Nintendo's Satoru Iwata: Lost Interview 20th Anniversary Remaster

字幕あり -- new EN & JP subtitles available via options/cog (highly recommended!) -- for the first time, this new source-quality remaster reveals the full original Japanese and English content with new subtitles for both languages, and includes previously unseen material.*

(* Previously unpublished material includes comments from Mr Iwata about Hiroshi Yamauchi (at the time Nintendo's chairman, and to all intents and purposes its founder, who also sadly passed away in 2013, nine years after this interview), including: "Hiroshi Yamauchi has led Nintendo for over 50 years, and in the past 20 years, he is someone who can be called the father of today's gaming industry" -- and "I don't think we should just do exactly what he has said in the past..." -- this video is the first time these comments from Mr Iwata have ever been revealed, after recovery from my original source tapes for this remaster. )

The newly restored video offers a glimpse into the mind of one of the most important people in gaming history, whose impact is certainly still felt today -- someone we described at the time as "full of ideas guaranteed to surprise fans over the coming years".

At a time when Iwata hadn’t long been Nintendo president, DS was only just revealed, and the first glimpse of Revolution/Wii was a whole year away, nobody could have predicted how much Iwata-led Nintendo would truly shake up the industry.

In fact, some of Iwata's comments are verging on prophecy, viewed in 2024...

Like so many, I was sad to learn of Satoru Iwata's passing in 2015. Iwata's warmth of character, which became so well-known over the years in press conferences and Nintendo Directs, truly came across when we met him for this interview and on other rare occasions.

Satoru Iwata was an inspiring and charming leader who will always be very fondly remembered.

--
Thank you so much to Shinki Nishikori for working with me on new and improved translation text for this video way beyond the original 2004 transcription. You are an incredible collaborator!

I’m including Mr Iwata’s full answers in Japanese, followed by NCL's Yasuhiro Minagawa’s interpretations in English. (Note, the JP subs intentionally include some EN text).

00:00 Backstory
00:42 The day before
01:11 Nintendo Revolution (Wii)
03:56 Revolution vs PS3 & Xbox 2
08:36 Nintendo DS
11:13 Sony PSP vs Nintendo DS
13:00 Hiroshi Yamauchi Pt1
16:08 Shigeru Miyamoto Pt1
16:40 Hiroshi Yamauchi Pt2
17:48 Shigeru Miyamoto Pt2
19:53 Fair global release timing
23:02 Developer support
24:32 Nintendo share price
27:25 My closing thoughts

Chapters for reference - it will be a miracle if they ever start working again on any of my videos.

** In memory of Satoru Iwata, 1959-2015 **

[AdamDoree]

字幕あり -- new EN & JP subtitles available via options/cog (highly recommended!) -- for the first time, this new source-quality remaster reveals the full original Japanese and English content with new subtitles for both languages, and includes previously unseen material.


The newly restored video offers a glimpse into the mind of one of the most important people in gaming history, whose impact is certainly still felt today -- someone we described at the time as "full of ideas guaranteed to surprise fans over the coming years".

At a time when Iwata hadn’t long been Nintendo president, DS was only just revealed, and the first glimpse of Revolution/Wii was a whole year away, nobody could have predicted how much Iwata-led Nintendo would truly shake up the industry.

In fact, some of Iwata's comments are verging on prophecy, viewed in 2024...

Like so many, I was sad to learn of Satoru Iwata's passing in 2015. Iwata's warmth of character, which became so well-known over the years in press conferences and Nintendo Directs, truly came across when we met him for this interview and on other rare occasions.

Satoru Iwata was an inspiring and charming leader who will always be very fondly remembered.

[tomjddavis]

"As the CEO and Manager of Nintendo, I should not be too concerned with very short-term share price fluctuations, otherwise we will lose sight of what's really important." We should frame that quote and send it to almost every CEO in the games industry today lol.

