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Nintendo's Iwata dismisses iPad

Mario Factory president says Apple's latest device offered "no surprises"; marginalizes HD gaming; rules out HD Wii, motion-sensing DS.

On Wednesday, Apple took the lid off its heavily rumored iPad tablet computer. The versatile touch-screen-enabled device is similar to the iPhone and iPod Touch, providing users with Internet access, as well as access to apps and the iTunes store. Notably, Apple confirmed that all App Store programs, including games, can run on the iPad unmodified, with EA and Gameloft headlining support for the device.

Iwata finds little of interest from Apple's new iPad.

Iwata finds little of interest from Apple's new iPad.

Therefore, Apple's latest device is just one more way in which it is challenging current handheld gaming market leader Nintendo. Though, for its part, Nintendo is unimpressed with Apple's newcomer. Speaking to the New York Times, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata marginalized the iPad as "a bigger iPod Touch," saying of the device that ''there were no surprises for me."

Powered by a 1GHz processor that places the CPU, graphics, and memory all on a single chip, the iPad has Bluetooth and a compass built in. It will not, however, include a camera as MacBooks and iPhones do, nor will it support Adobe Flash. Also, the iPad will use the 802.11n wireless standard and will have several models with 3G mobile-network data connectivity.

Ironically, Nintendo just released an upsized version of a previously released device in Japan: The DSi LL. Fundamentally a larger version of the camera-equipped DSi, which debuted in Japan in November 2008, the DSi LL has sold some 700,000 units in the island nation through the end of 2009. It will be released in the West as the DSi XL this spring.

The NYT reports that Iwata also dismissed the prospect of 3D functionality in games. Referencing James Cameron's $1 billion blockbuster Avatar and its underperforming game tie-in from Ubisoft, Iwata said that he doesn't expect 3D gaming to be particularly influential. ''I have doubts whether people will be wearing glasses to play games at home. How is that going to look to other people?" Iwata said.

Beyond Ubisoft's venture into 3D gaming, Nintendo rival Sony has made a significant push into depth-of-field gaming. In November, Sony announced plans to integrate stereoscopic 3D technology into all PlayStation 3s via firmware update beginning this year.

Echoing sentiments expressed by Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime earlier this month, Iwata also dismissed speculation that Nintendo is prepping an upgraded Wii with high-definition graphical capabilities. The company president was equally mum on the prospect of a motion-sensing upgrade to the DS, which has now sold more than 125 million units through the end of 2009.

While Iwata's comments seem definitive, the excutive has a history of dismissing a particular technology at the same time Nintendo is actively developing it. In 2004, Iwata defended the GameCube's anemic online support by declaring that "customers do not want online games." Less than a year later, Nintendo announced that the Wii--then called the Revolution--and the DS would both feature built-in online connectivity.

248 Comments

  • KamikazeCanuck

    Posted Feb 25, 2010 3:55 pm GMT

    Most people dismissed the Wii.

  • cerealzateu

    Posted Feb 24, 2010 11:20 am GMT

    quote: ''I have doubts whether people will be wearing glasses to play games at home. How is that going to look to other people?" Iwata said. Funny you say that Iwata, have you played "Virtual Boy"? lol

  • SIDEFX1

    Posted Feb 22, 2010 7:27 pm GMT

    This sux. Next there will be Ipad exclusive games and there is no way i am going to buy an Ipad just to play a game let alone there is no room anyway, It would be better if Sega was around still.. At least the new about games.. Already we have Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft exclusive games. My Nokia can do just about whatever the iphone can and the iphone is money hungry put you in dept giver,Wow touch screen that's so futuristic NOT. its not even late technology. it's just another button onscreen.. The Ipad is targeted for women anyway,Well it sounds like it...

  • WithoutGraceXII

    Posted Feb 4, 2010 2:59 pm GMT

    ''I have doubts whether people will be wearing glasses to play games at home. How is that going to look to other people?"
    Probably about as rediculous as flailing around a wii mote.

  • zey2k

    Posted Feb 4, 2010 1:49 pm GMT

    This news doesn't interest me, just because of the fact that i really think that this product doesn't appeal anyone. Don't get me wrong i love apple, i got a macbook and an iphone and i just love them...but this? now this is how u make a product that old people can use nintendo xD

  • KieranCottrell

    Posted Feb 4, 2010 12:36 pm GMT

    @Khatjal - My point about the revolutionary thing is that Nintendo never claimed the DSiXL to be revolutionary. Therefore, the comparison between the iPad and the XL is unfair and, like the rest of this article and most of GameSpot, painfully and obviously biased.

