Wman1996 said:
I would rank them as such, and here come some unpopular opinions.
1. Iwata
Pros
Gamer, programmer, nice guy, halved his pay when Nintendo had a bad year.
GBA's continued success, DS, Wii
Approved of the Switch before his passing
Cons
Couldn't turn the GameCube around to surpass lifetime Xbox sales or even touch N64 sales.
3DS Launch
Wii U
Nintendo Creators Program: This is one of the worst things during Iwata's tenure. I don't know if he ever commented on it, but as Nintendo's leader he shares at least some blame.
2. Kimishima
Pros
Steady leadership after Iwata's death
Switch is a massive hit.
Cons
Paid Online: He announced this, and it did come to pass a few months after he was replaced.
3. Furukawa
Pros
Switch is the most profitable video game platform ever. And while that mostly benefits shareholders, Switch is still a banger platform.
Pay Raises
End of the Nintendo Creators Program
Cons
No Switch price cuts
No Nintendo Selects
Trickling of Legacy Content
4. Yamauchi
Pros
Transformed Nintendo into video game hardware and software.
Oversaw some of the greatest games and hardware of all-time.
Cons
Very arrogant
Greedy
Draconian third-party policies
Cartridges for N64 and miniDVDs for GCN. These greatly hurt these platforms. |
I’ll second this with a few changes/additions:
1. I don’t think the “no price cuts” thing is a con, I like knowing that I didn’t get ripped by being an early adopter, and buying multiple Switches at full price. It gives me more confidence in purchasing the products while other companies don’t give me that confidence.
2. Yamauchi’s arrogance sometimes manifested as genuine disdain for gamers. He struck me as an Elon Musk/Mr Burns style billionaire - opportunist and out of touch with overstated merits (as is often the case with billionaires).
3. The other three leaders on the list seem to be in their positions due to merit rather than nepotism.
