Nintendo "not conscious" of any rivals

By Robert Purchese Published 12 July, 2010

"Our business is very unique" - Iwata

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said he's "not conscious" of any rivals to Nintendo; not Apple, not cloud computing, not Microsoft or Sony.

Concentrating on others would lead Nintendo into the "trap" of "shortsighted business philosophies" and a preoccupation with "spoiling" another company's ideas, he said.

"On the contrary," he told investors during a publicised Q&A, "we ourselves assume that our rival is everything consuming people's interest, time and energy. If we were to consider one specific thing as our rival, we would do nothing but think of how to beat it.

"...Even if we ask customers what kind of games they want to play and develop one game as they requested, it may not always greatly excite them. Instead, we should develop what is beyond their imagination and let them say, 'This is unexpectedly interesting,' or 'This is the very thing I have been wanting.' We can say that our business is very unique.

"...it is more important for our unique business to always ask ourselves, and try to answer such questions as, 'What does it mean to make people interested in something?' 'What is worth spending people's time and energy on?' Or 'What do people find amusement in?'

"We would be glad if you understand that, as the basis, we are not conscious of any certain rivals," he said.

Iwata touched on cloud computing to say that while some elements were "very suitable", there were others that "will never be". Simply, Iwata believes cloud computing won't ever "conquer" his field.

"With cloud computing, for example, customers would be irritated even by a slight delay in response after pressing a button. So, for what is suitable for cloud computing, we will take advantage of the technology in the future," said Iwata.

"It is also natural that we will align with a service provider of cloud computing, and not going through the trouble to develop our own facilities. Having said that, cloud computing would not conquer every field of entertainment because present telecommunication technologies inevitably involve a certain delay and limitation of transmission speed.

"We would employ Cloud Computing as far as it is useful," he concluded.

Cloud computing's big hope, OnLive, was dissected by Eurogamer's Digital Foundry blog over the weekend. Can it really work? Richard Leadbetter finally gets his hands on it as he tries to find out.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • LazyDan #1 2 years ago

    Sound.

  • Quixz #2 2 years ago

    He would have never said this if the Wii ended up like the N64 or the Gamecube.

  • Darkedge #3 2 years ago

    unique business? Well sort of, but it isn't just like their normal products which are usually coiples of older games...

  • X3Entente #4 2 years ago

    but i thought nintendo was always doomed!!

  • Kami #5 2 years ago

    "He would have never said this if the Wii ended up like the N64 or the Gamecube."

    What, you mean the consoles they made massive profits on? Yeah, real failures those and the games were so crap too... *rolls eyes*

  • Dolly #6 2 years ago

    They can keep saying this as much as they like, but I still won't believe them. Nintendo are incredibly innovative for sure, but saying that they've completely ignored the other two competitors in such a tight industry is just nonsense.

  • slippysloppy #7 2 years ago

    Love or hate Nintendo, you've got to hand it to them. Turning huge profits by innovating old tech is an impressive business model. Personally I love new, more powerful consoles and although I greatly respect Nintendo I'd hate to see MS and Sony follow the exact same route in the future.

  • macmurphy #8 2 years ago

    @Kami, really mate?

    Nintendo dominated the industry with the NES and SNES, the gamecube and N64 were massive failures for them by their standards. It has nothing to do with the quality of games, and I'm sure they made money, but their market share fell massively from the halcyon days of the SNES. If you think that Nintendo were not flapping at the sales rates of the 'Cube I'd say you were naive. And yes, I had both consoles, they were aces. But I also remember the massive gaps between releases, because no one was developing for them.

    Back in the day they would not touch adult titles with a bargepole, as the hilarious Mortal Kombat censorship on the SNES attests to. But one the N64's biggest sellers was Goldeneye, and their embracing of Eternal Darkness and Shadowman (these games were always prominent on the back of hardware boxes, in Nintendo pamphlets for future games) shows that Nintendo realised that more mature games were necessary - the Metroid transformation into an FPS/platformer hybrid is another example of Nintendo moving even key franchises into the more 'hardcore' territory. Their reluctant toe-dipping into online gaming with hampered games such as Smash Bros and Mariokart on Wii shows that they are coming around to the online world.

