Nintendo Management in Turmoil

Report: Nintendo Management May Be in Turmoil

All may not be well in the Mushroom Kingdom.

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By Cassidee MoserAccording to a recent report from the Business Journal, Nintendo's management may be in a state of disarray.

Many within Nintendo are calling for the company to move onto the smartphone platform, but president and CEO Satoru Iwata refuses, insisting that Nintendo games need to be kept on the company's proprietary hardware.

Nintendo Announces Third Annual Loss, 6.17 Million Wii U Lifetime Sales

02:10

Iwata claims Nintendo's strength lies in the compatibility between hardware and software, as they are "there in place to develop together." Business Journal says Iwata's headstrong opinion may be linked to the fact that he himself is "continuously engaged in the work as a programmer in addition to management, and has been involved in game development." Iwata has also spoken about how developing games for mobile could negatively impact the sales of the Nintendo 3DS handheld.

This allegedly doesn't sit well with management, however, as many within the company are blaming Iwata for its recent losses. Business Journal even points to some possible scheming on the side of members of the upset management team to force Iwata out, despite his recent re-election to the board of directors and uptick in approval rating.

Although the company has hinted that it is currently developing something for smartphones, little else is known about it at this time.

kids would riot if they could read this

I seriously think this is their last console generation.

Yeah, they need to overhaul their management and approach the next generation with a new mindset. The answer is not iOS, as so many of these short sighted investors seem to think, but to rethink their approach to consoles entirely. It will be interesting to see what Nintendo does in the coming years, that is for sure.

As much as people hate Iwata, he seems to be the only one that is keeping Nintendo from developing on smartphones.

I really don't want Nintendo to be the next Square Enix.

It's not unexpected. The Wii U is a dog, and so is its games.

Seeing how devalued the mobile market has become (with Apple desperately trying to figure out ways for people to even pay for apps/games), I hope they don't give into these people's demands and sink to the level of creating shallow mobile experiences that people buy for $0.99, play an hour and then uninstall.

The whole reason Nintendo is even still around is because they craft their software to meld perfectly with their hardware... and they couldn't stay in business if all they made was software.

This mythological view of Nintendo needs to end. Nintendo don't make good games at all. They haven't for a long time. They make mediocre games that look like masterpieces to little kids.

I just find it baffling that Ninty doesn't try and compete on the same level as the other big two. They easily have the strongest 1st party catalog that could let them utterly dominate if they put out a console that could keep up with the big two...

It won't be the next Square Enix.

It will be the next Sega.

wasn't their Phone App going to be something with Miiverse?

In any case I don't want to see their games on iPhone. Gaming on the Phone is not the same as Gaming on a Computer or a Console.

This concerns me.

Things are better with Iwata at the helm if this prevents Ninty from going to shitty ass smartphones.

This is false according to this.

http://playeressence.com/the-rumor-about-nintendo-management-wanting-to-get-rid-of-iwata-is-100-false

Someone translated the original source of this info on gaf and playeressence used that person's translation.That person's translation may be wrong.There are also other issues with that article so this thread may be locked.

Iwata don't cave, please! :[

Yes iOS is the answer. The marketplace where apple has tricked the mindless masses into thinking that great games should all be free and shit because of microtransactions.

Better than what EA is trying to do in that all games should be over $60 and still have microtransactions.

So this thread should be locked because a maybe wrong translated article trumps an IGN article?

You sure you're not just a butt hurt sheep?

As shitty as some of Iwata's policies are it's good that he isn't caving into short sighted investors wanting for them to go mobile.

I hate EA as much as anyone else but you're wrong. Titanfall, Sims, Battlefield, and the like are better than everything on the app store that wasn't ported from an actual gaming system to begin with. You are wrong.

Yeah but those cost money ($60) they should be better.

It will be worse.

They also, to my knowledge, don't have microtransactions.

Micro transactions

EA has been all about micro transactions in the Sims series. The Sims Social was one giant micro transaction and you can already purchase objects from the store during Sims 3 gameplay. Well what if that continued? Yes I understand that it’s ridiculous but it does feel like a natural progression since we allow so much of it already. What if in The Sims 4 you need micro transactions just to advance through the game. For $1.99 you can unlock new characters or houses. For $2.99 you can unlock extra family slots. I think I’d write off the series completely.

http://leviathyn.com/pc/2013/05/12/why-i-wouldnt-buy-the-sims-4/

Sims 4 wont have pets or weather in the base game

So this is a rant/open question but are you all as annoyed as myself that The Sims 4 wont have any weather or pets in the base game? I mean it feels like EA is absolutely milking and destroying the incredible game/community of The Sims.

First people bought The Sims then The Sims: Unleashed after that The Sims 2 then Pets and after that The Sims 3 then Pets.. Basically they are forcing us to pay for the exact same thing each round and it's crazy. I mean if they release The Sims 4 and the Pets expansion this year that means over the span of 14 years people would have bought the base game and the same expansion four times!!! This is how I feel

I understand EA wants their money (and boy do they love their money) but I feel like they are really destroying this game and it's so upsetting to see. Will the Sims 4 be pretty much a pay-to-play win model that EA does with everything else they touch?