[wockio]

Iwata not being around to see the enormous success of Switch will always be a great tragedy

[Rizky-Gumilar]

Iwata was one of the greatest ceo ever. Gone too soon. RIP

[BroskiPlays]

Iwata knew that these graphical powerhouses will not hold up. Just look at the switch, its destroying the competition despite being less powerful than the competition. It's about the gameplay experience, not the graphics.

[analog]

なんて貴重な映像でしょう。
岩田聡社長がおっしゃってることは現代にも通じますね。
本当に偉大な方を亡くしました。
改めてご冥福をお祈り致します。


岩田聡社長本当にありがとうございました。

[obsidianchao]

Iwata was so well spoken both in English and Japanese. It’s so interesting comparing his speech to someone like Shigeru Miyamoto. Iwata always addresses thoughtfully with administrative intent, whereas Miyamoto always has a childlike floating wonder to his talks.

[AndersonTenecela]

The PS5 Pro announcement has brought me back to this interview. 2 decades later and Satoru Iwata was right about Sony’s obsession with better graphics isn’t the right strategy

[NiNGalaxU]

I grew up with Nintendo during childhood and teenage years during the Iwata era. I never knew the man personally but I was always happy to see him in Nintendo Direct's or E3. There is one picture on the internet of Mr. Iwata, Mr. Miyamoto and Reggie putting their hands together at E3 and it will be always my favourite picture in regards of Nintendo. In my eyes, Mr. Iwata was a true leader who thought about his employees and truly cared about them whilst also knowing the industry in which he was a CEO extremely well due to his personal interest in it. His action to half his salary as a CEO during one of the weakest time of the Wii U in order to be able to finance his employees salary so that they will not have to think about layoffs and can continue their work in good mental health is an action that speaks louder than words. From my knowledge the Switch was again an idea of Mr. Iwata and I'm so happy that it brought the company back to the spot. It's sad he isn't able to see it but I'm still proud to own a Switch. He is someone who I look up to on how to be a good boss

[ああやあ-qh]

The late President Iwata was originally a programmer and producer. So, naturally, he graduated from a science and engineering school. However, he was also fluent in English, and during his time at HAL Laboratory, he translated the text for Dragon Warrior (Japanese name: Dragon Quest), which was released in North America. He may have been the most amazing person in the industry. Once again, I pray for the repose of his soul...

[linkenski]

He's a legend. I lost my dad to cancer. I was gutted when I realized Iwata got sick as well. Not the kind of ending he deserved, and the fact that Wii U was a fiasco made it even more tragic.

[Goolix_Aero]

So Hiroshi Yamauchi came up with the idea of two screens. That's really surprising!

[HenrikoMagnifico]

We lost him way too soon. I truly hope his wisdom is still found within Nintendo's walls to this day...

[TheAdventuresOfJimiJaden]

That’s so cool you got to interview the great Iwata, he will be missed.

[lukebrady]

I miss Satoru Iwata. Nintendo isn't the same without him.

[Gonzalouchikari]

Iwata's death is the perfect example of "k*lling a character for the sake of the plot, he was too OP"

[nonhmusic]

He read the competition like a book!
you can see now how stagnated they are, with more and more power but less and less impactful differences
Sad to see how he never got to experience nintendo's revival after the wii u's harsh reception, the switch really encapsulates what making an impactful console is, even if it has less power than the competition

[Agent]

It's impressive today to appreciate how humble he was, especially when he misinterpreted the question about Miyamoto-san and how quickly he corrected himself. Still legendary, and yet it's easy to see why so many people admired him.

[Mbros]

During the 2020s, people would weaponize and use his death against the Nintendo DMCA legal team and thinking Shigeru Miyamoto, Sakurai and the other developers were affiliated with those decisions, but in reality they weren't.

However, there are thankfully a bunch of casual and respectful Nintendo fans that are telling those types of people to knock it off. And finally and after the Super Mario Bros. Movie credit scene

People are no longer weaponizing his death anymore and letting the man rest, He's still a legend as always and we will never forget him.

[JuggaloDundee]

I was so lucky to meet him in person and play a game with him. He was an amazing visionary and a true gamer at heart.