    Nintendo have always gone their own way, but at the same time they are very savvy people and there is an unflinching business ethic behind the smiles and fun of Miyamoto and Mario. Their biggest successes have been with their traditional IPs and hardware sales, but they will no doubt realise they have alienated a lot of gamers this generation - they have admitted as much publicly. To win these gamers back, there is no doubt that they will be looking to the comnpetition to see where these players have gone.

    Nintendo's blue ocean strategy of targetting new consumers has worked unbelievably well this generation, and they have created new gamers and new markets. But already the water is becoming blood red as Microsoft and Sony snap at their heels with Move and Kinect. They can feign confidence and an aloof strategy but you can bet your bollocks to a barn dance they thinking of how to win back the hardcore and how they can stay ahead of the game.

  • Bleemo #9 2 years ago

    Although I am no Nintendo fanboy (though I do own a wii and DS) they have worked miracles this gen. However it should be noted that they floundered last two gens on the home console scene and were almost bought out by Microsoft at one point so they are capable of being vulnerable.

    I think they are fine for now with the Wii and DS still making good money and the 3DS likely to be a smash. However I just wonder how they will cope when they inevitably have to move to a high def, big budget system. It's not like their own properties that really suit HD and I think as the industry ages and their creators do they are going to struggle.

  • alcides #10 2 years ago

    3DS has no rival. I mean it literaly.

  • Kami #11 2 years ago

    In business terms, a profit is a profit. What people confuse is what is considered "in" with gaming, and Nintendo was, for a while, considered a little uncool. That people still see fit to continue to kick Nintendo every single time news like this turns up is getting a little boring now and I react now not with anger but vicious sarcasm.

    So Nintendo weren't with the in-crowd for a few years, yes their marketshare may have dropped off a bit in some regards - but come on. They made profits, turned out some of the best games of those generations (if not of all time!) and even made sound business decisions - Pokémon wants a word with people.

    People kicked Nintendo in the balls when it was uncool to like them and their games, and now they sell big people are still kicking it in the balls. There's no pleasing some people, at all, ever. Just, for each time you kick them in the balls now - there's several people buying a Nintendo console, and they're making profits on each and every sale. They're not crying in pain - they're crying with laughter that you can't see how brilliant their business model is!
    Edited by Kami at 12/07/10 @ 14:31

  • skuzzbag #12 2 years ago

    "What, you mean the consoles they made massive profits on? Yeah, real failures those and the games were so crap too... *rolls eyes*"

    Point, meet missed.

  • jonsaan #13 2 years ago

    The Nintendo version is called FoxMcCloud Computing.

  • Senate #14 2 years ago

    They will last while they are still sitting on a goldmine of goodies we may one day see - Pokemon MMO, Animal Crossing MMO, (the next) F-Zero, Smash Brothers (with much improved online) new Advanced Wars, New IP, Pikmen 3 etc etc

  • AphoticCosmos #15 2 years ago

    Is he tripping? That might explain the lack of conscious awareness.

  • TonyHarrison #16 2 years ago

    Some of you might want to take a look at this...

  • Darren #17 2 years ago

    I think Nintendo's approach to the industry has meant that their consoles and games feel unique and often innovative, far more than anything that either Sony or Microsoft have done to date, even if that doesn't always translate to "good". Didn't they basically invent the D-pad and rumble not to mention were the first to successfully introduce motion controls to the masses, something Sony and Microsoft are keen to copy? They also resisted the urge to go HD with the Wii which on reflection was probably right because most PS3 and Xbox 360 owners don't play their games in HD even if they might own an HDTV (Sony and now Microsoft's decision to not package an HD lead with their consoles is especially dumb given most people only use the A/V cables that come in the box)!

    Nintendo just need to focus more on the core gamers IMO, the ones that made them well-known in the first place because the Wii, for me personally, has been the most underwhelming console from them despite having a few of the finest games of this generation, e.g. Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2, etc. I think they've lost some of their magic this generation personally as a result of catering for masses but I hope that with their next machine they'll strike a better balance and return back to form. HD would be nice then too.

