Rank the Presidents of Nintendo

[TheMisterManGuy]

curl-6 said:

bdbdbd said:

Well, I would say Yamauchi was pretty consistent with performance. Iwata¨s problem was inconsistency. Yamauchi did not change the company's direction until the new direction was successful, whereas Iwata believed too much on the new direction. Of course, times have been a bit different during Yamauchi era than they are today.

That's the thing though, Yamauchi failed to adapt to changing circumstances, and as a result his performance suffered with the N64 and Gamecube.

Going from market leader by a mile in the 3rd gen to third place in the 6th gen isn't consistent.

I think Iwata's problem though was his lack of long-term planning, especially noticeable during the later Wii/early Wii U days. He was very much an "in-the-moment" kind of leader, thinking about what Nintendo as a company needs here and now, and less on what it needs in the future.

That kind of leadership is risky because while that leads to bold, on-the-spot products and successes like the DS, Wii, and Switch. A lack of a future-planning can lead to stagnation and aimlessness, as was seen with the last half of the Wii's life and the early days of the 3DS and Wii U. I think what he needed, was somebody to help him create a corporate strategy for the long-term future. For example, those Wii/DS profits should've gone to significantly boosting the resources of EAD and SPD as early as 2007, not 2012 or later.

For what it's worth, Furukawa so far has seemed keen on making sure the company is future proof, something that Iwata kind of struggled with. Utilizing the Nintendo Account for the next system, massive expansions to EPD, focus on small, strategic acquisitions, expansions into multi-media like film and such.