Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has given a speech regarding his views on the company’s standing and future as it continues to make Wii U a success. He has stressed that simply copying the competition is not Nintendo’s style, and that he isn’t afraid of failure.

Iwata gave his talk at the B Dash Camp startup conference in Osaka, and The Bridge has translated it.

“When we talk about Nintendo we cannot ignore (former president) Hiroshi Yamauchi who just recently passed away. He always said that if you have failure, you don’t need to be too concerned. You always have good things and bad, and this reflects the history of Nintendo. If you do the same thing as others, it will wear you out. Nintendo is not good at competing so we always have to challenge [the status quo] by making something new, rather than competing in an existing market.”

On the risk of bringing Japanese IP and ideas to the western market, Iwata reflected on initial fears that he Pokemon brand would fail in the US. “Will America accept cute monsters?” he asked, “No, they said. Some people even recommended to make Pikachu more muscular. If we followed their advice Pokemon would never have been the success that it was. Brain Training software (Brain Age) became a hit in Japan, and I proposed that we sell it globally. And even as I said that as the president, no one listened.”

In August, Iwata reiterated that the Wii U can still be accepted by the public, as long as Nintendo does a better job of making the public understand and accept the benefits of the system.

He later claimed that the notion of putting Nintendo games on rival platforms would only be a short term fix, and that keeping the games on Nintendo hardware was important for the company's long-term success.

Sources:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/433242/i-dont-fear-failure-says-iwata/

http://www.vg247.com/2013/10/10/iwata-nintendo-is-not-good-at-competing-so-must-offer-something-different-than-the-status-quo/

They don't compete, because they have no competition... jk!

What is the question that is supposed to go along with the poll choices?

It's a repost, kinda
http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=169991&page=1#

LOL @ the poll. And we know this like forever.....tell me how Nintendo as a Video game only company can take the same losses as MS or Sony? Right, they can't.....

changing the title of the thread into this garauntees more hits.

This is pretty candid for a CEO. Between Yoshida and Iwata, I am starting to dig Japanese upper management. There is a level humility and transparency that is very rare in American office culture.

It's not like the other one is not a magnet. But yeah.. this one is a bit more. It also seems that pavolink's post has a bit more info.

I have to agree with him. In the areas where they go head-to-head with Sony and Microsoft, they seem to lag behind. Online infrastructure, account management, dealing with third party publishers, and creating content outside their comfort zone are a few examples that spring to mind. I think the Wii U, which was intended to win over more core gamers, has shown that. Nintendo seems to be a lot more successful at focusing on their own strengths. Of course, that's not always entirely possible, as the ability to adapt will always be important.

This. They have a lot to work and Wii U showed some of their flaws and the brilliance of the Wii.

And omg at the other thread, didn't know and thankfully, thos pikachu pics are nightmares.