  • SpaceMonkey77 #18 2 years ago

    This is Nintendo high on their own brand of Kool-Aid. Blinkers on and ear plugs in, the comeptition do not exist to them.

    What a load of bullshit.

    Just like how they said they weren't competiing with Sony and MS. Wrong, they are all in the games industry so that was bs too.
    Just like they said no one has HD tvs as a lame excuse for not including HD option in Wii, when a third party recently showed it could be done. Dumb thing to say when new HD and maybe 3Dtv uptake grows.
    Just like they said Wii owners didn't need a hard drive, yet one is now coming apparently, because they were wrong.

    For all Nintendo's greatness and muchos monies, they don't half talk some absolute crap, like we were born yesterday. Of course you aren't conscious of your rivals, Nintendo, those same rivals that almost buried you for good, over the last two gens.

  • drumbaby #19 2 years ago

    I'm certainly not conscious of Nintendo offering anything I want, and I really like video games.

  • macmurphy #20 2 years ago

    @TonyHarrison - cheers for the stats mate, nice to have some facts and not be blundering in the dark like I usually am

    @Kami. Kami I think you're getting the wrong idea mate. No one here is really knocking Nintendo - Eurogamer is a gamer's site and you can tell the love people have for the company across the forums. I've had a Nintendo consolde since the SNES and I think I'll always have one.

    As Tony's stats reveal, the company was making less in 2006 than it was in 1991. When you factor in inflation, that's a hell of a lot less. It's easy to look at the beast Nintendo has become and think it was always this way, but I remember being really worried that Nintendo would drop out of the hardware business altogether and go the way of SEGA.

    People on this site aren't generally worried about looking cool; I think you always struggle to look that cool when you're posting on a videogame site. I think people just have a lot of love for Ninty and are worried that their isolationist policies might put them back in the hole (I forgot to mention the licensing agreements and share of profits they asked for that chased off companies like Square back in the day). They also smell a rich vein of bullshit when any multinational pretends it couldn't give a toss about the competition.

    I'm a bit like Darren; the Wii has been a bit of a disappointment with long gaps in the schedule, despite hosting the wonders or Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Wii Sports and recently Monster Hunter Tri. I'm a proud Wii owner, but I've already got a massive brand loyalty and this has disappated a bit and I find the 360 to be my most used console.

    Nintendo are in clover at the moment, but there is a real danger that unless they can win over dedicated gamers now they may start the new generation with no layal fans. In embracing casual gamers, they embrace a public that may not stay with them if Sony or Xbox produce something more appealing next time. A lot of the people who first bought a Wii bought one beacuse it said Nintendo on the side - that was enough. And these are the very people that may have been alienated this time.

    Monster Hunter is a step in the right direction, I'm looking forward to Sin and Punishment when I get some time, I've also just got the Prime Trilogy to play through. But I would play my Wii a lot more if I could chat to my mates playing Mariokart, and the chat on Wiispeak is a joke.

    Kami, Nintendo have always made good games but sometimes that isn't enough. And which ever way you look at it, the Gamecube and N64 were comparative failures. I don't question Nintendo because I want to be cool, I question them beacuse I think sometimes they shoot themselves in the foot. Not looking at the competition is direct route to failing. It's the kind of arrogance that nearly crippled them last time. And I want them to keep being successful beacuse they bring something very special to the industry.
    Edited by macmurphy at 12/07/10 @ 15:56

  • Slipstream #21 2 years ago

    They can say this because despite Microsofts and Sony's efforts. The Wii will be 'the go to machine' when it comes to motion controlled gaming, it has established itself worldwide, and Nintendo are fully aware of this, thus fearing no reprisal in this sector, not yet anyway.

    and in anycase, with most of their killer IPs in support of the Wii and 3DS, there's little doubt that they'll be selling in abundance to both the destitute casuals who bought it because you can play with your son/daughter/grandchild and yes, even many of the hardcore gamers have been failing to resist the pull of their time old favorites, Mario, Zelda Smash Brothers and even niché titles such as No More Heroes, Okami, Mad World and the forthcoming Lost in Shadows (looks lush) are having their draw.
    The aformentioned titles sold poorly mind, and as much as I'd like for Lost in Shadows to succeed where those have failed, I wont hold my breath. But you get what I'm saying, we've all been drawn to the console in some form or another, as it seems there really is something for everyone, even if it is to a certain degree as far as long-time Nintendo fans are concerned.

