9. Don't do the Easy
Itoi With Wii being such a big hit, I'm sure you've been asked many times what new sports will be included in the sequel of Wii Sports.
Iwata Many times. (laugh)
Itoi It's probably the traditional way to release a sequel, but I suppose Nintendo isn't planning to do that. Maybe a sequel may be released sometime in the future, but probably not soon, and probably not by simply adding a couple of new sports.
Iwata We're not going to take such an easy way, not by including seven new sports in the game since Wii Sports has five. We're not closing our doors to the possibility of a sequel, but it's definitely not coming out soon.
Itoi The contents will be so predictable if it came out soon.
Iwata Yes, like "let's improve the graphics a bit more".
Itoi Or, "let's stick the controllers to our feet and play soccer".
Iwata Or maybe sign contracts with professional athletes and create Mii that looks just like them.
Itoi Why not? (laugh)
Iwata If you start making such decisions without thinking, you start doing the easy stuff. You disengage yourself with the pursuit of true entertainment.
Itoi Nintendo won't do the easy.
Iwata No.
Itoi Why is that? It's so common to do the easy. It's not totally incorrect to think of the extension of the product that sold well. Sorry to compare us with a huge company like Nintendo, but I feel the same when I look at my staff. If I tell them that what they started seems the same as something they did before, they agree. Instantly.
Iwata I can see that.
Itoi What's the difference between those who can do this, and those who can't?
Iwata You end up doing the easy if you compare one thing with another, and choose the one that seems to have more gain. That's sort of a short sighted cleverness.
Itoi Uh-huh.
Iwata The reason why Nintendo isn't doing the easy is because our goal is clear. Our mission is to surprise people in a good way, and this became very clear as we made Nintendo DS and Wii. You can't open up a new market of customers if you can't surprise them.
Itoi Expanding the game population was the initial target you set when you became president of Nintendo.
Iwata Yes. Even if we make great products, if the number of new customers doesn't increase, it won't reach people. That was clear to us, so doing the easy was not an option. If we could do away with such goals, all we have to do is make new version of games that are already a hit. That's much easier than creating a new game.
Itoi I'm sure they will sell though.
Iwata I'm not saying that we won't create sequels to our hit games forever. However, we want to pioneer more new customers by searching new themes that succeed genres such as "brain training", "English training", or "cooking navigator".
Itoi Is that a goal that everyone at Nintendo shares, or does only the leaders of the company have this in mind?
Iwata I believe everyone shares it now. But realistically, I think we can say "we won't do the easy" because we are currently making profit.
Itoi Ah.
Iwata If we were having a hard time, maybe we will chose the easy, so that we can make profit for certain.
Itoi It's easy to say "not to do the easy", but to asses it realistically is a tough job. But on the other hand, the market won't expand by doing the easy.
Iwata Here's what happened when creating Wii. The director of "Brain Age" and "Brain Age 2" didn't create another sequel but was assigned to the team that was developing built-in software of Wii console. What he did there was creating the Photo, Weather and News Channels of Wii.
Itoi Wow... If you had assigned him to make the next "Brain Age"...
Iwata Wii wouldn't have been what it is now.
Itoi Interesting.
