How Badly Did Satoru Iwata's Nintendo Mess Up? Let Us Count the Ways

Phil Stortzum writes, "Amid the news of Nintendo's severely lowered sales forecasts, many fans and armchair analysts are arguing for the removal of the company's president, Satoru Iwata. That's fine and all, but a lot of people simply use the Wii U's poor sales as an explanation without delving into how the Wii U got to where it is now in the first place. That's what this article is all about. From third-party relations to brand confusion, this is a quick summary of where Satoru Iwata's Nintendo went wrong."

[GamersHeaven]

I lost count...

[ShinMaster]

Yamauchi > Iwata

[tigertron]

Nintendo weren't perfect, but they were a damn sight better before Iwata took over.

[Benjaminkno]

Just print "U" on it...

...and say it was a manufacturing error

[Ps4marksthespotnotX]

The wii selling point was it's low price, this wii u cost more than a ps4 and the technology is last gen now, what does nintendo expect.

[meganick]

Where are you shopping where the Wii U costs more than the PS4?

[strigoi814]

that comment just make you look dumb. IMO

[BlackWolf]

It's my opinion as well.

[gedden7]

Still doing hard core drugs I see?

[alejandroelputo]

Good Last of Us reference xD

[miyamoto]

wii's selling point if as a cheap fitness machine at $250

[modesign]

all you kids compare the price and specs of a wiiu/ps4, wiiu 38gig = $299
ps4 500gig = $399

the wiiu is a rip off and a bad one at that.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

And a PC beats the shit out of all of it.
Specs don't matter to anyone but elitists; it's the games that matter, and Wii U has got some great games, both already available and coming down the pipe soon.

You want a rip-off?
Try $200 for off-TV play.
Vita says Hi.

[il-JumperMT]

Patrick Starfish voice:

wii uuu wii uuu wiii uuu

Wiiuuumblance

[link2Dpast]

blame is every where when it comes to to business in general. especially for a company of this caliber, as many other big companies. There is always a board and ideas must be pushed around before anything is made, yes he is the CEO and he is the face of the company but their are others. If a change is done, the obvious answer is Nintendo needs to just catch up tech wise with whats popular now. Their ideas and imagination are top notch but honestly a big majority of games could care less, back then their was less graphics , less space to make a game, so games were basically pushed for quality not so much quantity and graphics. So hopefully they learned their lesson , people are here just to play and sadly a big majority of society care less for innovation anymore....plain and simple...the clone gen

[DC777]

Pretty good article for once.

[TheController]

This is the same man responsible for the Wii. One of the best selling video game consoles in history, and one of the few that broke into the casual market with a raging hard-on.

Nintendo as a company may have dropped the ball on the WiiU, but they are only following the same formula that has worked and failed so many times for them in the past. Innovation. Nintendo tries so many new things that some are bound to fail and this is the most recent iteration.

Give this guy some credit, and let's stop with all the pitchforks and torches.

[SpiralTear]

"Should Mr. Iwata step down? I can't answer that. All I know is I really like the fellow. He's one of the few CEO's in the gaming industry who doesn't nickel and dime gamers, make people buy season passes, lock DLC on the disc, or try to implement DRM into Nintendo's consoles. Satoru Iwata is a man who understands games, coming before as a developer at HAL Laboratory."

You tear Iwata's Nintendo apart in the body, then you end your article with that? Wow, that's a twist if I ever saw one.

[Benjaminkno]

Putting "Wii" in the name of the console was a bit arrogant.

"I know!!! Let's put Wii in the title of our console!! The most hated name in hardcore gaming!! And then sell it to hardcore gamers!!"

I saw that coming.

[Benjaminkno]

He's been around since Gamecube.

Didn't he say that he would step down if Nintendo wasn't profitable by now?

Give someone else a shot.

