Iwata to take 50% pay cut, entire Nintendo board to take pay reductions

[superchunk]

This is a very good move and simply makes sense.

When Wii/DS boomed to extreme success, I'm sure these same executives received bonuses related to company profits. Now they are paying, essentially, fines for company losses.

All companies have to take risks. Sometimes they succeed as was the case with motion controls and the Wii. Sometimes they fall flat or fail as is the case with the gamepad and Wii U.

A single failed idea is not reason to dump leadership. 3DS didn't start off too hot, now its very strong and growing. Wii U will very likely never rebound in a similar manner, but it will be profitable in the end and allow Nintendo's leadership good lessons to learn from.

In fact, when Wii U is retired, the only real impact it will have is the loss of marketshare. Same as was seen with SNES, N64, and GC. Also similar to those machines, Wii U will have numerous amazing titles and overall profitability for the company. Allowing Nitntendo to continue to have large cash stockpiles to create future winning and losing hardware/software.

I for one and very happy with this move. It shows true leadership and that they take responsibility for the current financial situation. Far better than any US company typically does. As mentioned earlier, US CEO would likely just downsize/layoff workers and not touch his pay... possibly even give the board bonuses as the loss of workforce shows a short-term increase in profits, yet weakens the company in the long-term.

I can't wait to see what I will be playing on my Wii U in 2014 and beyond.