Well, I can't really disagree with anything he said, which is surprising.

As NinPie said, just get more people to make more games and it'll be fine.

They should upgrade the deluxe to like 64gb and make the basic have 32 with a new Wii Mote. Zelda will be superior with the Wii Mote and the same can be said about the next Mario.

I remember all those games that were coming out on the Wii back in 06 and i noticed that these types of games wont come the way they did because of the gamepad. I remember wanting to play games like elebits, red steel and that surgery game back then. The gamepad is just not matching the Wii Mote. The gamepad is not bringing the same excitement and games that the Wii Mote brought to Nintendo.

The Wii Mote shouldnt cost them that much to make now. It's a small sacrifice but Nintendo could handle it

Iwata is a smart man, he knows what's best for the company. You'll see, he's going to be right.

I'm not quite sure why you quoted me. By the way when i say handheld devices i mean their DS/3DS etc. platforms. If they had the ability to hook up to the TV and use the screen (maybe wirelessly so you can use it as a controller) it would be great.

Nintendo going 3rd pary are just some fanboys wet dream... they want Nintendo game but they dont want to buy their consoles..

Nintendo still has billions and billions of $ in the bank so them going 3rd party will never happen but if it did it would be not until we are all dead from old age

I agree, short term thinking will completely destroy Nintendo. On the flip side, what's their long term solution? Merge mobile and console development? Isn't the Vita getting flack for getting "console ports"? Why is it beneficial for the Wii U to get handheld ports? What if your software doesn't push the hardware? Nintendo has a very strong lineup and if their lineup fails to push hardware what's next? I personally think Iwata needs to start thinking about possible outcomes and plan accordingly. I'm currently seeing him putting all his eggs into one basket so to speak.

i will always support a nintendo console for as long as they continue too make them :)

For all I'm criticizing Nintendo and Iwata for lately, I must say that I agree with Iwata. Nintendo should never go 3rd party.

Nintendo's strength IS the integration between hardware and software, ever since Game & Watch! They don't design their games based on what the hardware can do, they design the hardware based on their software ideas.

Seriously, do you really wanna play a Mario game without a Nintendo gamepad?

Nintendo's problem is that they haven't been releasing enough compelling software on their home consoles for the past years. That's why the Wii lost momentum, and that's why the Wii U is selling poorly. The Wii U has the additional problem that for once Nintendo didn't have enough good software ideas to warrant the new hardware. The Wii U gamepad was a big mistake. It made an otherwise attractive console way too expensive. I hate that I am forced to use it even for menu navigation, when using a Wiimote was so much easier, and never ran out of battery.

The Wii U will not be a huge success. Software releases are too slow, and not compelling enough, and the hardware is not particularly innovative or even a good idea. But a bad few years does not make the answer "stop making hardware". You who are saying that probably said the same in the GC years, and then Nintendo struck back with TWO 100 million systems.

I have been saying Iwata should go because he is not running Nintendo well, not strategically, but from a managerial point of view. Nintendo aren't making good software on a timely basis, and it's making them bleed.

As president of Nintendo, he's much better than Kaz, as president of Sony, he clearly isn't. The companies have very different natures with needs for very different presidents which you just can't compare.

Other than that I completely agree with you.

@OP. My favorite part of the article is the very last sentence "Once we can no longer think of anything, that's the point we can't continue the game-machine business."

Couldn't have said it better myself! And your avatar making it even more of an irony. LOL