[krubele14]

He was the reason the gamecube was profitable for nintendo despite low sales, he was the reason for the success of the DS, Wii, and 3DS, stop saying he should step down everyone one makes mistakes he made mistakes with the 3DS but he was smart and knew how to bring light to a so called dead handheld and now look at the 3ds top selling dedicated gaming device, and now he is facing the same shit with the wii u, I mean really do u guys actually think nintendo will let the wii u die???? NINTENDO IS WORTH MORE THEN SONY, that alone shows how good he is. Nintendo is building new headquarters for their devs and hiring new employees while sony is shutting down buildings and firing people. U guys are so blind that u guys cant see who is actually falling. The playstation brand is not profitable for sony they have lost billions, sony Rep's even say the ps4 is do or die for them, even tho ps4 is selling really well its not good enough, they are selling it at a lose. Im not saying everything is all peaches and cream for nintendo cuz they have lots of work to do with the wii u, but what I am saying is nintendo is in best position of the big 3, also the xbox division is not profitable for Microsoft either and their Rep's are considering selling the brand. Disagree all u want but at the end of the day facts beat flawed opinion.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

@ Benjaminkno
No, he never said that.

[AKR]

"Should Mr. Iwata step down? I can't answer that. All I know is I really like the fellow. He's one of the few CEO's in the gaming industry who doesn't nickel and dime gamers, make people buy season passes, lock DLC on the disc, or try to implement DRM into Nintendo's consoles. Satoru Iwata is a man who understands games, coming before as a developer at HAL Laboratory."

... OH, A TWIST! And a major one at that...

In my opinion; no, I don't think he should step down as yet. Has he made a few blunders? Yes, of course. He IS human afterall - so it isn't like we all haven't made our own blunders over the years.

Now before you cry: "STOP TRYING TO JUSTIFY IT!" - I'm not; I'm just being real. Everyone screws up something every now and then. It's common.

Sony has been losing money for years, and they've only recently been able to start patching things up. Shouldn't Kaz Hiari be fired? I mean... He was the one who overseered the PS3; "the incredibly expensive, hard to code machine", that he was bold enough to say: 'fans would get a second job, just to pay for it!'... Remember that?

I guess he should step down too. I mean; he's had is own fair share of blunders, blunders that took Sony down to the financial douldrums for quite some time.

But no, there's barely anyone crying "Down with Kaz!"

Now, that body of post what I just wrote wasn't done to try and down-play Sony. I was just putting things into perspective. Iwata has made some mistakes, but he's also given Nintendo their most profitable time ever from since they entered the game business. He's the one who overseered the creation and life of the Wii and DS, which were the two best-selling systems of the generation, and the second and third best-selling video games systems in HISTORY.

And as the article ended with; he hasn't tried to vaccum out money out of the pockets of consumers, nor has he even let his employees suffer because of bad circumstances. He refused to lay off anybody and payed the damages out of his own pocket.

How many CEOs in this sick, twisted, selfish world do you hear doing something even remotely close to that? SAVING people money and even more so; saving people's JOBS?

Very, very, VERY few.

I'm not trying to justify his mistakes. No, not at all. He has made some blunders and now he has to face them. But, the man has a head, and he's using it ~ and more importantly, he has morals and dignity; qualitirs that most people today sorely LACK.

Do I think he should go?
No.

Do I think he should try and fix his mistakes and turn things around?
Of course.

Unless he causes the company to bleed money, sell off property and lay people off; all to try and save a pretty penny - I don't see any reason to give him the boot. Not yet.

[CBaoth]

With that wall of text you should get your facts straight. Kaz didn't OVERSEE the PS3. Howard Stringer was at the helm of Sony. Ken Kutaragi designed the PS3 and oversaw the Playstation division. Both are gone, so yes they were forced to step down.

See, unlike Nintendo, every other company holds executives accountable for their egregious mistakes. In fact, most people credit Kaz with the PS3's turnaround. The Vita is his albatross. If you're going to criticize the man, at least know his failures and accomplishments.

And no Ken Kutaragi didn't say that remark "get a second job" either. It was a translation error and Joystiq ran with it; look it up it's yellow journalism at its finest! What he said was he thought the PS3 had a lot of value at the $599 price tag. Some people might have to save up, and those who get an extra job at Xmas would have to factor in its cost in their budgets. Adults in the US routinely pick up a seasonal job for extra income around the holidays. He wasn't suggesting people literally go out and get a second job JUST to buy a PS3. Just be smart with your money if you want a PS3.