  • ajalogan

    Posted Feb 4, 2010 12:35 pm GMT

    Nintendo has flat out grown arrogant and lazy and I'm over them. I was a huge Nintendo fanboy for the longest time but after the SNES, their systems were all promise and no follow through. The Wii was fun at first, but after the huge spans between non-kiddie games, I finally sold it and got a PS3. I was done after the Gamecube but they suckered me back in with the promise of reinventing games with motion controls. After several games of tacked on controls with a swing representing nothing more than hitting the A button, I've lost all faith in Nintendo. I actually hope they fail and become a software developer. I will never buy a nintendo product again unless they make Major changes.

  • iano-87

    Posted Feb 4, 2010 10:54 am GMT

    im only commenting to waste time before my pizza gets here.

  • taddia

    Posted Feb 4, 2010 10:41 am GMT

    i want back hiroshi yamaguchi (or yamauchi? Oo XD) as my loved nintendo president... really, i hate iwata, i hate him... he is just.... i can't even find a word to describe him.. tbh i think he is destroying the nintendo i always loved...

  • bigcr47

    Posted Feb 4, 2010 9:54 am GMT

    @cabal23 This tablet is not the benchmark for the future, there are already tablet PC's out there, they just wanted to milk people for money with this. Here are the facts, this thing uses the same OS as the Ipod touch, it is not a full OS like all tablet pc's and minibooks, Apple refuses to even support FLASH for god's sake and they do not include a camera. Please tell me why they refuse to support such simple and easy technologies that are the integral next step in tech. Here's a reason. "Introducing the iPad SE with flash support and a 1.5 mega pixel camera!!! just 200$ more than the original"
    2 years later "introducing the iPad 3Ex it is a bit slimmer and has Flash support and a 3 mega pixel camera!!!"

    Apple makes no sense to me. They put out trendie commercials that tell people that PC's suck and then they put out a product that costs almost twice as much and lacks all basic functionality. The minibook pc's are teh next step, throw in a touch screen on that and you can access an infinite number of programs and possibilities, not have a tablet that uses the app store for small programs and games.
    The iPhone was a revolution, but Jailbreak it so that you aren't confined by Apple and you will find the true power of their tech. Why wouldn't they allow it to live up to it's potential in the first place? Everybody had video camera's on jailbroken iPhone's before apple put out the 3gs, so why did they choose to leave it out in the first place?

    Money Money Money
    The end

  • Cabal23

    Posted Feb 4, 2010 9:36 am GMT

    @ get_bangd

    What you and many others aren't seeing is this is the first step to the next generation of computers. Whether you buy it or not from Apple isn't relative to the big picture. They set the foundation for the future of computing. Desktops will be relics. I love my ipod touch and being able to compute wireless on the crapper and any wi-fi area is nice. I can shop, read books, and play some fairly nice games that work nicely for the format they were made for. Tablet computing is the future. You saw it here first.

  • get_bangd

    Posted Feb 4, 2010 9:23 am GMT

    ha ha ha i think the i-pad is a waste of money...its no different from the i-pod, the touch.

  • StarvingPoet

    Posted Feb 4, 2010 9:02 am GMT

    "Apple's latest device is just one more way in which it is challenging current handheld gaming market leader Nintendo"

    Ha! Yeah, it as much of a challenge as the Lynx!

  • golazo3

    Posted Feb 4, 2010 5:52 am GMT

    My wii is extremely fun, i dont see why they would need to upgrade the graphics, i use it to play with my friends, but other than that, i just play on my computer.

  • newb16

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 5:43 pm GMT

    @sensei_hEnRY

    Just because there is new technology doesn't mean that Nintendo has to implement it into there console(s) and videogames.

  • sonicphoto

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 2:13 pm GMT

    Instead of making an interview of an obvious fact that the ipad will fail, he should be working on a star fox game!

  • coldsauce09

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 1:05 pm GMT

    apple sucks.. theres a lot of cool gadget out there at asia that is no well known but its more handy

  • grasshopper6

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 12:38 pm GMT

    what really sucks about this ipad is that you have to go through at&t for internet

  • izmickey

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 12:05 pm GMT

    Nintendo shouldnt worry about Apple. In gaming, Nintendo is superior to Apple, INO.

    @Ogelthorpe
    You're completely right. '

    @ enix165
    I also hate that about Nintendo. How many DS's have they come out with? I think they are the first to start the milking of a Handheld. All the blame shouldnt go to nintendo, it should also go to the people who keep buying the next DS. Bring on the next handheld instead Nintendo.

  • Khatjal

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 11:53 am GMT

    @KieranCottrell

    I would have to respectfully disagree that people won't suddenly want a 'Natal'. Everyone wants the new gimmick, and that (including the user-friendly interface like you mentioned) is why Wii has sold so much.

