Who needs to leave Nintendo?

The recent Nintendo financial reports have been dismal, just dismal. Instead of posting a 55B Yen profit, they've posted a 25B Yen loss. Wii-U forcast shrank from 9m down to less than 3m, and 3DS sales forecasts – despite selling well – shrank from 18.5m down to 13m.

Nintendo has only posted losses two times in their entire history, and both times occurred during the 3DS/Wii-U era.

Something needs to change.

I'm a big-time Nintendo fan who has played Nintendo consoles and handhelds since the NES, so don't take this as a “fanboy rant”. I genuinely want Nintendo to improve.

Iwata

The main reason why Iwata needs to go is that he allows bad business philosophies from Nintendo's developers to rule the day. A good game sells a console, right? We all know that. They're called “system sellers” for a reason. But Nintendo doesn't believe that. Nintendo believes that a good system sells a game. Why else would they have released Wind Waker HD? It remains one of Nintendo's most controversial Zelda titles (and certainly not the highest-selling) but Nintendo chose THAT game to remaster? What about Twilight Princess, which sold several million more than WW? Why not do a “spiritual successor” to the original Legend of Zelda game?

But no. Iwata does not think this way. He let's his developers use up Nintendo's money to make pet projects (like Miyamoto made Pikmin 3 and Aonuma made WW HD) on a struggling system that needs true system sellers to thrive. The same happened for the 3DS. Instead of working hard to make top-selling games as good as possible (like Brain Age, Nintendogs, and sidescrolling Mario), they phoned those games in, choosing instead to focus on N64 remakes like Star Fox and Ocarina (historically, the DS sales bombed, too, when Nintendo chose to make N64 remakes the headline titles) and gimmicky “ooh 3D!” games that had no substance (like Pilotwings, whose assets were heavily recycled from Wii Sports Resort, including the entire map). It wasn't until the 3DS sales tanked that Iwata realized they needed more games for the thing, but the 3DS is still limping along (while it's doing well, it's sales are significantly behind the DS's sales during the same time period).

What's worse, Iwata has neglected some of Nintendo's true talent like Monolith and Retro and limited them to the Nintendo ghetto. Monolith made one of the Wii's most sought-after titles when they released Xenoblade Chronicles, and you know what else they made for the Wii? Exactly... The same goes for Retro. Are they EVER going to stop making Donkey Kong titles? Tropical Freeze would be their third (if you count the port of DKC Returns on 3DS) and now there's a rumor floating around about a 3D Donkey Kong game. Why not give Retro the Metroid franchise again now that Sakimoto ruined it? Why not allow Retro to revitalize the Zelda license now that Aonuma has run it into the ground? But no, we can't have that.

Iwata's attitude allowed the Wii-U to exist. Contrasted against his “heart of the gamer” speech in late 2005 where he said Nintendo needs to fight against disinterest, fight against simply focusing on graphics, and return to what makes videogames fun and memorable, the Wii-U was the “anti heart of the gamer”. Prophetically, the very, very first time we saw the Wii-U (it was the E3 announcement trailer) we see someone playing the Wii-U and then someone butts in and says “I wanna watch TV” and the poor Wii-U user switches to the tablet. The trailer was literally saying “TV is more interesting than videogames”. Instead of inviting the new person to play (which is what would've happened in a Wii commercial), the player retreats to his tablet screen like a basement-dweller. And it is this out-of-touch attitude that persists among all of Nintendo's higher-ups. Wii-U's game library is full of either pet projects like Wonderful 101, Pikmin, and Wind Waker HD or it's full of half-hearted franchise entries (like Mario U and Mario Meow, which are two of the worst-selling sidescrolling and 3d Mario games of all time). Iwata clearly puts the personal desires and feelings of his developers ahead of what the Nintendo fanbase actually wants, although this has been a problem at Nintendo for a while and is not limited to Iwata only.

