I've said this for a long time already but Iwata needs the boot. He is running the company into the ground with his stubborn attitude.

Thier main focus is on the American market. Nintnedo is the only company yet which focuses initially on Japan and will publish very few games which don't have appeal in that region.

Microsoft abandoned Japan when they stopped getting exclusive games like the Mistwalker titles they used to secure.  Sony still does alright but they are making more and more decisions which are Western First decisions. Not even that Vita is doing well in Japan...  Nintendo owns this region and it shows with all the amazing support they are getting on 3ds right now and wiiu games to come.

Agreed with your points pretty much 100%. Even from the point the Wii U was announced, that was basically two years ago that they started sending out dev kits to third parties -- two years and this is the best launch they could cobble together.

Iwata should have his power scaled back and should have to answer to someone at NOA who has some real power and knowledge of the Western market. NOA should also be given X-amount of budget every year to greenlight content on their own.

I'd say make Miyamoto president, but he's a game designer and not a businessman. If he were in management he wouldn't have time to design games anymore.

I'm probably going to get shot down by the extreme fanboys for this, but Iwata's business direction since the Wii has been extremely shortsighted. To me he comes off as a soulless businessman (much like most big corp management) who really doesn't know or care about video games, but how much money it makes. His (Japanese) Nintendo Directs also feel like cult brainwashing sessions rather than fireside chats. That whole part where he holds his hands up and emphasizes 直接！ is just creepy, and the thing is read off softly with no emotion.

On the other hand when you look over to Miyamoto you can just tell he has a deep passion for creating games and having people enjoy them. I genuinely felt bad for the guy when he admitted his failure of conveying the Wii U to people. I truly doubt, though, that it was his decision to put another DS style Mario on the Wii U. My suspicion still stands that management forced a rushed title out so they could rush the console out by the holiday.

Miyamoto should be kept far, far away from any management position. He'd be worse than Iwata.

Look, the guy is a great game designer, but there's a reason you wouldn't want your interior decorator to be doing your dental work.

Business is business.

Miyamoto would be even more Japan-centric than Iwata most likely and absorbed into his own ideas of what game development should be, and he's made some questionable decisions in the past.

Such as pushing Nintendo to use cartridges over CDs on the N64 because he wanted fast load times -- great for his games, but it cost Nintendo basically all their third party support and handed the console market to Sony.

He looked at Dinosaur Planet and forced Rare to turn that into a Star Fox game. He's also said he'll never make a violent game because he insists all his games (and presumably all EAD games) are playable by his family. Which is kind of an insane business policy.

Don't get me wrong -- great designer. He's earned the right to make whatever game he wants without question or interference. But 100% the wrong choice to run a business.

Nintendo needs someone younger and understanding of the Western market and marketing in general to offset Iwata. Nintendo's management is typically a bunch of old Japanese suits who are stubborn, slow moving, and out of touch. Bring in a Western person who knows the market and can counterbalance that.

At the end of the day...

As a business, you are no making games FOR YOU. You are making games for THE PEOPLE, unless you are indie...

Gunpei Yokoi failed with the Virtual Boy after all his previous successes and was fired. Under Iwata, Nintendo has lost money for the first time in over ONE HUNDRED YEARS. That in itself is such a startling proposition that he probably should have been fired right when that happened. Something extremely strange and short-sighted must have happened then.

Sometimes it seems like Nintendo never puts their foot on the gas to capitalize on what the market gives them. Instead they play possum.

The best example I can say is a wrestling match. Nintendo hits the market with a chair, which should provide an instant victory. However instead of pinning their opponent for the 3-count, they pose and pander to the crowd. Then proceed to be surprised when they are caught up in a roll-up pin and actually LOSE the match, wondering what the fuck happened.

It's not that marketing was misdirected or underachieved...it was unfunded. There wasn't much because there would not have been ANY software with which to accompany sales anyway. Nintendo were buying time, didnt want to miss holiday 2012, so Wii U came out. It's close to middle of February and the long download, long load time, lack of DVR, no Google Maps..still are left unresolved. Google is an American company and JAPAN got google maps up and running, but not here? Hello?

Nintendo let the success of Wii get to their head. They were unwilling to accept that the Wii was indeed gimicky. Innovative with motion controls, VERY. Success, Yes. But offered little in terms of enduring value. A perfect example of a product line taking over a company.

Nintendo got caught milking Wii for dollar profits in the short term without realizing the brand also tarnished Nintendo's reputation, in fact willingness, to engage mainstream console gamers again. Even with 3DS, they rushed it to market and only had rehashed games in 3D which captured neither people's enthusiasm nor imagination for either the device or the games. Wii U's January and first week of february  had NOTHING and Nintendo decided to push 1st party games onto next fiscal year instead.

I see people getting upset over Ubisoft but did we forget Nintendo pushed back their own first party games? There has been no one defending the fort as far as Wii U is concerned. Ubisoft has every right to delay because Nintendo itself is not throwing money at Wii U, why should they?

Nintendo of America seems to serve little purpose. They have stakes in a baseball team and the dude that decided to buy them has yet to even see a game in person. As a shareholder I'd love to see Ninetendo get rid of the team as well as Reggie. Iwata isnt even willing to let Reggie star in Nintendo Directs, what kind of input or role can he have strategically?

I think Iwata is the man for the job. He's intelligent, loves games, and is really personable, and seems to care about the fans and take responsibilty. (gah run on)

However, Nintendo needs a new western shake up. Build two more western studios ala Retro. Then put them under a new NOA president. Nintendo needs to make more Wii U games fast. And Home consoles are a western business.

I've seen some commercials with shitty dubstep music.

No worries, Miyamoto will save Nintendo once again! ;)