/rant

http://www.reddit.com/r/thesims/comments/1xbgl6/sims_4_wont_have_pets_or_weather_in_the_base_game/

Battlefield 4 Adds BattlePack Microtransactions

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/05/27/battlefield-4-adds-battlepack-microtransactions

They've been in the games business longer than just about anyone, no? Nintendo knows what's up. They've got billions in the bank. Smartphone games are on the way out.

Well they did pay for bayonetta 2

Whatever. Who can bow as effectively as Iwata can during those Nintendo Directs? And his English is amazing.

Can't wait to unwrap Smash Bros for Christmas this year.

And Zelda/Starfox next year. Those games are gonna be a lot of fun

As much as people whine about "Please Understand" Iwata, I think the company would be much worse off without him. I have no desire to play a watered-down version of Mario Bros. on my iPhone.

Who's management? The only people I had read about that want them to go mobile are the investors, or are those also called management? Besides them I had not read about anyone at Nintendo wanting to go mobile.

@charizard1605: Going by the leaked photos of Nintendo Fusion (a debunked prototype), I would argue that would be the glimpse of Nintendo's long term strategy.

Get rid of that bum and bring somebody with some vision in.

Iwata's fighting a hopeless battle. Even an aberrant success like the Wii didn't significantly alter Nintendo's long term fortunes, and another success on the scale of the Wii and DS seems remote. At best.

Nintendo's migration to third party hardware is down to "when", not "if".

This rumor again?

Nintendo giving in to iOS or third party would be like the Empire in Skyrim giving into the Thalmor, which pissed off too many of their citizens, mostly from two different races.

Yeah, no. It's still an "if" situation as they have said they'd rather stop making games than pull a stunt like that. "If" or "when" they do it though, I'll be done with them and move on, ignoring ANY of their new material. The Nintendo I know doesn't give up like that and anybody who reads their previous failures knows this. Not only that, it would be suicidal to give in to audiences that otherwise don't give a flying **** about them.

That's ANY better?

Btw, here's a collection of pics of what it would be like if Ninty did cave into iOS, using Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow as an example.

Wow, where to begin?

First, if you have a link to Nintendo saying they'd rather stop making games than go 3rd party, I'd love to read it for kicks. Not that it matters, because Nintendo doesn't get to quit on their investors. That's what happens when you become a corporation. A Nintendo head that tried such a stunt would be out on his ass before the market closed the next day.

Second, why the vitriolic hatred for the idea of Nintendo on non Nintendo hardware? I can't fathom any sensible reason for it. Other platforms have the power to match the WiiU in performance (easily) and rarely have Nintendo's "special" features changed a game substantially, and even more rarely for the better.

Few games make much use of WiiU's tablet controller, a situation Nintendo has acknowledged. The Wii controllers naturally had the largest effect on the games... but I'd say it was debatable how many games were improved. Hell, even several of Nintendo's heavy hitters ended up shipping with "standard" control options, by popular demand. The DS had 2 screens, which were occasionally used in creative ways, but generally not as the number of ports of DS games to single screen systems demonstrates (and I freaking love my DS).

Was there anything else? The other systems actually were pretty standard. An extra button here, an analog moved, a different sized disc, ect does not make a unique experience. So why exactly would Nintendo games be worse if they were on another platform??

Third, Nintendo going third party is NOT Nintendo giving up. It's Nintendo taking what they do best - make games - and bringing them to the largest possible audience. It benefits more gamers and it benefits Nintendo's investors.

Finally, How on earth can you say acknowledging the demand for Nintendo games outside of Nintendo hardware is giving into audiences that don't care about them? The demand for Nintendo games shows these audiences do indeed care for Nintendo games. They've just largely grown tired of buying dedicated hardware to play them.

1. It was something said a long time ago. Right now, I can't find a link to it, but I'll update it when (and IF I ever find it) I do. Until then, here's Iwata reaffirming that going third party is not happening. Regardless, Investors don't give a **** about how a company works. They asked Microsoft to kill off the XBOX for gods' sake. They only care about the money and they would stay on board if Nintendo did something they didn't agree with, but still ended up giving them buck.

2. (that'll go in to a later point)

3. How is getting out of one sector NOT giving up? Seriously, how? They'd be calling it quits just because people ask them too. If that isn't giving up, I don't know what is.

