Miyamoto explains 2009 sales dip

By Ellie Gibson Published 25 March, 2010

"We didn't produce fun-enough products."

Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed why he thinks game sales were down last year - saying it's not just due to the global economic crisis.

"I think any entertainment products are less susceptible to changes in the economy," he told The Economist.

"The fact that in 2009 we were not able to sell more than we did in 2008 was simply that in comparison, we were not able to produce fun-enough products."

According to Miyamoto, the games industry is always going through ups and downs - and just because it's hit a bad patch, doesn't mean the future is bleak. "As long as we create unique and unprecedented experiences with videogames, there should be nothing to worry about," he said.

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About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (26) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • INSOMANiAC #1 2 years ago

    ''We didn't produce enough piracy protection.''

  • Xerx3s #2 2 years ago

    It didn't seem to affect you in the years before that.

    /coat

  • wizlon #3 2 years ago

    Go on then Nintendo.... make more good games!

  • menage #4 2 years ago

    meh, games don't sell on Wii, crap does.

    It has nothing to do with being fun enough, people forgot about it and it's stored in the attic.

  • sonicyoda #5 2 years ago

    @menage

    Another dusty Wii joke? For shame.

    I might just spam the comments section of every PS3, 360 and PC game review with a good score with the phrase "Time to dust off the old *INSERT GAMING PLATFORM HERE*".

    The Wii has plenty of great games but it would appear that because the audience is generally full of casual gamers and the fitness obsessed, nobody gives them the chance. That was the Wii's problem in 2009.

  • LazyDan #6 2 years ago

    That's pretty refreshing to hear a corporation head admit that. You wouldn't see MS and Sony bods admit that sales weren't good enough because their products weren't good enough.

  • matrim83 #7 2 years ago

    Yeah I was just about to say that. Refreshingly honest.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #8 2 years ago

    Still, now you've got the Vitality Sensor on the way, so that should be 2010 covered, eh?

  • geeza2020 #9 2 years ago

    well i dont agree with the way Nintendo have basically abandoned the "hardcore" (i hate that term) gamers that made them, but at least they are being honest about why they're sales have dipped. I'd like to see a comparison with a MS or Sony exec explaining why their console is failing. suits are always good for a laugh.
    Edited by 1 at 25/03/10 @ 09:43

  • gjgjg #10 2 years ago

    more zelda, less wii fit please

    also i notive the virtual channel has taken a dip in quality last year

    dont forget ninty casual = less dedication

  • pacifika #11 2 years ago

    Unfortunately the same has been true for the last 3 generations of Nintendo consoles.

  • macmurphy #12 2 years ago

    I have a Wii and the only reason it's not dusty is because the wife does EA Sports Active. Oddly, the body building game reviewed today is the first thing in a while that has got me interested, I love that wacky Japanese shit.

    I want to love the Wii, I really do. But my Xbox has got better shooting games (BFBC), fighting games (SFIV) and driving games (Forza). The Wii just doesn't have enough stand out games to make it worth playing. Really looking forward to Galaxy 2 though. Also I hear Pikmin 3 is really far along, though bizarrely we've seen nothing.

    I'll never sack the little box of joy off, purely for local multiplayer japes, but it does just suffer from a dearth of really quality games. There's plenty of OK ones, and you'd not be suicidal if you only had a Wii. But now I'm older I'm cash rich and time poor and OK doesn't cut it when you've got the option of such high-scoring 360 titles.

    I also want to talk to my mates, and Nintendo have massively shot themselves in the cock by not embracing voice chat. One easy way to build loyalty is by building a community, and not being able to chat to anyone really shafts that. I have lots of mates with a Wii, and if I could do voice chat on Mariokart I would play it constantly. Ditto Smash Bros.

    Sort your shit out Miyamoto, it's not so much the quality of titles that has isolated the hardcore - it's the lack of decent community games and online support. People want to share gaming experiences, and all the best community games are not on the Wii.

    I still love you though. Pilotwings next please.

