A+E Interactive Interviews Iwata

Filed in archive Interviews on April 1, 2006

A+E Interactive got the privilege of interviewing Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, and lucky for us we have the transcript. Read on, and check the source for the full interview:

Q: How much information will you share at E3 about the price and launch dates?

A: We're still in the process of deciding how we'll release the information. The goal is to have the product there to experience. The Revolution is coming out this year.

Q: Microsoft had a shortage of consoles. Is there a lesson in that as you launch the Revolution?

A: In general, the platform business is a business of momentum. Idea is maintain and build momentum. Microsoft had problems with strategy. There were markets where they had consoles left on store shelves. I think I understand where their problems were. I don't want to give an answer because I don't want to give them any help.

Q: What is your message to game developers?

A: Mostly I will talk about disruptive innovation. To have an impact, we have to look at disruptive innovation. Sustainable innovation we have made already. One important message is that the Nintendo Revolution is a system that really gives people the opportunity to take on a disruptive innovation. The industry has problems with rising game budgets, huge teams, the need to get movie licenses just to compete. The Revolution will allow small game developers to duke it out in a battle of ideas. Long ago there was a little game called "Tetris," designed by a Russian scientist, which managed to take the world by storm. I'd be worried if he proposed to do it now, would he raise the money? What would happen now if a person took such a game to a publisher? They would say bump up the graphics, add more modes, add computer-generated movies for the cut scenes, maybe you need a license to go with that. You would have all these elements to enhance a game. They cost a lot of money but don't add a lot to the game.

If I were to compare this to the book industry, huge thick volumes of encyclopedias would be on the shelves of bookstores and nothing else. There would be no paperbacks, no trashy romance novels. When an industry gets there, then it can no longer sustain itself. I'll talk to developers about how to come up with a system to create paperbacks for consumers.

Source