Mr. Iwata comment on the idea of going multi-platform.

[NightDragon83]

RolStoppable said:

NightDragon83 said:

I'm pretty sure SEGA was saying the same things back in 2000 that Nintendo is now... we're not leaving the hardware market, we plan to fully support the Dreamcast, remain calm, all is well etc.

Nintendo was saying the same things back in 2000 as well, because it simply is a question they get repeatedly asked. Nintendo wasn't close to going third party back then, but they were asked the question all the same. Nintendo isn't close to going third party now either, so it really only speaks volumes about the people who keep asking this question.

That's because Nintendo was in a pickle back then, just as they were at the end of the GC's life, and just how (incredibly) they find themselves now after riding the huge wave of success that was the Wii only to crash headfirst onto the beach with the botched Wii U launch.

Back in 2000 the only thing keeping Nintendo afloat was Pokemon, as was the DS back in 2006.  So everytime Nintendo has had trouble on the home console side of things, people understandably want to know what they're going to do about it.