Satoru Iwata implies he may resign if operating income target for next FY is not met

[mike_intellivision]

UncleScrooge said:

Nem said:

UncleScrooge said:

Attoyou said:

UncleScrooge said:

I keep seeing this, what happened exactly? 

 

That sounds like it was EA's fault.

Negotiating with a Japanese company requires certain knowledge of the Japanese culture. Its not the same as the US/Europe. Spoken promises are highly valued there and its usually a very complex procedure. I am 100% convinced that this was EA trying to fool Nintendo and a translation/cultural issue. The Japanese dont exactly say NO in a convincing way, they are too polite. You have to be able to read it in them (for example they may bow alot giving you the impression they are agreeing with you when in fact they are apologising). It sucks, but its that way for every company dealing with japanese companies.

I know japanese business culture is different from ours and even among the general public this is common knowledge - I'm sure EA could handle that situation Still it was Iwata's job to prevent something like this from happening. I don't like EA but I doubt it was *just* them being evil.

(On a related note: Even if it was because of cultural differences why should the western company adapt to the practices of the japanese one and not vice versa?)

Nintendo did not want to take a deal that would make made every other third-party but EA unhappy.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/xnt5r/whatever_happened_to_the_groundbreaking/

Nintendo would have to make the Nintendo Network for Wii U officially part of Origin and run Origin's interface and netcode. Ergo, Nintendo Network would be an Origin-exclusive network.

Thep problems that Nintendo faces with third parties are rooted in the NES days. It ruled with an iron fist -- and many Japanese publishers never forgot that, even though times and people, as well as Nintendo's approach, changed.

Nintendo's biggest issue vis-a-vis its competitors is that it runs both a console and handheld unit. (I know Sony does too, but it seems to think of its handhelds as a mini-version of its consoles -- and it does not seem to be paying much attention the the Vita).  That can cause the company to be spread thin.

Has Nintendo made mistakes? Yes. Is the Wii U launch as bad as people make it out to be? Only if you use the Wii as the standard, for it out-performed the Xbox 360 and PS3 launches.

So much is in perception. Even the game draught has been shown to be mostly fiction compared to past console launches.

Finally, Iwata may have inferred resigation this time -- but he has stated it before and took a pay cut.

 

Mike from Morgantown

 

PS -- If Nintendo is losing money on a lauch and it tends not to do so, what will the launches do for Sony's and Microsoft's respective bottom-lines?