    My point is Nintendo have us playing right into their hands, they seem to have taken what initially seemed like a stab in the dark and have left a permanent mark in, what several years ago were uncharted territories in the industry, it has allowed them to shift/evolve it when they say so, everyone else seems to follow after them.

  • Meatblade #22 2 years ago

    Nintendo lead the way, always

  • Kami #23 2 years ago

    "Not looking at the competition is direct route to failing."

    Not necessarily. The problem is, if you try to compete with your "rivals" you can so often end up in the same traps they do, and that's usually a bad thing for any industry. Competition is good, but what people are proposing is Nintendo to operate very much like Sony and Microsoft do - and that's not good.

    We may alson have very different opinions on what constitutes failure. Nintendo make profits and keep going, that's a successful business model. Compare this to SEGA and Atari, who made bad business decisions and invested more than they had and left themselves with crippling financial black holes that they couldn't escape from and you'll quickly see Nintendo are far from being in any way a failure are actually one of the success stories of the gaming industry - one of the only old success stories still left in the hardware race too. Sony and Microsoft make no secret (they can't keep it secret!) that their gaming divisions make losses for some considerable length of time - it takes many years before their consoles are profitable. Nintendo by contrast prefer their consoles to make a profit from day one - so from the off, they're making money to put into more R&D for their next machine. The N64 was not a failure in any regard - the honour for that generation goes to the SEGA Saturn (which I personally still loved), and the Gamecube still had more of a sellthrough than the original X-Box, and survived wherte the Dreamcast didn't. Sure, Nintendo only just regained the top spot in the industry again, but second place isn't so bad surely?

    If people want Nintendo to keep being successful, then let them do their own thing. It's worked for them up to now, why change the habit of a lifetime - especially when it makes them money? A successful enterprise is one that is profitable from the starting line, not one that may sell more units but each unit makes a significant loss. This is business, failure is making losses - success is making profits.

    So Nintendo failed with the N64 and Gamecube because they weren't the top seller? They made money from day one. By any business definition you can name, that's a successful business model. Do not confuse popularity for success, that way madness lies and it's not a pretty place to visit...

  • IronCladChicken #24 2 years ago

    Nintendo approach changed after the GC - Before the Wii was released (& before anybody knew it was going to be huge) Nintendo had said they were going to take a different approach - I guessed at the time is was because they had lost a huge market share to MS & Sony at that point & that they didn't want to become 'just' a software company like Sega did?

  • JeffGerstmann #25 2 years ago

    This was unexpectedly interesting

  • SpaceMonkey77 #26 2 years ago

    If you look over Nintendo's history since SNES, there's a recognised trait of complete arrogance, that laces their genius games.

    Arrogance and greed is what killed SNES CD from happening, and thus the Playstation was born.
    Arrogance and greed is what also stopped N64 from being CD based, a better medium born in the 70's, like cartridges.
    In turn, more Nintendo arrogance and greed led to many devs and pubs not developing on Nintendo home formats for years.

    This is what an arrogant, greedy and complacent attitude does for you. When Nintendo were up against the ropes a few years ago, this mysteriously disappeared like magic. Strange that. Makes me wonder, why says things like this, when you are leading. Is it some sort of gloating, indirectly? Some might see these words as a Nintendo bash, but I assure you all it comes from a good place, covering their good and bad from past to present. I think because their games are mostly good, yet many gamers let their feelings of joy from them, cloud their judgement, to anything negative about Nintendo.

    I grew up on Nintendo consoles and games, but they've lost their way somewhat, despite Wii and DS success. I don't expect those days of yor to return, because Nintendo's 'we're not competing with them' attitude has them miles behind Sony and MS, that I no longer care what they do. Their games don't excite as much either. E3 had Kid Icarus and more Kirby, but there was absolutely nothing new IP wise to capture my imagination. And frankly I need fresh new IP from them, and we shouldn't have to beg.

