Nintendo must react to what consumers demand, delivering software that meets their requests rather than pursuing their own artistic ambitions.
“Nintendo developers are extremely insatiable when it comes to whether what they make resonates with customers or not,” Nintendo’s global president Satoru Iwata explained to Toyo Keizai Online.
“They’ll do anything to achieve it. Both [Shigeru] Miyamoto and I repeatedly say, ‘It’s not like we are making pieces of art, the point is to make a product that resonates with and is accepted by customers.'”
To this he added, “Creating is like an expression of egoism. People with a strong energy to create something have a ‘this is the strength I believe is right’ sort of confidence to start from. Their standpoint is that this is the right thing to do, so this must be what’s good for the customer as well.
“But the final goal of a product is to resonate with and be accepted by people. You can’t just force your way through. By saying, ‘The point is to be accepted,’ I mean, if you go to a customer with your idea and you realise they don’t understand it, it’s more important that they do and you should shift your idea.”
Whilst admitting that the Wii U has continued to struggle, Nintendo won’t yet shift their own ideas. Instead, Iwata believes that consumers haven’t yet rejected the console’s concept, and will look to see it can be understood more.
He continued, “It’s difficult to say, ‘The Wii U is a system that does such-and-such,’ in a simple manner, and understanding it takes time. While we unfortunately had a period in the first half of 2013 where releases were sparse and hardware sales have lulled, I don’t think that the concept and potential of the Wii U have been rejected.”
[Thanks Kotaku]
Iwata: Nintendo must adapt software to what consumers want
