Nintendo Was Right

If there's anything to learn from this console generation, it's that Nintendo was right not to pursue power in their game consoles.

0:00 What were they right about?
1:33 The Wii/DS Era
4:17 The Dysmal State of AAA Game Development
5:45 Nintendo Remains Unaffected (Mostly)
8:32 Nintendo is laughing all the way to the bank
9:15 What This Means for Switch 2
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Video by: Joey Ferris
Thumbnail by: Tom Arnold
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[tommyh]

My dad who grew up with arcades has been telling me this for years, that these big game companies focus too much on graphics and not enough on gameplay. I used to somewhat brush him off but now I realize he was so right

[tomasmateus]

Iwata cutting his salary in half was a crazy power move

[supertitantsunami]

There is a reason why Nintendo has been at this longer than anyone else. Turns out that
1 Exclusives do matter
2 Great games actually sell hardware

[ilikeme]

Iwata’s career started as a game developer, that’s why he had the perspective needed to support his development team. CEO’s tend to come from MBA programs and usually have little to know direct knowledge about how the product they oversee is produced. We need more leaders like Iwata in business.

[blue-cloud-studios]

The fact Nintendo is thriving on 7 year old hardware while Sony and Xbox are struggling on newer ones says a ton

[tomrensen]

"Graphics are more important than gameplay" is one of the biggest problems of modern age gaming in my opinion

[justinluc]

It's amazing how Satoru Iwata's philosophy still rings true decades later.

[ShmarveyXD]

The only winning move... is not to play. Nintendo is watching their competitors burn, and just focuses on what they already do best

[zhuran]

Satoru Iwata left our realm to early, he was the best CEO Nintendo ever had.

[mozydiaz]

We are really living in the wrong timeline with the death of President Iwata!

"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" Iwata Satoru, 😢

[JJSquirtle]

Nintendo has a tradition of innovation. When Hanafuxa sales started to decline in Japan they started making toys for Hasbro, and later their own toy innovations, most notably the Ultra Hand and Duck Hunt. Then when Arcades came out, they held off for a bit before reinventing what it meant to be an arcade game with Donkey Kong being among the most complex from the time, and used that as a springboard to outcompete Atari into. The ground with their first gaming innovation: Quality Control.

[babyjiren]

I’ve said this for ages but no matter what you think about Nintendo, as far as their consoles go they’re the only company providing inherent value to their product. Xbox and PlayStation are just underpowered PCs, whereas with Nintendo you get something unique to the console that is either a gimmick or a massive industry-changing hit.

The Switch is a prime example, as soon as that console came out everyone and their grandmother were releasing hybrids. The Steam Deck would probably not even exist if the Switch hadn’t served as a trendsetter.

[Nick-Nasty]

If switch 2 is backwards compatible, it seriously will be a fucking homerun

[robertlaghiti]

Iwata is an example of a good ceo. Dude cared about his works. Rip to Nintendo's old chief he will never be forgotten.

[SempiternalOG]

Every time someone mentions Iwata-san warms my heart so much, he was truly a legend among developers/CEOs AND gamers in general

[drakeboutte]

It’s funny because I hear so many people saying “switch is bad because games on it aren’t 4K60FPS.”

I’m sorry but if your SOLE purpose of gaming is wanting graphics real to life…you’re missing the point of what makes games incredible

[Doughboyx]

It should be noted that it's apparently a law in Japan to have safety nets to prevent mass layoffs for companies, one of which is for the CEO to cut their salary.

[getBlackbird]

Nintendo understands that gameplay, fun factor, and a sense of wonder will always win the day ahead of raw power.

[celestialstar]

It's the games that make the system not the other way around.These triple-a games go nowhere because they don't stand the test of time. Like Classic Nintendo

[lowtech]

Remember in DBZ when Goku was showing Gohan the Ultra Super Saiyan form but said it was useless in battle because fights were not won on who has the biggest muscles but rather on a superior balance of power, speed, and technique? Just was reminded of that scene for no reason in particular!!