  • Skooch #27 2 years ago

    That military quote that pops up in Modern Warfare comes to mind, something along the lines of "you can't be looking to get ahead, if you are too busy getting even".

    Ninty obviously are 'conscious' of every rival whatever spin they try to put on it - but their approach is a good way forward, spend too long concentrating on those around you and you can lose focus on your own overall strategy. This is all they are trying to say, wouldn't read into the exact wording too much all you fanboys! :)

  • malexous #28 2 years ago

    Are most forgetting/ignoring "we ourselves assume that our rival is everything consuming people's interest, time and energy. If we were to consider one specific thing as our rival, we would do nothing but think of how to beat it"?

    Edit: The title is stirring things up again.

    Nintendo "not conscious" of any rivals < "we are not conscious of any certain rivals"
    Edited by malexous at 12/07/10 @ 18:10

  • KDR_11k #29 2 years ago

    He would have never said this if the Wii ended up like the N64 or the Gamecube.

    Well yes but that would mean the world would be very different. The Wii wasn't luck, it was banking on certain mechanisms in the market and for the Wii to fail those mechanisms would have to be absent. What Iwata is talking about is one of the aspects of the strategies necessary to use these mechanisms, if the market worked differently of course that wouldn't be worth talking about.

  • anomagnus #30 2 years ago

    The conversation here is brilliant, i was expecting a lot of flapping around, but Kami and MacMurphy both make brilliant points, that i can't really follow up no.

    I do have a doubt that Nintendo can bottle lightning twice though. And i'm sure we can all agree that we know people that bought wii's for a laugh, and never use them. Are they likely to buy the Wii 2? Who knows? But i can say that gamers have a very strong brand loyalty. We form our tribes and stick with them. I remember trying to defend the N64 with games like MACE and Extreme G, not out of love, but of loyalty, until i snapped, and never bought a nintendo product again.

    In the next generation, can Nintendo rally its troops? Are all the Wii owners brand loyal, or trend loyal? I would hate to see Nintendo go down the tubes, so it really should consider its future. I get a real sense of arrogance when i read this current post, and it makes me wonder about Nintento.

  • fm5858 #31 2 years ago

    What drumbaby said (#20)

    I looovvvveee video games but I can't remember the last time I was excited by a nintendo game.

    I was really excited about the 3DS technology but then I realised that all we'll see on it is the same old Mario / Zelda / Kirby (but now in 3d!!!).

    At least if (when?) Sony make a 3d PSP we'll get some stuff with a bit more charm (Valkyria Chronicles, Little Big Planet) that hasn't been rehashed to death.

    It will be interesting to see if Nintendo can come up with an interesting enough angle next time in order to re-catch the attention of everyone who bought a Wii 2 years ago.

  • Phishfood #32 2 years ago

    That's right Nintendo, the customer is not always right. They don't know always know what's good for them.

  • cyber_nicco #33 2 years ago

    What a load of crap.

  • Pwnsweet #34 2 years ago

    "almost bought out by Microsoft at one point"


    I'm so glad somebody put this guy straight. I actually did CTRL+F when I read his comment to see if anyone picked up on this false statement and was happy to see at least one other person picked up on it. It seems to be a common misconception that Nintendo doesn't have a lot of money. In fact I remember during the PS2/Xbox/GCN days when my friend, who was working for EB (Gamespot in the US) at the time, told me that he believed that the Gamecube would be the last console Nintendo releases. He went on to say that he believed they would end up going the Sega route and only make games for either Sony, Microsoft, or both. How wrong he was...

    Edited by Pwnsweet at 14/07/10 @ 07:56

  • Climhazzard #35 2 years ago

    Problem for sega was they made and expensive console and didnt have as good a 1st party line up compared to that of nintendo. Nintendo's products are all profitable from the off, i mean they made alot more than Microsoft did with the xbox. Wish people wouldn't comment on things if they dont have much of a clue on the facts.

  • chrisjm #36 2 years ago

    complacency is not a long term business model