Nintendo President Speaks With TIME, Squashes Rumors
TIME Magazine has published more of its exclusive interview with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Within it, Iwata reveals some new facts, and disproves some old ones….
There isn’t going to be a live-action Zelda TV show on Netflix, sorry “As of now, I have nothing new to share with you in regard to the use of our IPs for any TV shows or films, but I can at least confirm that the article in question is not based on correct information.” Guess the Wall Street Journal lied to us. The nerve.
The Wii U could have been cheaper if the yen-to-dollar conversion rate hadn’t been out of whack in 2011 A strong yen vs. a weaker dollar and euro meant smaller returns for Nintendo unless they priced their new Wii U higher than they had intended. Exchange rates have since settled back to normal.
Amiibo isn’t a Skylanders ripoff, really, it isn’t “At first glance it may look like we’re a trend follower with amiibo,” says Iwata. “But really what we’re doing is, we have introduced amiibo in a way that is new and where amiibo do things in our games that they can’t do anywhere else. From that perspective, we feel that we are a trendsetter.” He goes on to mention that, though the marketing and placement of the figures on store shelves is very similar to the Skylanders approach, they are working on “broadening” the definition of what a toy-to-game product can do.
The better 3D in the New 3DS was an eleventh-hour addition The New 3DS was about to enter production when Shigeru Miyamoto saw a demonstration of new head-tracking technology that would stabilize the 3D effect on the screen. His response was, “Why aren’t we putting that in this system? If we don’t put this in it, there’s no point in making the system.” Given how this product almost went to market with the C-stick as its only differentiation, I would have to agree.
Nintendo may be entering the smartphone market, but Iwata doesn’t see free-to-play as progressive In fact, he believes (rightfully) that the genre should instead be called “Free-to-start.” He warns that rushing into smartphone gaming as if it’s going to replace all other products could result in the same cheapening of product that happened to the music industry. He also confirms the opinion that games on smartphones have to be completely different (which means no official Super Mario ports for you).