Part of the problem of Iwata leaving Nintendo is that his business acumen would be missed. I suppose that if the other people on the list left Nintendo, then perhaps Iwata would get a clue and begin managing the company better.

Miyamoto

What? The grand pappy of Nintendo's franchises? The wonderboy himself?

Yes. While Miyamoto has an unmatched legacy within the game industry, you're only as good as your last idea, and Miyamoto has had several stinkers in a row. It was his idea to put more development money into 3D Mario (Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, Mario Meow, Mario 3D Land) instead of developing the Mario games that actually sell systems: sidescrolling Mario. It was his idea to do Wii Music. It was his idea to push “OMG! 3D!” with the 3DS. The Wii-U tablet was his idea, too (collaborating with a few of Nintendo's other devs, of course).

Miyamoto's issue is that he doesn't like to work hard. I'm not being mean. He's said exactly that. He has publicly stated numerous, numerous times that he gets tired working on games like sidescrolling Mario (massive sales), and he wanted to move past Wii Fit (massive sales) and Wii Sports (also massive sales) to do something else. In other words, he's getting old and he doesn't want to work hard any more. That's why he stepped down into an “advisory role” for the Mario license (announced around the Wii-U's launch, actually). I guess that's fine. He's contributed plenty to the game industry, but if he is stepping down, then Nintendo needs to put a visionary in his place instead of letting Miyamoto consume Nintendo's time and resources with games like Pikmin 3. And before anyone jumps down my throat and screams “Pikmin 3 was wonderful, you brute!”, yeah, you and four other people bought it. Right now, Nintendo needs more than “wonderful”, especially for the Wii-U which they are still taking a loss on for each unit sold.

And as mentioned, Miyamoto has been the voice behind most of Nintendo's recent failed ideas. Everyone likes to call for Iwata's resignation, but it is Miyamoto pulling the strings from behind. He is, after all, a board member and a development lead for many of Nintendo's franchises. In many cases, what he says supersedes what Iwata says, if you've been following the various Iwata Asks over the years. It's not that I don't respect what Miyamoto has contributed to the industry. It's that I think it is time for him to step down because he is moving Nintendo in a direction that I don't like and that most people (based on the sharp decline in sales for Nintendo's console and handheld line compared to last gen) also don't like. He has a Japan-centric attitude for Nintendo's direction (which is a shrinking market due to macro-economic conditions and stagnating population growth) instead of a worldwide focus. Before you say it, Nintendo's worldwide focus is what led to massive hits like the NES, the Wii, and the DS.

Aonuma

Go ahead and look it up yourself. Since Aonuma took over the Zelda franchise, it has steadily declined in sales. Ocarina of Time – which launched on Nintendo's 2nd-worst-selling console – sold better than both Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, which launched on Nintendo's best-selling console of all time. In fact, Ocarina sold more than twice what Skyward Sword did, and Skyward Sword came out the same year that the Wii passed 90 million units sold. 90 freakin' million Wiis out there and Skyward Sword sold less than 4 million copies. That isn't a problem with the system. That isn't a problem with installed base. That is clearly a problem with the game.

But this trend should be obvious to anyone else who is paying attention. Zelda has been steadily becoming less about exploration, less about adventure, less about combat, and more about solving Aonuma's puzzles. With every new title, Aonuma promises that the Zelda franchise is “going back to its roots” (he has been doing this since Phantom Hourglass) and yet with each new game, he finds more and more ways to remove the exploration and remove the skill-based combat and instead to fill it with item-based exploration (like, you can't proceed down this path unless you've found the hookshot) and puzzle-based combat (do this one special move to exploit an enemy's weakness).

