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[Otnopolit]

Title should be changed to: Iwata usurps Nintendo, gamers everywhere confused.

 

[GiantEnemyGoomba]

I guess we'll know if this is good or bad at the briefing.

 

[BY2K]

Iwata gets the last *laugh*

Not even close.

Though that IS a good one.

 

[Hot Coldman]

Title should be changed to: Iwata usurps Nintendo, gamers everywhere confused.

Usurps? uh oh

 

[Lyude77]

The 3DS is killing what exactly? This is from the Notice of Full-Year Financial Forecast Differences with its Results:

Reason for variances
The operating loss increased primarily due to the sales of "Nintendo 3DS" and "Wii U" being weaker than expected. While foreign exchange gains in Non-operating income increased, ordinary income and net income became smaller than the forecast.

That talks about the whole world, and EloquentM was just talking about Japan, where the 3DS has been killing it.

The 3ds got off to a slow start that it's still recovering from (missed sales expectations, see that other thread?) and the Wii u is off to a historically bad launch that it likely won't recover from, at least not in the way Nintendo was probably hoping this time last year. Those failings fall at iwata's feet. Just saying "they're Nintendo they'll tiurn it around somehow" only compounds the mistakes.

Japan.

If by killing it you mean the 3DS is down year over year, failing to meet projections yet again, and having serious problems selling software, then yes, it's "killing it."

Japan.

 

[mentalfloss]

So is there any chance he might still resign now?

 

[Santiako]

Will he move to America now or will he stay in Japan?

 

[Somnid]

So this means no Japanese centric games for USA confirmed? I mean, wasn't it Iwatta who slapped Reggie on the hand because some game didn't sell so they decided to hold back on all those titles that did finally come out that everyone was pissed that wasn't coming to the US.. I'm not sure how to read this.. and lately we have an example of the US getting quite a few Japanese centric games on 3DS and what seems to be in general "fan service"... which way will it go? I can only assume they try and push everything the US's way because there isn't enough content as it is.. this news is very surprising.

There's multiple things going on here. The short answer is yes, but not because of any shake-up but rather the prevalence of the eShop on 3DS and Wii U which eliminates the production effort and trying to get stores to buy enough copies to make it worthwhile. So they can still do Xenoblades but once the limited production is sucked up by fans anyone else can just get a digital copy, or they can do full on digital.

I don't think Iwata was the one preventing things, I think it was an assessment of how to market it, how much it could be expected to sell, how much it would cost them and the opportunity cost on other titles at the time. I'm sure both sides had to come to reach a decision.

 

[Javier]

Will he move to America now or will he stay in Japan?

He'll definitely have to spend more time in America now, that's for sure.

 

[TunaLover]

We always speculated about NCL not giving NoA enough freedom to take actions, with Iwata overseeing NoA, we will know if Nintendo can at least make co-developments with western companies, get some exclusive titles, or fund games.

 

[vdoggie]

Will they cut him in half vertically or horizontally?

 

[Linkhero1]

lol, I can't wait to see what the Kaz twitter says today.

https://twitter.com/IwataCEO/status/327058435977908226

lmao

 

[DaBoss]

Usurps? uh oh

So Iwata has been the puppet the whole time?

 

[Meelow]

Hopefully Iwata is much more aggressive at getting Western support...And maybe Final Fantasy back on Nintendo.

 

[TheNatural]

That talks about the whole world, and EloquentM was just talking about Japan, where the 3DS has been killing it.

Japan.


Japan.

Wii U sold like 8 thousand in Japan this week. Japan is handheld heavy and can save a Nintendo handheld, but it's not going to save a console.

 

[PreyingShark]

So is there any chance he might still resign now?

Iwata decided to take Nintendo of America into his own hands, so not for a while.

 

[Nirolak]

So is there any chance he might still resign now?

He's definitely not leaving this fiscal year if he's taking direct control of a branch, even if that person did get a fancy new title right below him.

 

[Van Owen]

We always speculated about NCL not giving NoA enough freedom to take actions, with Iwata overseeing NoA, we will know if Nintendo can at least make co-developments with western companies, get some exclusive titles, or fund games.

Again, what was stopping Iwata from doing this before?

 

[corn_fest]

I'm hoping things turn around for them so we can have Iwata at both NOA and NCL.
NOA is clearly in need of new leadership, hoping things will start to improve with him at the helm.

 

[Yonafunu]

So is there any chance he might still resign now?

The chances of him resigning haven't changed at all. If they don't make their goal he'll (probably) resign as President. It's just that his appointment as CEO of NOA is something unrelated to that. So if he resignes as the big boss, he'd still stay as CEO of NOA. He never said he'd leave Nintendo or step down from a managment position.