    As well, as per the revolutionary statement, read the last line of this article - The Wii started off named "Revolution". If thats not a statement by Nintendo, what is?

  • KieranCottrell

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 11:34 am GMT

    @Khatjal - I don't think Natal is going to threaten Nintendo at all. They'll always (this gen at least) dominate the casuals market because of familiarity and a really user-friendly interface. All the mums and kiddies want a 'Wii' or 'that Wii Fit game'; I can't imagine people are going to suddenly want 'a Natal'. HD will eventually become an issue, but we're still in the transition from Standard Definition. When HD becomes so prevalent that it'll affect the casuals' decision on what their next console will be, then Nintendo have a problem if they don't support it.

    At the articles comment about the DSiXL's release being ironic: I don't remember Nintendo ever stating that that was going to be 'revolutionary', unlike the iPad.

  • Ogelthorpe

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 10:40 am GMT

    The Ipad is a big ipod touch. No doubt about it. But on the other hand the Wii is a gamecube with a different controller. So what's the beef?

  • dean0586

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 8:48 am GMT

    the ipad seems like an enlarged version of the itouch. i already have one so i aint gonna bother

  • lbptoady

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 7:56 am GMT

    The I-pad in my opinion is cool, but it won't be worth it. Its not like were gonna give up our psp's and ds' for this. I have a psp go, a dsi, and a itouch (go and dsi were bought the first day) and will not give up them for this. $500-850 or $170-250.

  • Khatjal

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 7:35 am GMT

    Of course he's going to take his time to bash what appears to be a huge threat to his company. Marginalizing HD gaming? The only reason the Wii is still afloat is that the motion controllers are gimmicky. With the advent of Natal, unless Wii jumps on the HD bang-wagon, I see the beginning of the end for Mario's Sugar Daddy. Get with the times Nintendo!

  • vengeance00

    Posted Feb 3, 2010 5:25 am GMT

    i never liked any of these iwhatevers, all of them are overpriced fashion accessories. i've got a phone for £30 which has camera, video, mp3 player, internet and radio. why the hell would anyone want a touch screen for like £110 extra is beyond me.

  • drangel_jam

    Posted Feb 2, 2010 9:30 pm GMT

    What I hate about Apple is that they love to fool their costumers into thinking that novelty = best/most convenient. And most of all, I hate how they make new software that's incompatible with older gadgets just so you feel like adopting the newer ones.

    iPad is a niche. I might as well have a PC/notebook/mini-laptop and my smart phone. PS: Yes, I have an iPhone, the original. And no, I don't have a mac for a laptop--Toshiba is the order of the day.

  • Tauu

    Posted Feb 2, 2010 8:27 pm GMT

    Why the hell is anyone talking about the iPad? It's a very overpriced product with a terrible design. Apple had a great product with the iPod, I'm on my third one. However I will not be buying a fourth. Apple has clearly lost their way and competition has caught up and surpassed what they have to offer. The iPad is not worth anyone's attention.

  • kingotnw

    Posted Feb 2, 2010 7:10 pm GMT

    I have an iPhone and love that, but I see no reason to own an iPad... I like the portable computer aspect of what Apple is doing with their products and get all I need of that on my iPhone.

  • kingotnw

    Posted Feb 2, 2010 7:09 pm GMT

    I have every current console, and also am a PC gamer as well. Well... Almost... My 360 just broke down for the 4th time and I don't think I am going to bother replacing it. I'll just use my PS3. Alright though... Here is the thing. I like my Wii, but I really don't play it too often. I feel like their games are way too niche overall. Don't get me wrong, I love Super Mario Bros Wii, Mario Kart Wii, Zelda, and some others. But I just find it an odd system. So many people own Wiis, yet barely buy any software for it. IMO it has to do with Nintendo's subpar graphics, begining with their awful decision to not have a HD machine.

  • CJ_03

    Posted Feb 2, 2010 5:52 pm GMT

    He may have been sipping haterade with the I-Pad thing but...
    "customers do not want online games"

    LOL

  • enix165

    Posted Feb 2, 2010 1:08 pm GMT

    o_o I wouldn't classify the iTouch as a gaming console, and the only things I see in common with them and the DS is that they've got touch-screens and there's a new model out every 5 seconds. XD

  • LynQ

    Posted Feb 2, 2010 9:44 am GMT

    LynQ Posted Feb 2, 2010 9:42 am PT

    Iwata has nothing to worry about the iPad had fail written all over it at the moment they said AT&T

    lol @CipherZilla but i think what he is saying is what happends when u have 3 people over and you only have 2 pair of 3D glasses. For that 3rd person its going to look really dumb.

