Iwata Predicted This

A never-before-seen interview with Satoru Iwata from 20 years ago showed that he basically predicted the state of game consoles today.

0:00 The Interview
1:19 Keeping Audiences "Surprised"
3:00 What He Said about PlayStation and Xbox
6:27 Where PlayStation and Xbox Went Wrong
10:38 Switch 2 Concerns
__
Video by: Joey Ferris
Thumbnail by: Tom Arnold
__
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases

#iwata #nintendo #nintendoswitch

[TayoEXE]

What I respect about Iwata is that not only was he a CEO, but he was an executive who actually was ALSO a game developer, and a pretty great one at that. (Just look at the stories surrounding Pokemon Gold and Silver or Earthbound, for example. He loved to save projects that were in limbo.) He was also at heart a gamer. He understood more of what it was like to have fun with playing games and wanted everyone to be able to enjoy it. He understood how they were made. He also understood business.

That's why his quote is amazing. "On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer." In order to best understand how the industry was going, it was necessary for him to be all three.

[setsers]

Rest In Peace to Nintendo's Best President.

[TheFlashzap]

I still tear up when I read Iwata’s name in credits of games

[wildmansax]

Iwata-san was a genius. His work with Nintendo is still seen today and he oversaw development of the Switch through his final moments of life. May he rest in peace....
He would be proud to see Nintendo right now

[achaudhari]

So like Reggie, Iwata knew that Sony and Microsoft’s shortcomings as well as their graphical achievements would come back to haunt them.

[porg-fvvi]

It was Gunpei Yokoi who help Nintendo philosophy of taking older and cheaper tech and using it to the best of its abilities and be creative, iwata kept with that stance until his death. Hopefully this philosophy stays with nintendo for the future. Taking old hardware that can be made cheaply and making great and unique experiences with it.

[KaraDestare]

I've been going back and rewatching old E3 events on stream lately and everytime Iwata comes out he was predicting stuff that is effecting us now, it was spooky how amazing his speeches were.

[timothydarden]

"On my business card, I am a coroprate executive. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer."

That quote lets us know exactly what kind of leader Iwata was. CEOs nowadays use general entertainment (gaming, movies, TV programs, etc.) for the mere purpose of collecting checks, rarely, if ever, having a genuine regard for the staff that work on them. Iwata was not like CEOs of today, because he was a staff member beforehand, and knew first-hand the results of putting creativity before cash.

[zeronos]

whats worse is that Gunpei Yokoi (the guy who saved Nintendo) even predicted that this will happen.

He said that in the 90's.

[mrcwillis]

He always knew. Hopefully the people at Nintendo will keep in mind about what Iwata said. RIP to him ❤

[lindenstromberg]

That sort of philosophy isn't about the future, but actually about the past... as games started taking much longer to make during the PSX/N64 era, and even longer when it came to the PS2 era. There were wider gaps between game releases, delays became more frequent, and there were massive droughts (especially for Nintendo). This strategy Iwata is talking about is part of the foundation of Gunpei Yokoi's philosophy (which predates the NES), and the Blue Ocean strategy, which is based on Gunpei Yokoi's philosophy, and became Nintendo's guide that gen.

[akumaisreal]

That's kinda crazy, he was 2 generations off but he totally called it.
R.I.P. to the legend Iwata

[Mbros]

He would be very proud of the switch success

[pdbferox]

Nintendo wouldn’t have gotten to where it was without Iwata. God bless this man’s soul.

[PianistTanooki]

It’s worth noting even Iwata’s predecessor, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who was still with Nintendo as chairman of the board and acted as a sort of advisor, said similar things that year. Not sure if it was an IGN interview, but I remember him saying something to the effect of “Increasing CPU power does not guarantee that the games will be more fun.”

Interesting, since gaming consoles during Yamauchi’s run definitely tried to compete in terms of power. Seems like he had a change of heart.

[TheStickCollector]

If only he was still around to see this come to fruition.

[cc-vdoq]

Good art direction will always beat out the generic "real" graphics of many AAA games. It's why games like wind waker, bioshock, and paper mario are still visually appealing even without remastering them.

[Gianski]

He shattered the walls of gaming, open for everyone to play, to play for fun. It was a short glimpse that everyone liked video games not only as a pass time but to bond between family and friends.

[BellaBoldmary]

My God Iwata is the TRUE Prediction Master of Gaming !

[guilhermeleocadio]

That’s why indie game are so popular nowadays, people don’t want to play “interactive movies” they want to play fun and engaging games made by people who love what they’re doing, and not some greedy triple A company taking 7 years to make a single boring “cinematic game”.