 

[Baller. PhD]

Reggie passed up, lol.

 

[xandaca]

So Iwata has been the puppet the whole time?

YAMAUCHI IS THE PUPPETMASTER

 

[vdoggie]

There's multiple things going on here. The short answer is yes, but not because of any shake-up but rather the prevalence of the eShop on 3DS and Wii U which eliminates the production effort and trying to get stores to buy enough copies to make it worthwhile. So they can still do Xenoblades but once the limited production is sucked up by fans anyone else can just get a digital copy, or they can do full on digital.

I don't think Iwata was the one preventing things, I think it was an assessment of how to market it, how much it could be expected to sell, how much it would cost them and the opportunity cost on other titles at the time. I'm sure both sides had to come to reach a decision.

True, that does make sense.. when you factor in marketing costs and voice acting/regional translation of the games... when you say "yes", I assume we will get them because of the ease of leveraging the 3ds and Wii U shop.. if so, that's definitely a win win.. I just can't see them not releasing games especially on Wii U unless of course they are super Japanese centric which I believe they are staying away from on Wii U. It makes no sense to split that market though... maybe this is why they don't publish or developer first person shooters.. they have little to no interest in Japan... so many variables... ugh

 

[Hot Coldman]

YAMAUCHI IS THE PUPPETMASTER

 

[vdoggie]

Reggie passed up, lol.

Maybe because he already dug half his grave? hmmmmmmm...

 

[TunaLover]

Again, what was stopping Iwata from doing this before?

Basically Reggie was in charge, but he never had the power to make worth decisions.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Again, what was stopping Iwata from doing this before?

Nothing, but corporate culture isn't something that's easily changed.

No one really has any basis on which to argue until something (or nothing) comes of this. As of now, it's all baseles conjecture.

 

[Lyude77]

Wii U sold like 8 thousand in Japan this week. Japan is handheld heavy and can save a Nintendo handheld, but it's not going to save a console.

EloquentM was talking exclusively about Iwata's handling of the 3DS in Japan, so I was doing the same. The Wii U is doing poorly, I agree. Hopefully it'll improve, but they have to actually release games to make it happen, which seems like it will take a while, and even then, it may not happen. We'll see how they're doing after E3, I guess.

 

[Aquamarine]

Basically Reggie was in charge, but he never had the power to make worth decisions.

Reggie was never in the position to make worthwhile decisions. Kimishima was NOA's CEO.

Reggie is just the public figurehead / spokesperson for the company, so all hate gets unfairly directed to him.

 

[skypunch]

Wow, wasn't expecting this. I like Iwata and think he's a good manager, so this is pretty exciting. Still waiting for that "Reggie retires from NOA" topic, though.

 

[qizah]

If Iwata resigns it won't be till after next fiscal year. However, I'm fairly confident with Nintendo's ability to turn it around. They need software to sell the console, a new Pikmin, 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Wind Waker remake for the later half of this year is nuts. On top of that there's The Wonderful 101 and the potential for titles like Yarn Yoshi and Bayonetta 2 to be fitted in somewhere. I'm also certain Nintendo will have at least 1 surprise title they haven't announced at E3.

 

[jmizzal]

Iwata: I'm coming to America *laughs*

 

[Auron_Kale]

Wasn't expecting this but it makes sense to have Iwata in charge of both NoJ & NoA to keep things in check.

...Hopefully now, NoA can not only get some 3DS XL colors, but also a chance at bringing more games to the Wii U as well.

 

[disco]

What about NoE?!

 

[Linkhero1]

What about NoE?!

They already have a Satoru

 

[GoofsterStud]

These are the exact kind of decisions Sega made before the Saturn.

Which lead to:
We don't want Eternal Champions even if the US wants it, it's on the box, and people keep asking about it. We only want one fighter so it doesn't confuse our audience and that's Japans Virtua Fighter.

Sonic Xtreme: The US has a good sonic game for the Saturn. Sega Japan told them they can not use Yuji Naka's development tools. They shut the project down. Then the Japaneses one sucked so bad it never got released.

>.> This is looking to familiar.

I hope Iwata is smarter than this, but the Wii-U gives me doubts.

 

[Auron_Kale]

What about NoE?!

I think NoE is doing just fine, after all, you're getting games that we in NoA Land never got.

 

[Guevara]

Iwata: I'm coming to America *laughs*

someone photoshop this:

(Reggie can be Arsenio Hall obviously)

 

[Icarus]

Correct.

Also, Nintendo's decade-old board of directors seem to be retiring at a rapid rate these days.

Here's their core:

Yoshihiro Mori - Retiring this year
Shinji Hatano
Genyo Takeda
Shigeru Miyamoto - Retiring from EAD
Nobuo Nagai - Died early 2012
Masaharu Matsumoto - Retiring this year
Eiichi Suzuki

The same stuffy corporate Nintendo is slowly eroding. What that means for the future is uncertain.