  • amp776

    Posted Feb 2, 2010 5:28 am GMT

    -I own a Wii and have alot of fun with it, but unitl ALL of Nintendo's games are comparable in quality to their fist party titles Iwata should just shut up.
    -As far as the Ipad goes, it looks cool but I know I'll never get one. I simply refuse to pay a seperate fee to a crappy cellular network in order to use it. Why can't it simply connect to my wireless router at home and make the cellular connection an option for when your on the go?

  • MasterLink31

    Posted Feb 1, 2010 8:07 pm GMT

    @hatieshorrer
    That would be AT&T. They were the first to offer them a contract. And a big one too I think. I have Verizon, and I think that the contract is supposed to expire this year, so hopefully I can get the iPhone.

  • hatieshorrer

    Posted Feb 1, 2010 7:34 pm GMT

    @MasterLink31

    You do make a good point about AT&T being to blame for the Iphones poor reception but who is to blame for the Iphone being exclusive to AT&T.

  • InsertWittyID

    Posted Feb 1, 2010 6:09 pm GMT

    I don't really understand while people always like to compare the DS to the iPod when they don't really seem to be competing products. I own both a DS Lite and an iPod touch and I know that several of my friends do as well. I really do not think that this story belongs on Gamespot.

  • Depresso

    Posted Feb 1, 2010 2:30 pm GMT

    I don't think the main application for the ipad is going to be games. It is aimed at the adult market considering it's robust price. I am getting one as is exactly what I was looking for to surfing the net in bed, instead of holding a netbook. I think it will provide a great alternative way to read books, provided it's light enough. I don't know what level games it will have but this machine will have a massive impact. The only baffling aspect is the omission of a videocamera in this day and age. Surely they will add it later and hope that people will fork out for it again. Also it should be wi-fi and 3G together not, one or the other, nonsense. Not sure about using the onscreen keyboard, I guess I will have to wait how practical it is. I can't wait.

  • Waranabatokwa

    Posted Feb 1, 2010 11:56 am GMT

    ''I have doubts whether people will be wearing glasses to play games at home. How is that going to look to other people?" Iwata said.

    hmm.. i don't see any problem when other people see you in theaters wearing glasses so what's the problem with wearing glasses on the living room..

  • jedikevin2

    Posted Feb 1, 2010 11:49 am GMT

    @masterdeath31
    You really think Nintendo fails to make games that appeal to traditional gamers?
    What was New super mario bros wii to you then. You can't get much traditional as a gamer then that. What about Punch out. Another Nintendo title that appeals to a traditional gamer. I think you are attempting to lump in 3rd party companies with nintendo. That even sounds a bit off with the new releases of Tatsunoko vs Capcom which if you are like me and grew up on street fighters, fatal fury, king of fighters, samurai showdowns, guilty gears, and the marvel vs series you would appreciate as a traditional gamer. By traditional or you trying to make some reference that you want to play some kinda first person shooter? I've looked through your rating. Outside of some n64 scores, all your ratings and your profile picture reflects you are a first person shooter fan. That is fine but when you state traditional, to me its a hark back on a more simple time of the atari, nes, genesis, etc etc. On that front the wii has not disappointed.

  • masterdeath31

    Posted Feb 1, 2010 11:12 am GMT

    Iwata was clearly wrong about online gaming and the value of high definition graphics and he is probably wrong about 3D to an extent too...I just feel that Nintendo fails to make games that appeal to the traditional gamer as of late, which is too bad considering they used to be my favorite company in the business.

  • jimbobb23

    Posted Feb 1, 2010 11:02 am GMT

    Apple already entered the gaming market with the iPod and iPhone, and you can get tons of real games just the same as you can on DS - including Chinatown Wars for $10. And you can get tons of games you can play for hours that are $1. Its great.

  • enoslives7

    Posted Feb 1, 2010 10:32 am GMT

    The i-pad is an epic fail so far. Who the heck wants a gigantic i-pod???

  • EarthBounder89

    Posted Feb 1, 2010 10:17 am GMT

    Apple should stay out of the gaming industry, doesn't anyone else remember the failure that the Pippin was? Exactly my point. You know what though, Nintendo doesn't have to release an HD console to make its fans happy, just look at the demand for a re-release of EarthBound or an official release of Mother 1 and Mother 3. They do not have stellar graphics but they have a certain charm that make them such amazing games.

  • atopp399

    Posted Feb 1, 2010 9:54 am GMT

    $500 iPad that doesn't support flash. Yay. A $300 netbook is a much better deal and can do everything a Tampax iPad can do.

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