4. Look at the sales charts, which (mostly) shows what the gaming are interested in overall. PS3 and 360 sales charts have games from the likes of Activision (Call of Duty), EA (Battlefield, BioWare, Madden, FIFA), Capcom (Street Fighter), Bethesda (Fallout, Elder Scrolls), Ubisoft (Assassin's Creed), Rockstar (Grand Theft Auto), etc. Do you think Nintendo would stand a chance against all of those? Not to mention, many gamers have shown to have massive double standards. They admit hate for the likes of EA and Activision, but yet, they have games that still sell well. Do you really think Nintendo would thrive the same just because people ASK them to pull a stunt equal to playing Russian Roulette with a Revolver Magnum that's fully loaded?

Let's not even get started on the high potential of their quality upright losing it or hell, pulling sell out moves like be a licensee for an anime/manga (or any IP from another form of media) that's popular. The latter fits well for Atari (okay, it was infogrames, but legally they became Atari so it still counts) and Dragon Ball (granted, it had gems, but a good chunk of shovelware like this).

I personally don't get why Iwata is so resistant to exploring other markets. Clearly the current plan went sideways and they currently have no plan b. The next gen cell phones are at ps3/360 level so their software will run. People that want to play nintendo games can do so without spending a couple hundred bucks to do so as the market has clearly spoken to that point.

The cell phone market is the future. There is not much I can't do on my cell phone. I do run emulators and frankly they work very well. The handheld market Iwata is trying to protect will be dead. I mean why buy a handheld when you have a cell phone that does the same thing and so much else??

Not sure if you can post links here but with no effort you can find emulators and roms of hundreds of nintendo games for your cell phone. Wake up Nintendo the internet is here to stay as are cell phones. There are many devs of lower caliber making money and Nintendo should get there before Sony and MS do.

You really want THIS to happen?

Guys, this article is highly bogus. Iwata has placed people on the board highly favorable to him to be able to consolidate his power. He's also bought back a large portion of Yamauchi's shares. He's loved inside Nintendo's walls, I've no doubt, and his investor approval rating just went up, God knows why.

I don't see the big deal with mobile, frankly. Does Nintendo not have games that would work completely on a touchscreen only interface? Such as Warioware, Nintendogs/Cats, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars? For some reason, when people think of Nintendo's games on mobile, they're strangely flooded with images of all the twitch games of legacy and of trying to play SMW or Super Metroid with buttons and controls on the screen (which I agree, would be terrible). Why won't they acknowledge that Nintendo has show they can make games perfectly functional on an only touchscreen basis? That they have games that could easily work on it? Further, what is wrong with making one studio dedicated to make these games that appealed to the casuals that loved them on the Wii and DS (games such as Brainage/Nintendogs) but then had moved onto mobile, and testing the mobile waters?

Why does trying the mobile sector immediately equate to the destruction of Nintendo? Why are people so fearful all their business will go there? Like they are with QoL? Oh that's right, apparently nobody's worried in that case......and that's going into an ever worse place: healthcare! What is this pervading fear opposed to putting out 4-6 mobile games a year on mobile, games targeted at those same casuals years back? The same market that brought Nintendo such wealth with the Wii. That Nintendo are choosing to ignore it is insanity to me.

And to the, "then they wouldn't buy Nintendo's systems when they can get it on their mobile for $10-15" (or whatever they'd charge) crowd: firstly, the mobile games could be full releases but also include segwey functionality to their other console's games to encourage looking into buying them. Secondly, these people were never going to buy Nintendo's consoles anyway. What's to be lost here? You have people on the mobile market that would not buy Nintendo's dedicated systems, but would more than likely buy a $10-15 Nintendogs for their kids or Brainage for themselves. And if Nintendo played their cards right, I think a few well made Nintendo games on mobile, priced right, could work as great advertising and exposure for their other products.

But this will never happen, because Nintendo's too proud to pay royalties, will never lower their game prices that low, not to mention they refuse to see their products on any other systems but their own. I suppose you can all be thankful for that.

lol...yup, thank goodness most nintendo fans are toddlers, otherwise I would hate to see the riot

Nintendo still trying to grasp the casual market.

Smdh I suggest you look on the net nintendo games are playable on android already along with many others. The dolphin emulator is alpha already and it's only a matter of time before wii games are stable at 1080p. Clearly if Nintendo does not get out in front of the mobile train it will leave without them. The handheld market Iwata is trying to protect is on it's way out.

Not many people are going to pay a couple hundred on a handheld and then 30 or more bucks for games on a limited platform in the future. Nintendo needs to improvise, adapt and overcome. The old way is obsolete and Nintendo will have to make some long overdue changes if they want to stay relevant.

The article may also be inaccurate since there are a couple of issues with it.I think parts of the article are not true, but I can not verify this since I can not read Japanese.This thread won't be locked now, but if the article is ripped apart and determined false it may be locked.

So through unofficial methods. Doesn't count. Let that train leave then. If it kills Nintendo (and it won't as it's worth noting that some companies are in fact WORSE off as mobile devs, see: Capcom and Square Enix), then so be it. Better that they don't die a sell-out.

why? more people than ever have access to the final fantasy games. oh sure there are some junk mobile games there too though.

3rd party nintendo.... I cannot wait.