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01Net's Fifth Nintendo Article: Iwata On The Ejection Seat

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Near as I can tell, there has not been an english translation for this one offered, so I'm going by google translate:

If we are to believe our source, the chairman of the board, Satoru Iwata, is now in very delicate position, if not on an ejection seat. Iwata is generally appreciated by the staff of the company, many employees worried about his fate. Also according to our source, the fact that he publicly assumed responsibility for a difficult start to the 3DS and voluntarily cut his salary in half may not be enough to save his place in the medium term.

After our interview, we could not stop us from asking what our source had indeed been as feverish motivate and unusual revelations. He replied almost verbatim: "It's sort of a political act. As an employee of Nintendo, I have dedicated my life to this company. Given the turn of things, many of us fear what the future holds. If I address you, because I think the players and the shareholders deserve to know what happens behind the scenes. I think they represent our best chance to drive the necessary changes to Nintendo finally takes radical decisions necessary to adapt to new market constraints. I do not think that the situation can continue long in that state. We must completely rethink our policy of cooperation with developers and publishers. We must offer them the means to give the best of themselves. They are more likely than ever to want to work with us, but the conditions we provide are for the time being the least favorable in the industry. I do not think they will stay very long if we do not make a decisive move in their direction. "

"The difficulties are real, sometimes critical, and should not be underestimated. But if the necessary reforms are implemented, I believe that Nintendo will remain the leader in its field for much longer. No competitor has such a range of characters and franchises universally adored - to the envy of Disney - or such a capacity to create new ones, as strong in the future. Out a portable machine dedicated to the game but equipped with one analog stick in 2011 was a mistake. The fact that we have recognized, and we do what is necessary to remedy this, let me suggest that 3DS has before it many years of success.

Smartphones continue on their way, but I think it will exist long been a separate market for machines that care primarily of players.

As for the Wii U, despite its serious problems of development - you can be sure - will be resolved, it is probably the best idea we have had for ages.


The press, like players, do not seem to fully realize the potential of this revolutionary machine. It's a whole new way to create and play before us. And given the graphics quality achieved by the hardware of the present generation, I think the technical superiority of our future competitors in the market for machinery room will not weigh heavily in the balance, faced with what we will bring in terms of gameplay . U The Wii is the future of gaming. You will not soon realize it!"

So it sounds like the "leaker" has doubled-down on the dual-analog 3DS idea and it seems, at least according to the article and the rough translation, to be someone who still works at Nintendo.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Now I'm completely doubting any of the rumors they've released. Only someone VERY high in the organization would know this and I highly doubt someone that high is dumping rumors to 01.net.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Out a portable machine dedicated to the game but equipped with one analog stick in 2011 was a mistake. The fact that we have recognized, and we do what is necessary to remedy this, let me suggest that 3DS has before it many years of success.

Yeah, THAT'S the reason the 3DS wasn't selling. Right. The insane price had nothing to do with it.

People drastically overestimate how much consumers care about a 2nd analog stick.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
01net: Nintendo Hires Batboy!

Bat_Boy.png
 
Plinko said:
Now I'm completely doubting any of the rumors they've released. Only someone VERY high in the organization would know this and I highly doubt someone that high is dumping rumors to 01.net.
It does seem kind of unlikely that, say, an engineer would know if there's internal pressure among the board to take Iwata down.

And it seems pretty unlikely that someone higher up would be leaking to a French website under the idealistic terms of "I want to bring this information to the people!"
 

Akai

Member
As if there needed to be anymore evidence that these guys have just been trolling from the very beginning...
 

GhaleonQ

Member
Plinko said:
Now I'm completely doubting any of the rumors they've released. Only someone VERY high in the organization would know this and I highly doubt someone that high is dumping rumors to 01.net.

I so want it to be true, though. I want an industry where Wada runs a major company and Iwata The Failure spends his days staring at a turned-off 3DS on his coffee table.
 

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
Yeah, some months of slow sales are sufficient to see Iwata gone, after years of smashing successes.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah
 

[Nintex]

Member
Kifimbo said:
Why would someone who works at Nintendo knows this ? Isn't it an investors/board of directors' decision ?
Maybe he's part of the board of directors? It seems like someone at Nintendo is starting shit maybe that investor that Bloomberg spoke to that wouldn't disclose his holdings in Nintendo?
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Seda said:
What kind of source would know the status of Iwata's job security?

You asked the right question, now everyone get to the right conclusion before this rumor gets spread farther than it already spread.
 
Seriously 01Net again :O

Crazy story every day it seems.... :O

is it all turns out true than ow boy 2012 is going to be one hell of a hardware year.
 
I misread the title as "Iwata On The Erection Seat" - and I think I got more entertainment and insight from that than I did from anything in the translated article... :)

EDIT:

So, the week of 01Net "revelations" gave us:

-- 3DS redesign coming in 2012 w. second analogue
-- 3DS analogue add-on coming at the same time for existing owners
-- Wii U dev hardware not working correctly; controllers not even working properly tethered
-- SMG based on prototype from outside source; Nintendo sat on dozens of similar prototypes
-- Nintendo threatened by Apple/smartphones and unable to deal with a coherent strategy
-- Iwata on the chopping block

Missing/misinterpreted anything significant?
 