Additionally, Aonuma was actually one of the key voices in the Wii-U's concept phase and development. It was him who came up with the idea of a touch pad within the controller. Late 2007 – during the Wii's incredible popularity and during a time when everyone was asking “how did Nintendo strike gold?” - is when Aonuma gave an interview when Nintendo higher-ups were all discussing different ideas they had for the Wii. And as we know, the 3D screen was also prototyped for the Gamecube, and this was another idea for which Aonuma was responsible. He's on the record for saying the reason why he put trains into Spirit Tracks is because his kid likes trains. Choo-choo! This guy clearly is not listening to the fans, as evidenced by the continually-shrinking Zelda fanbase and loss of respect for the franchise. Zelda was once a beloved, respected, top-tier game series that was the envy of the other consoles. Now? Zelda games are only bought by die-hard Zelda fans.

In conclusion...

I don't want Nintendo to become un-Nintendo. I happen to LIKE Nintendo. I like their franchises. I like a lot of their games (even some of the ones I rallied against in this post). But I dislike Gamecube-era Nintendo. I want substance, not gimmicks. I want franchises to have new life breathed into them instead of new ways to do the same old puzzles. I want Nintendo to take risks again instead of trying to tweak the same idea over and over.

For this to happen? These people need to go.

[DragonKnight]

I don't think anyone needs to leave, I think they need to bring in new people for marketing. There's a Japanese term whose exact name escapes me at the moment but it's something that discusses Kyoto businessmen. Specifically, Kyoto based businesses have a reputation for old (dated), traditional business thinking and are slow to change. This attitude is definitely reflected in Nintendo and is their main problem. The Wii U isn't a bad console, it's just the wrong leap forward for Nintendo and is poorly marketed. The casual audience has moved on from consoles, and those that haven't don't know that the Wii U is actually its own console and not a part of the original Wii.

Nintendo needs to change how they do things. They need to be proactive instead of reactive. They need to throw out the dusty business books, and bring in the new business tablets. Nintendo was caught off guard with how demanding HD development is because they had no interest in it because of the Wii. They thought they could coast off it forever and that's due to the evergreen development philosophy they have. They need to realize that technology and technological interests move at a fast pace and if they don't keep up, they'll continue to fall behind.

[SilentNegotiator]

If they're going to overhaul their console business (as they need to), they're going to NEED to change leadership up; the current leaders are what created this mess and have the out-dated ways.

[DragonKnight]

It doesn't need an overhaul. The only problem with the Wii U is its perception. That's it. Properly marketed, with Nintendo actively pursuing 3rd party relationships, the Wii U could easily turn itself around.

Nintendo isn't in as bad a shape as everyone seems to think they are.

[SilentNegotiator]

They'll never meet that 3rd party gap and fix the poor marketing/management of the system with the exact same old fuddy-duddies in charge.

[DragonKnight]

"They'll never meet that 3rd party gap and fix the poor marketing/management of the system with the exact same old fuddy-duddies in charge."

Hey, you may be right. I really don't have anything that can argue that statement adequately.

[dedicatedtogamers]

I respectfully disagree. I do not believe in the moniker that "if only the marketing was better..." You get to use that excuse once. Nintendo used it on the Virtual Boy, the Gamecube, the 3DS (during its initial slow start), and now the Wii-U. They used that excuse to explain why Windwaker didn't intially sell well (wonder why the remake is selling even worse) and why Skyward Sword didn't sell well and why Metroid Other M didn't sell well, etc. etc. down the line. That isn't a problem with marketing, friend. That's a fundamental flaw with your product.

And if they need to throw out the old dusty business books, how do you propose they do that? How can Nintendo change when the Old Guard like Miyamoto and Aonuma and Sakamoto (Metroid) are keeping their hands wrapped around their franchises?

Here's the thing. I can let Nintendo slide this generation, but in the next year or two (behind the scenes, of course) is when Nintendo is going to be making plans for Next Gen, and who will be making those plans? The current leadership. Unless they have an epiphany, they're going to keep doing what they're doing now. Well, they might be forced by the shareholders to do something differently.

Interesting note: it was the Nintendo shareholders, not Miyamoto nor Iwata, who forced the Nintendo devs to make games like NSMB Wii and Wii Sports Resort. Miyamoto wanted to move onto other projects like Wii Music and Pikmin. Imagine how that would've turned out for the Wii. I think the shareholders need to strong-arm the leadership again or threaten to pull out.

