Yeah, you can't pin that one on him. It's like when a coach or GM comes in and takes over a bad team. You can't get pissed at him for having a poor first year.

What did he lie about ?

I don't know if I'd say they were outright lies, but statements like I specifically recall Iwata saying they wouldn't repeat the poor launch of the 3DS with the Wii U and that they had learned their lesson, that he was especially focused on the post-launch period for Wii U, saying that they needed to have content there, etc. etc. Stuff like that. 

The GameCube really probably had Iwata more involved in it than Yamauchi. Yamauchi had stepped back from the company quite a bit by that time, the 64DD was kinda his swan song.

He returned to push the company in the direction of the DS/Wii though and mandated the whole blue ocean/easy to play/gamers don't want fancy graphics push in 2004 and then basically stepped back for good. Even Iwata has admitted they really only designed the DS to be the way it was because Yamauchi insisted on a two screen handheld ... just because, lol. 

I kinda have to wonder if Yamauchi just had an uncanny "golden touch". He didn't really give a crap about video games, lol, but he seemed to have an uncanny sense of pushing the company in the right direction at just the right time. 

The 3DS and Wii U were more or less developed primarily by Iwata and company but they don't seem to have the same "Yamauchi touch". 

http://www.notenoughshaders.com/2013/04/02/satoru-iwata-hubris-versus-western-culture/

Great article from Emily Rogers.

I get the feeling he just says things he thinks people want to hear without any thought as to whether or not it's true.

I'd like to see Purple find someone in the industry that has a better resume than Iwata. +150million DS, +100 Wii's, +36 million, no debt, billions in savings and assets, responsible of the two best consoles of the past 8 years, responsible for the current best selling console.

"but but the wii u is doing poorly" - the confirmation bias of some users here is hilarious.

Wii and DS were unbelievable successes no doubt. 

With the start of the new decade though it feels like the wheels fell off Nintendo though. 

Ken Kutaragi has a pretty good resume too -- 100 million Playstations + 160 million PS2s + 70 million PSPs ... yet he's working at some no-name company these days and was basically exiled from Sony (some gratitude). 

This business is all about what have you done for me lately. 

3DS? You know the console that is beasting in the charts? Or should we ignore that?  Fuck Iwata he is incompetent. The narrow view of some people (not refering to you)

The Wii and DS were obvious highlights. But Iwata has failed to cash in with those successful years and invest the money wisely to keep Nintendo relevant in the home console market. Savings are great in theory, but just ask Blackberry how useful having billions in savings and assets is when your userbase collapses.

I also don't think two successes in 2006 can justify awful performance in 2013. He may have been the best man for the job back then, good on him, but he certainly isn't the best man for the job today.

The 3DS was a proper disaster at release. And yes although it's currently doing well, it is still well below Nintendo's expectations. Are the expectations unfair then? Yeah probably, but that's evidence of Iwata's incompetence.