So yes videogames are still at the bottom of the list. Why Iwata send this? Well some sites thinks that this'll be the first step to unveil Nintendo's new console.

http://www.gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=132539

Every time Iwata speaks I'm more convinced that their next home console will be more than simly a videogame system, more like something to interact with others and with many interesting social features. I would love some MMOs!

Here's the complete anual report if somebody want to check it, it's quite big BTW

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2010/annual1003e.pdf

Check page 9 "What comes next?"

Good to see that Iwata still wants to further expand the acceptance of gaming.

"Nintendo has created entertainment products under the development concept of hardware and software integration, primarily driven by unique and original software."

This is what Sony and Microsoft fail to understand about their motion controllers.  It's all about the software.  Software comes first!  Saying "look, we have this crazy new controller interface!", showing some snazzy tech demos, then announcing a bunch of Wii clones ain't gonna cut it.

Wii Sports made the Wii what it is, and other, fresher software releases have kept that momentum going.  We're currently at a low point in terms of new software releases, and the Wii is suffering in sales as a result.

We'll see how things go with Sony and Microsoft's foray into Nintendo's territory this Christmas, but I doubt it'll be pretty.

Judging by that graph I'd say that as social acceptibility goes up, quality goes down

Not exactly. Music seems to be the most socially acceptable entertainment medium, and yet there's plenty of quality music out there.

The thing I find interesting is that the most accepted forms of entertainment seem to have the most diverse kinds of genres that appeal to different audiences.

Within music, for example, you may have a person that may like rock music who would never enjoy jazz. Or, in film, you may find someone who likes comedy movies but can't stand horror flicks, or a horror fan that hates sappy romance.

This shows that, in video games, we are finally seeing some diversity. The core gamers can't stand the expanded market games. They think they are low quality or just don't get what is fun about it. The view of the core gamer is really like that of the horror fan who hates sappy romance movies.

The only difference is that video games have just started expanding the audience while movies and music have been expanding for centuries upon centuries. I think this is exciting. It will be interesting to see where gaming will go as it tries to catch different audiences.

As for expanding the audience, I would argue that as video games become more socially acceptable, more money will be brought in for publishers allowing for more quality "core" games.

This may not happen in a year or two, it may take awhile because Nintendo is focused on keeping their Blue Ocean market, but it will occur when we see the 3DS have more quality 3rd party support than the Wii. Fact is, publishers like any other business invest in profitable product lines and most of the time, the most profitable product lines are those that appeal to the widest possible consumer base.

RPG, FPS, Racing, Real Time Strategy, and other niche video game genres cater to a very specific, limited consumer base. Hence, unless you are a company like Bioware or Blizzard, it would not make sense to create those niche genre games unless you have a heavily anticipated and heavily preordered blockbuster on your hands.Thusforth, companies like Nintendo will cater to the Blue Ocean market from 2005 on for 5 or more years to get them established, then they will reinvest the profits from the "casual" titles into contracts with quality 3rd party developers.

Casuals will be catered to more and longer in the future because of their sheer size and wallet strength. Some of us may not like, some of us may absolutely hate it, some of us may see it for what it as a good business decision, but in the end we all benefit from video game companies having more profit to fund far-fetched niche projects.

I'd say close to the opposite: as social acceptability goes up, acceptibility by people who enjoy the least-fun parts goes down.

I don't need to be "socially accepted" if I play a game. Who cares?