[Nintex]

Member
Seda said:
What kind of source would know the status of Iwata's job security?
I've mentioned this before, I think Iwata has done a great job but he's said some 'not so smart' things like pulling out his iPhone and saying: "This, no this is not our competition for the forseeable future" and talking down the importance of online since well forever.

I sure hope that if and when he steps down they still keep him on as some sort of advisor and for the occasional Iwata Asks. But I guess he's fairly safe since I can't think of anyone who could follow him up and bring big changes to the company.
 

Emitan

Member
I'm imagining that picture of Iwata, Reggie, and Shiggy in a car and then an ejection seat activates and Reggie and Iwata fly out of the car.
 
So they dominate with the Wii/DS for years and bring Nintendo the highest selling console since the NES but they've slacked off these last few months and Iwata is going to get fired. Right.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Now I know it's a fraudulent interview. The WiiU is their best idea in years? Clearly this guy they're interviewing is just making things up.
 

fernoca

Member
BocoDragon said:
Miyamoto is the inside source!
That's true. We've already seen his post at 4chan(?) regarding the Zelda situation with the fans; so he has been quite vocal around the internet. :p
 

Eteric Rice

Member
Doubt this is true.

I mean, the points are good. Nintendo does need to get with the fucking program with third parties.

But Iwata getting the boot? I doubt it. Nintendo may have fucked up, but the 3DS isn't dead, and it's probably going to kick up when the games are released at the end of the year.

And anyway, who would replace Iwata?


AbsoluteZero said:
If this was the case Yamamuchi would have been ejected after the Virtual Boy.

Yamauchi owns like 51% stock in Nintendo, I don't think they could boot him.

And hell, if Yamauchi is on Iwata's side, I don't think current stock holders can boot him either.
 

Instro

Member
Ooooook this is garbage. Very few people with in the company would have any idea of what kind of position Iwata is in outside of the BoD. No one high enough in the company is going to jeopardize their job and reputation by leaking info to the press, let alone a small time french site.

Either all of this is fake or their source is a small time employee who is making up information and 01net is buying it.
 
ok, is this the new maelstrom or what


fucking christ, they sold 87 million Wiis and are currently shipping DS systems to other planets because they reached complete global saturation!!! They have some leeway with missteps, several missteps even.
 
_dementia said:
If true that really sucks for him. Especially after the success of Wii and DS.
Dude doesn't deserve to be Yokoi'd
It is a shame. He has been proven himself to be a decent asset to the company. If he goes it is also a part of a stifling and stubborn work culture that could not exchange ideas properly with Western devs and pubs.

I like the way Nintendo does some things, but the way they present themselves and how they interact with their fans is something that Iwata has had little time to address. It would be nice to see if he can change that for the better even if only a little.
 

Duxxy3

Member
Billychu said:
I'm imagining that picture of Iwata, Reggie, and Shiggy in a car and then an ejection seat activates and Reggie and Iwata fly out of the car.

This must be done!!
 
Iwata is on the "ejection seat"?

He's demonstrated tremendous leadership, took Nintendo to new heights, earned them an absolute insane amount of money, dominated the handheld and home console marketplaces, and caused their competitors to play a continuous game of catch-up, climbing over themselves to copy motion controls. Nintendo went from also-ran to defining a generation (Wii Sports) with his guidance.

Following this high there has been a period of understandable decline and some uncertainties as Nintendo plans its next strategy. There has been a shift from profits for the present, as one console winds down and a new handheld tries to find its success.

For this blip, despite the fact that Nintendo is clearly thriving, his "ejection" is imminent?

Forgive me 01.net, but I'm going to need more than that.
 
fernoca said:
That's true. We've already seen his post at 4chan(?) regarding the Zelda situation with the fans; so he has been quite vocal around the internet. :p
Aonuma does actually read message boards.

I think he stopped in recent years, though.
 

Thoraxes

Member
Lord_Byron28 said:
So they dominate with the Wii/DS for years and bring Nintendo the highest selling console since the NES but they've slacked off these last few months and Iwata is going to get fired. Right.
Yeah. This all just sounds like someone's fanfic they wrote about Nintendo.
 

WillyFive

Member
1288127-needlemouse1.jpg


AbsoluteZero said:
If this was the case Yamamuchi would have been ejected after the Virtual Boy.

Comparing the 3DS to the Virtual Boy is completely laughable. One was a failure, the other is outselling it's predecessor.
 
1-D_FTW said:
Now I know it's a fraudulent interview. The WiiU is their best idea in years? Clearly this guy they're interviewing is just making things up.
Seriously.

As if they'd refer to their massive record-shattering sales of Wii and DS with the same nerd rage disappointment as the 12 year olds on gamefaqs.
 
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