  • menage #13 2 years ago

    @soncyoda

    It wasn't a joke

    People enjoyed it, parents have moved on, gamers certainly have, kids still do but they don't buy games, they buy toys like My Pony and Let's Dance.

    And everybody who's slighty interested in games has a modded one as well Nobody wants to pay for games which give them 4 hours of fun.

    Oh and more Zelda? Please no, we need more fresh shit, not another retread.



    Edited by 3 at 25/03/10 @ 10:34

  • Reedo #14 2 years ago

    Of course Nintendo are going to say that. They're in a very good position at the moment, LOADS of stuff on the horizon.

  • ybfelix #15 2 years ago

    Miyamoto is so much a nicer guy than Reggie

  • sneetch #16 2 years ago

    @menage

    Wow, thanks for explaining to us how we all feel about the Wii. :p

    I thought I was happy enough waiting for good first party titles but apparently I've moved on. I also hadn't realised that I'd modded my Wii.

  • zedzee #17 2 years ago

    "...we were not able to produce fun-enough products" [because our console can't handle anything better than what's already been released and we've exhausted this roller coaster ride].

    "...entertainment products are less susceptible to changes in the economy," [because it makes sense to continue spending more money on consoles and games, rather than saving money to pay the bills etc.]

    Yes, that makes a great deal of sense!!!

  • menage #18 2 years ago

    @sneetch

    Well, there's always some silly person who get's left behind:D

    Off course I'm generalizing, but were talking 1000's of units here, not some lone gamer.



  • TonyHarrison #19 2 years ago

    Wait, if nobody is buying games for the Wii because they've left it behind, why do Nintendo sell more software every week than everybody else?

    The mind boggles...

  • sneetch #20 2 years ago

    @menage

    :p

    I'm with you on the whole "need more fresh shit" thing BTW. I hope their realisation that they "didn't produce fun-enough products" means they'll produce some new IPs, and not just a new SMG, Metroid, Pikmin and Zelda, although I will definitely (and cheerfully) buy all of those, I'd like to see them produce something brand new or even dip into their old or unvisited IPs; a new Kid Icarus or Donkey Kong action-adventure would be fantastic. So would a new Star Fox.

  • menage #21 2 years ago

    Yeah. Although the new Metroid does look fresh.

    I'm not against a new Zelda, I'm against the same damn thing getting churned out all the time. Boomerang, Ruppee, Chicken Chase, snore.

  • sneetch #22 2 years ago

    Yeah, the new Metroid is looking very good, so long as Team Ninja manage to not bring Ninja Gaiden II's woeful camera along it's going to be fantastic! :)

    I thought that was interesting actually, the way Nintendo handed that franchise over to Team Ninja to produce something new, the same way they gave Metroid to Retro (who are a subsidiary of Nintendo I know, but still) who produced an excellent series of games with it. I'd like to see them do that more, to see them branch out a bit more.

    I love the games they make but mother Nintendo herself seems to be kinda caught up in iterative evolutionary development: they make tweaks and minor changes but very little in terms of big changes for fear of alienating the fanbase (I believe). I'd love to see what someone outside Nintendo could do with Mother or Earthbound for example.

  • Rubarack #23 2 years ago

    I hope this means more interesting titles in the future. Silent Hill was great and i'm looking forward to giving Red Steel 2 a try but if we can finally get a Star Fox and Pilot Wings my Wii may yet justify its purchase.

  • sneetch #24 2 years ago

    @STKD

    I don't see all that many people complaining (or even talking) about 3rd party games here. We're talking about Nintendo's games and Nintendo's franchises.

  • FenderMaster #25 2 years ago

    what awesome fun games did Nintendo make in 2008? SSBB, sure, but Wii Fit? Wii Music? Animal Crossing City Folk?

    kind of renders his fun argument ridiculous, it was an awful year for Nintendo software quality...

  • Slipstream #26 2 years ago

    It's beginning to annoy me that Miyamoto is aware, yet completely avoids the true issue as to why the wii is 'dipping' despite so many gamers expressing their concern regarding the consoles games quality, or rather distinct lack of.