RolStoppable said:
1) That should hold true, yes. 2) Indeed, this can cut both ways. Miyamoto is a proven man of denial as he truly believed that the GC failed because of marketing. But given how much of a failure the Wii U is, at least for the next generation Nintendo will adopt a mindset that they have to make products that people want to buy instead of making the products that their developers want to make. 3) I don't agree with that. This is more of a concession than anything else that it really isn't just the price that was the Wii U's problem. 4) This is similar to Miyamoto's GC denial that the GC failed to gain traction because the PS2 was too big of an obstacle to overcome due to its headstart. It's trying to shift the blame somewhere else. You need to look at the part of the quote where Miyamoto talks about boot up times of video game consoles. He says that the Gamepad was supposed to be a solution to long boot up times, yet before the Wii U there wasn't a single Nintendo system that had such a problem. They all were ready to go quickly. 5) It should mean that the next console won't use a dual analog controller as its standard input. With the Gamepad, they tried to make dual analog controllers look fun, but that obviously didn't work. A key point for the next console should be once again the design of a controller that doesn't suggest "sit down for 30 minutes just to learn the controls". Of course, there's nothing that stops Nintendo from selling a dual analog controller separately or packing one in with the console as a secondary option. In the end though, it's Miyamoto. He isn't a good businessman. In a previous interview he even openly stated that he isn't interested in doing what's good for business if it's boring. What Iwata says is of much higher importance when it concerns the future of Nintendo. |
Good points! I agree about part 4, you're right on that one (though I really want to believe he's not in denial anymore). I totally agree it's vital for them to release a console that doesn't require intense learning just to understand the controls. I've used the analogy of an iPhone and an old-school iPod in the past: Nintendo releasing the gamepad after realizing how important it was to make their console welcoming and to break down the barriers between gamer and console was akin to Apple (hypothetically) going back to the click-wheel iPod design in the iPhone 7 (worse, actually: Nintendo made their new device even more complicated).
I've always felt that Wii customers never left Nintendo. Nintendo left the customers. They had an amazing software output from 2004-2008 but then they got arrogant. Instead of continuing to deliver high quality games and content they resorted to "game mechanics", "surprising the customer" and "IP". Back in 2004 Nintendo felt the need to broaden the gaming demographic and to deliver the games people wanted to play. They also wanted to break down the barriers between normal people and game consoles. Today, Nintendo thinks people buy their games because they feature popular IP ("we don't need worldbuilding in a Mario game. People buy it anyway because it's Mario, so we can put the same worlds in there again and again") and cares more about game mechanics than actual content and fun. Starfox Zero looks a lot slower and less action packed than previous entries because they had to integrate the gamepad and introduce new "mechanics" (like stealth levels in an action game and two-screen gameplay).
In my opinion, if Nintendo focuses on making a console that is friendly, easy to understand, cheap and inviting customers will come back. But to achieve this they not only have to get the hardware right, but also the software. They need to make software that excites people, games everyone wants to play. Classic Nintendo games are not easy, they are just easy to understand (but hard to master). I wish them the best of luck and I think Nintendo's financial department and their hardware developers are really good. It's the software side (and the huge influence Miyamoto has over other departments) were things are lacking at the moment.
Edit: I vividly remember when Miyamoto insulted Wii customers because they "just want to be entertained". I wonder what he thinks he's being paid for...