And Hatano is getting up there in age. He's got to be almost 70.

 

[Gonzo The Great]

These are the exact kind of decisions Sega made before the Saturn.

Which lead to:
We don't want Eternal Champions even if the US wants it, it's on the box, and people keep asking about it. We only want one fighter so it doesn't confuse our audience and that's Japans Virtua Fighter.

Sonic Xtreme: The US has a good sonic game for the Saturn. Sega Japan told them they can not use Yuji Naka's development tools. They shut the project down. Then the Japaneses one sucked so bad it never got released.

>.> This is looking to familiar.

I hope Iwata is smarter than this, but the Wii-U gives me doubts.

Uh... what?

 

[tauroxd]

huh? I have a strong memory of Iwata saying "Please Be Excited"

maybe I'm just remembering wrong.

Well I remember the SE guy who said the same thin on the PS4 announcemnt, but not Iwata... But now that I think on it he probably said that too.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

These are the exact kind of decisions Sega made before the Saturn.

Which lead to:
We don't want Eternal Champions even if the US wants it, it's on the box, and people keep asking about it. We only want one fighter so it doesn't confuse our audience and that's Japans Virtua Fighter.

Sonic Xtreme: The US has a good sonic game for the Saturn. Sega Japan told them they can not use Yuji Naka's development tools. They shut the project down. Then the Japaneses one sucked so bad it never got released.

>.> This is looking to familiar.

I hope Iwata is smarter than this, but the Wii-U gives me doubts.

Buh

Sega's problems were rivalries between the two branches, not that one person was in charge of both. It lead to super crazy things like Sega of America tanking games to spite Japan and then tanking an entire system to force Sega of Japan to hurry with the successor.

Whether this is a good or bad idea is up for debate, but it is sort of the opposite of what Sega was doing.

 

[EatChildren]

Iwata has taken on the position as NoA CEO and in six months we'll find he has done the some for NoE. He will initiate widespread company policy, management, structure, and output overhauls that put everyone under him in high stress situations as everybody tries to collect and keep the ship sailing under these reforms.

Another six months later he will resign, all three branches in disarray now without their active CEO, crumbling under the pressure of reforms and new management, causing widespread company and business collapse.

Satoru Iwata was a mole sent by Apple several decades ago. And soon their plan will come to fruition.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

We will see the results of this in the long term but right now, whatever they had going on is almost certainly set in stone so I wouldn't expect some magical happenings other than what's already being worked on internally.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Iwata has taken on the position as NoA CEO and in six months we'll find he has done the some for NoE. He will initiate widespread company policy, management, structure, and output overhauls that put everyone under him in high stress situations as everybody tries to collect and keep the ship sailing under these reforms.

Another six months later he will resign, all three branches in disarray now without their active CEO, crumbling under the pressure of reforms and new management, causing widespread company and business collapse.

Satoru Iwata was a mole sent by Apple several decades ago. And soon their plan will come to fruition.

Complete Global Satoruation.


(Credit for that joke goes to a Destructoid commenter)

 

[Linkhero1]

Iwata has taken on the position as NoA CEO and in six months we'll find he has done the some for NoE. He will initiate widespread company policy, management, structure, and output overhauls that put everyone under him in high stress situations as everybody tries to collect and keep the ship sailing under these reforms.

Another six months later he will resign, all three branches in disarray now without their active CEO, crumbling under the pressure of reforms and new management, causing widespread company and business collapse.

Satoru Iwata was a mole sent by Apple several decades ago. And soon their plan will come to fruition.

Guys...I think EC is onto something. *tin foil hat*

 

[shouamabane]

Speculation is fact. Nintendo experts are everywhere, on neogaf.

 

[DragonSworne]

Iwata will sell the company to Apple. He will then become CEO of Apple.

 

[Lunar15]

Satoru Iwata was a mole sent by Apple several decades ago. And soon their plan will come to fruition.

heh.

 

[XenodudeX]

These are the exact kind of decisions Sega made before the Saturn.

Which lead to:
We don't want Eternal Champions even if the US wants it, it's on the box, and people keep asking about it. We only want one fighter so it doesn't confuse our audience and that's Japans Virtua Fighter.

Sonic Xtreme: The US has a good sonic game for the Saturn. Sega Japan told them they can not use Yuji Naka's development tools. They shut the project down. Then the Japaneses one sucked so bad it never got released.

>.> This is looking to familiar.

I hope Iwata is smarter than this, but the Wii-U gives me doubts.

Wow. Did you eat the Gum-Gum Fruit? Because thats a hell of a stretch.