Iwata/Miyamoto on reputation, respect, shift to digital, smartphone content, bad ideas and more
Miyamoto on his reputation...
“I think that I have a reputation for being loud, being hard on everybody, sticking to minute detailed points. Many would maybe agree that I am a person who even at midnight fights for his own opinions.”
Iwata on Nintendo providing software for smart phones
“If you ask me, don’t you think Nintendo should sell Mario on a smartphone for 99 cents, I do not think the answer is yes. We really want to sustain the monetary value of game software at a higher level. Otherwise, we cannot make game creation a rewarding business.”
Iwata on the music industry shift to digital...
“They (Apple) have changed the mindset of the people from first purchasing the music CD to purchasing single [tracks] at the cost of just 99 cents. They’ve made people think that that’s a smarter activity. And now what’s happening is that music artists can no more get enough resources of money out of the making and selling of CD music, but rather they have to monetize in other ways, like live concerts.
They have done so so smartly that they were able to establish the image that they are the saviors of the music industry. However, the fact of the matter is they have simply transferred these resources of music and monetary value into somewhere else. And the same thing is happening in the game industry.”
Miyamoto on ideas that just aren't ready to be implemented yet...
“When you think about bad ideas, there are certainly ideas whose time has not yet come, or ideas whose technology is not quite there to realize. There are lots of ideas that I gave up on because they’re not really good ideas. But when I see something that really is a good idea, but its time maybe just hasn’t come yet I realize that’s something I need to hold on to. I don’t know if stubborn is the right word, but there’s a Japanese word, nebari — persistent — that is maybe a little better match.”
Miyamoto on other companies taking their ideas...
“We’re seeing the emulation [of our ideas] occur very quickly, which if anything tells us they know this is a good idea. What’s really important for people to understand is that we’ve had 10 years of experience and lots of trials and hardship in trying to work with the connectivity between two devices, or the kind of interface that would use two screens. And so for other people to jump into this area without the benefit of that history and those experiences, it makes me think that they don’t necessarily know everything that we have learned about working with this kind of device.”
Iwata on his respect for Miyamoto...
"I have a huge respect for Mr. Miyamoto. He knows what he’s good at and what he’s bad at. And then somewhat, in the category of what he’s not so good at, I happen to be the person who is able to deal with these issues better than he does. He is kindly trusting and following my decisions, and when it comes to the more creative arena I give him 100 percent trust.”
“I think that I have a reputation for being loud, being hard on everybody, sticking to minute detailed points. Many would maybe agree that I am a person who even at midnight fights for his own opinions.”
Iwata on Nintendo providing software for smart phones
“If you ask me, don’t you think Nintendo should sell Mario on a smartphone for 99 cents, I do not think the answer is yes. We really want to sustain the monetary value of game software at a higher level. Otherwise, we cannot make game creation a rewarding business.”
Iwata on the music industry shift to digital...
“They (Apple) have changed the mindset of the people from first purchasing the music CD to purchasing single [tracks] at the cost of just 99 cents. They’ve made people think that that’s a smarter activity. And now what’s happening is that music artists can no more get enough resources of money out of the making and selling of CD music, but rather they have to monetize in other ways, like live concerts.
They have done so so smartly that they were able to establish the image that they are the saviors of the music industry. However, the fact of the matter is they have simply transferred these resources of music and monetary value into somewhere else. And the same thing is happening in the game industry.”
Miyamoto on ideas that just aren't ready to be implemented yet...
“When you think about bad ideas, there are certainly ideas whose time has not yet come, or ideas whose technology is not quite there to realize. There are lots of ideas that I gave up on because they’re not really good ideas. But when I see something that really is a good idea, but its time maybe just hasn’t come yet I realize that’s something I need to hold on to. I don’t know if stubborn is the right word, but there’s a Japanese word, nebari — persistent — that is maybe a little better match.”
Miyamoto on other companies taking their ideas...
“We’re seeing the emulation [of our ideas] occur very quickly, which if anything tells us they know this is a good idea. What’s really important for people to understand is that we’ve had 10 years of experience and lots of trials and hardship in trying to work with the connectivity between two devices, or the kind of interface that would use two screens. And so for other people to jump into this area without the benefit of that history and those experiences, it makes me think that they don’t necessarily know everything that we have learned about working with this kind of device.”
Iwata on his respect for Miyamoto...
"I have a huge respect for Mr. Miyamoto. He knows what he’s good at and what he’s bad at. And then somewhat, in the category of what he’s not so good at, I happen to be the person who is able to deal with these issues better than he does. He is kindly trusting and following my decisions, and when it comes to the more creative arena I give him 100 percent trust.”
