Satoru Iwata: Nintendo "Least Interested" in "Multimedia Device"
Console successor is a ways off yet.
So Nintendo didn't have a blinding financial year, then. CEO Satoru Iwata has answered questions on the success of the Wii and the incoming 3DS in an investor call last week, and indicated that a new home console is a long way off yet.
"We believe there's still more we can do with the Wii," he said when asked about a time frame for the Wii's successor. This was alongside his usual response that Nintendo is always developing new hardware - it just happens to be that whatever is next isn't quite ready.
Another investor asked if Nintendo's financial blip was due to a growing interest in social games and cloud computing, and whether the company should consider developing software for multiple devices instead. Iwata seemed to be quite passionate about the idea of game hardware existing in the future, even though he felt that the "current game machine model" might not last forever.
"If you ask why we make game consoles, it's because we believe that 'offering experiences that cannot be done on other devices' is our lifeline. With that meaning, offering software for a multi purpose multimedia device is, for us, an area of work that we have least interest in," he said.
"If we were to stop and do nothing, the current game system framework would probably become antiquated, but because we continue to offer new things, we don't feel at all that this will happen. We've not once thought things like 'we'll be behind the times, so we should enter social games.'"
Many questions were asked about Nintendo's next handheld, the 3DS - including catering for those with vision impairments (the 3D can be turned off apparently), development costs and whether the company is targeting the core gamer specifically with this new device. On the latter point, Iwata said "We definitely do not feel that 3D targets heavy users. However, we have a feeling that, until you've seen something that makes you say 'Of course, when used like that, it's clearly a 3D game that anyone can play,' you can't be convinced, so we hope that you'll make the decision in the future when you've seen something solid."
Man has a point. Look at the Nintendo DS.
Read the translated investor call via Andriasang.
"We believe there's still more we can do with the Wii," he said when asked about a time frame for the Wii's successor. This was alongside his usual response that Nintendo is always developing new hardware - it just happens to be that whatever is next isn't quite ready.
Another investor asked if Nintendo's financial blip was due to a growing interest in social games and cloud computing, and whether the company should consider developing software for multiple devices instead. Iwata seemed to be quite passionate about the idea of game hardware existing in the future, even though he felt that the "current game machine model" might not last forever.
"If you ask why we make game consoles, it's because we believe that 'offering experiences that cannot be done on other devices' is our lifeline. With that meaning, offering software for a multi purpose multimedia device is, for us, an area of work that we have least interest in," he said.
"If we were to stop and do nothing, the current game system framework would probably become antiquated, but because we continue to offer new things, we don't feel at all that this will happen. We've not once thought things like 'we'll be behind the times, so we should enter social games.'"
Many questions were asked about Nintendo's next handheld, the 3DS - including catering for those with vision impairments (the 3D can be turned off apparently), development costs and whether the company is targeting the core gamer specifically with this new device. On the latter point, Iwata said "We definitely do not feel that 3D targets heavy users. However, we have a feeling that, until you've seen something that makes you say 'Of course, when used like that, it's clearly a 3D game that anyone can play,' you can't be convinced, so we hope that you'll make the decision in the future when you've seen something solid."
Man has a point. Look at the Nintendo DS.
Read the translated investor call via Andriasang.
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