[AKR]

"Should Mr. Iwata step down? I can't answer that. All I know is I really like the fellow. He's one of the few CEO's in the gaming industry who doesn't nickel and dime gamers, make people buy season passes, lock DLC on the disc, or try to implement DRM into Nintendo's consoles. Satoru Iwata is a man who understands games, coming before as a developer at HAL Laboratory."

... OH, A TWIST! And a major one at that...

In my opinion; no, I don't think he should step down as yet. Has he made a few blunders? Yes, of course. He IS human afterall - so it isn't like we all haven't made our own blunders over the years.

Now before you cry: "STOP TRYING TO JUSTIFY IT!" - I'm not; I'm just being real. Everyone screws up something every now and then. It's common.

Sony has been losing money for years, and they've only recently been able to start patching things up. Shouldn't Kaz Hiari be fired? I mean... He was the one who overseered the PS3; "the incredibly expensive, hard to code machine", that he was bold enough to say: 'fans would get a second job, just to pay for it!'... Remember that?

I guess he should step down too. I mean; he's had is own fair share of blunders, blunders that took Sony down to the financial douldrums for quite some time.

But no, there's barely anyone crying "Down with Kaz!"

Now, that body of post what I just wrote wasn't done to try and down-play Sony. I was just putting things into perspective. Iwata has made some mistakes, but he's also given Nintendo their most profitable time ever from since they entered the game business. He's the one who overseered the creation and life of the Wii and DS, which were the two best-selling systems of the generation, and the second and third best-selling video games systems in HISTORY.

And as the article ended with; he hasn't tried to vaccum out money out of the pockets of consumers, nor has he even let his employees suffer because of bad circumstances. He refused to lay off anybody and payed the damages out of his own pocket.

How many CEOs in this sick, twisted, selfish world do you hear doing something even remotely close to that? SAVING people money and even more so; saving people's JOBS?

Very, very, VERY few.

I'm not trying to justify his mistakes. No, not at all. He has made some blunders and now he has to face them. But, the man has a head, and he's using it ~ and more importantly, he has morals and dignity; qualities that most people today sorely LACK.

Do I think he should go?
No.

Do I think he should try and fix his mistakes and turn things around?
Of course.

Unless he causes the company to bleed money, sell off property and lay people off; all to try and save a pretty penny - I don't see any reason to give him the boot. Not yet.

[Mexxan]

I don't understand that this us a surprise. Lazy arrogant Nintendo thought they'd try the same '3DS strategy and it back fired. Crap on the faithful too many times and you've lost them.

They operate on minimal hardware cost for maximum profit and rely on nostalgia of their mascots.

Worse company than EA in my opinion.

[Loadedklip]

The biggest problem with Nintendo consoles is the lack of third party games. When you buy an XB1 or PS4 ... the consumer fully expects that every Call of Duty, every Battlefield, every Tomb Raider, every Madden, every Grand Theft Auto, every FiFA, Resident Evil, every Need for Speed game will be there.

For Nintendo consoles ... you have no clue what you are going to get other than Nintendo's owns games. Until Nintendo fixes that problem or comes up with a MUST OWN Casual title again like they did with the Wii Sports and Wii Fit last gen ... Wii U will only sell to the Nintendo core gamer which is good for only 20-30 million consoles (see N64 and Gamecube sales).

Wii was carried by casuals ... the rest of the Core gamer wants the security that they will be getting all those third party games. If not, you can't expect to sell a system to them when they will be missing out on too many games.

[mochachino]

People were salivating for a next gen consoles and better graphics when Wii U launched. All they needed was a power jump in the same league (not ballpark) as Sony and MS to allow for 3rd party support and Nintendo could have been a serious contender for champ this gen.

I was planning on getting a Wii U until I heard it was in the same league as PS3/360 graphics.

Biggest mistake was sacrificing manufacturing costs on the controller over power.

[KevinCubes]

Then unexpectedly the big N will release the super wiiu in 2 months it will be equip with 3 blast processors and four cool units along with two custom built gpu's equivalent to 4.5 titans a piece all shoved into a console smaller than the Xbox One for a 700.00 retail price.