration, gets in the way of a positive user experience, or puts it at an undesirable price point. We will continue to invest in innovation, balancing investments against their effectiveness and leveraging the strengths of our partner companies as well.
With regard to our dedicated video game platform business, we will continue to be flexible in response to changes in the business environment, as exemplified by our digital initiative.