[DragonKnight]

The difference between the Wii U and the aforementioned systems like Virtual Boy is that the Wii U actually does suffer from a poor marketing problem. It's all in the name. Let's face it, core gamers will support a console longer but they don't rake in the total bulk numbers that the casual audience does so making sure the casual audience knows what they're getting is more important than for the core audience.

Nintendo hasn't done enough to distinguish the Wii U from the Wii so the casual audience doesn't see the point. The core audience is just waiting for worthwhile games before they decide to buy into the Wii U.

As for what might be, we can't say. The current leadership isn't as bad as people think. After all, the current leadership is responsible for the Wii and look at how successful it was in terms of hardware.

[DragonKnight]

I made a mistake. I meant to say the core audience is the long term money, while the casual audience is the boom of immediate money that can seem larger than what the core audience spends.

[NYC_Gamer]

Iwata, needs to go because he doesn't have leadership skills to bring Nintendo forward in the console market..Nintendo needs new blood who understand the current era/importance of building relationships with 3rd party and creating fresh ips that aim at gamers outside of the loyal fans.

[from the beach]

I laughed at 'are Retro EVER going to stop making Donkey Kong titles?'

One game in 2010 - the first DKC in like 15 years! - which sold over six million copies and was absolutely fantastic, a port for 3DS by Monster Games, and a sequel in 2014.

I understand people wanting them to look at Metroid or another franchise, but there's no way in hell they're stagnant or under-delivering.

Edit: Oh, plus work on Mario Kart 7.

[-Foxtrot]

The problem with Donkey Kong is that they are doing a sequel which looks exactly the same as the last game. Wouldn't you rather change things up and swtich between franchises so this dosen't happen, it's why you get devs like Bethesda switching between Fallout and ElderScrolls, Rockstar between GTA, Red Dead, a new IP etc or NaughtyDog between Uncharted and a second franchise new or old.

I mean look at these two screenshots

http://i.picpar.com/faa54a8...

http://gamingbolt.com/wp-co...

They look like they are from the same game in some places but in fact one of them is a last gen game and the other one is from this gen. The only main difference I can see is the health bar being different.

So in my opinion they should of been on Metroid by now, I feel like they are doing a Super Mario Galaxy 2 and making the game out of cut levels they had for the first game.

[from the beach]

Honestly, no. They're doing pretty much exactly what I want them to do, taking an excellent title and adding new features, characters and better graphics. It's one of my most anticipated titles for 2014 and that's saying something, looking at what else is coming out.

[Knushwood Butt]

Good post, but you state that side-scrolling Mario games sell systems, yet the Wii U launched with a side-scrolling Mario game.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Very good point. IMO, the reason why it didn't sell so well was because of 1) the philosophy (or lack thereof) of the Wii-U itself, and 2) because they half-arsed it. I mean, it's a decent Mario, but there's something off about it. NSMB DS sold tens of millions. NSMB Wii sold tens of millions and caused the Wii to sell out that Christmas, three years after its launch (it was crazy. It's the only time I remember a system actually selling out years after launch).

So with that being the case, the fact that NSMB U barely made a dent leads me to believe that the public who loved the first two NSMB games didn't see any reason to get this one. And why is that? The simple and most likely answer is: lack of quality. Remember, this was supposed to be that crappy New Super Mario Mii game, which looked awful.

[Knushwood Butt]

Can't argue with that :)

[MONKEYDLUFFY]

What IDIOCY. Saying Miyamoto(the greatest vg designer of all time) needs to leave because he wanted more galaxy(the two highest rated games of this gen) He is still as smart as ever and one flub with wii music doesn't change that. He's the reason Pikmin 3 and LM2 were so good. He knows how to make video games.

[MONKEYDLUFFY]

I think what It comes down to is you would rather have games sell than be good. That's not the way Nintendo works