Hiroshi Yamauchi On Nintendo's Future

Thanks to 1UP for its article covering a new interview with former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, as he discusses the recently announced DS portable and the state of Nintendo as a whole. In particular, the article notes: "The DS represents a critical moment for Nintendo's success over the next two years, Yamauchi said -- 'if it succeeds, we rise to the heavens, if it fails, we sink into hell.' His hope, and Nintendo's mission, is to spread new gameplay through this device and re-energize the games market in both Japan and the rest of the world." Apparently, it was the 76-year-old Yamauchi "...who first proposed the concept of games employing a dual-screen device about 18 months ago", and elsewhere, Game Science has coverage of largely enthusiastic comments from Japanese developers on the DS, ranging from the positive ("It's exciting hardware for both makers and users) to the guarded ("A machine with two screens is going to be quite a high hurdle for developers to get over.")

Re:Look, it's the DEVIL

[ziggles]

Yeah.. what an idiot. Except for the part where, you know, the company was profitable for every year in the 50+ years he ran it. And since he has left Nintendo has seen their first non profitable quarter in god knows how long (possibly their entire existence?).

Heaven or Hell?

[cabra771]

'if it succeeds, we rise to the heavens, if it fails, we sink into hell.'

No shit. I wonder if he has a picture of the guy who headed the Virtual Boy's development sitting on his desk to remind him every day.

Re:Heaven or Hell?

[\\]

Keep in mind, the guy that created the Virtual Boy is also the guy that came up with the Gameboy.

Re:76 year old is a problem

[filtur]

The gameboy is one of the things that Nintendo has done right, so I think it will be pretty hard to grab a large share in the portable market, but Sony does have a lot of money. It's almost as if portable division is a completely different company than Nintendo.

Re:Online

[10101001 10101001]

>They fail to realize that people actually do like to play games online.

What he says is the current subscription model won't fly. With that, I have to very much agree. Games like Quake are played a hell of a lot more than any XBox online games. Not requiring to pay money monthly, hassle with connecting with a fixed service, etc is one reason why p2p instead of master/server subscription models work out better. And as it stands most cheats are blocked pretty well on PCs even without some voodoo hardware encryption scheme.

I guess if you've not already got a PC, aren't willing to hassle with installing a PC game, and aren't willing to deal with finding a "good" server, then a subscription service is right for you, but all the above seem to fit the hardcore gamer which I would think are the core audience to buy into a subscription service. And if you did have a choice, wouldn't you play as much or more on a game system if you could play online for free instead (assuming, of course, that the game you wanted was on the system)?

> They also fail to realize that people are going to buy the latest and greatest system, so the Big N can't just close their eyes to the fact that better and better hardware will sell.

They didn't say they weren't going to have the best hardware in their next console or DS. But, look at the GBA. It's job is to be a portable. That means not sucking up batteries like candy which also means not having massive processor speed. So, while the GBA doesn't have the fastest CPU, it is arguably the best portable. I'm under the impression that instead of wasting money trying to manufacturer the fastest system, Nintendo is trying to work *smart* with the hardware to maximize the fun in the game. Eye candy does not a fun game make.

Nintendo has, after all, been providing all sorts of 2D sprite hardware that make game production easier. I don't know enough about their 3D hardware to state the same, but I'd assume it's true there too. I can only begin to imagine where Nintendo will lead next, since I think the fundamental rendering for current consoles is at near peak (ie, we're into the Quake2/Quake3 rendering realm of realism). Given that, I don't thinking throwing processing power at the problem is where to begin.

What will DS be used for?

[Singletoned]

I'm quite intrigued about the possibilities for the DS. I can quite see that a couple of killer apps will come out on it, and if so I will definitely buy one.

I can see a game like Splinter Cell, where you could put a camera in a hallway and watch it on one screen, whilst performing a task on the other screen.

Or threaded roleplay games, where two sides of the story are playing out, one on each screen. You alternately play a part in each story, and watch the repurcussions of your actions on the other thread of the story.

As usual, Nintendo are actually trying to do something interesting rather just produce the 'best' console.

Re:Look, it's the DEVIL

[xenocide2]

When Nintendo dismisses internet play as unworkable in the near term, what most internet nerds don't get is that Nintendo was investigating networking on their hardware before they or sony knew what a fucking console was. The Bandai Satellite offered downloadable information, and RANDnet is a fully bidirectional connection. They've tried their hands at making subscription services worthwhile, and didn't see a way to make it work, even within the population dense Japan.

If you compare the populace interested in Nintendo games against the kind of person who would like distant and anonymous online game playing, the intersection isn't really big enough. I'd rather be playing Four Swords with my buddies, sans latency, really.

Yamauchi's statement:

[GaimeGuy]

Actually, he said that Nintendo would be crushed if the DS failed, not that Nintendo would fall to hell. (The heaven part is correct, though, so it sounds much better in English to use a heaven/hell comparison, which is why that's how the quote is given in some translations).
I highly doubt that Nintendo is banking all of it's billions of dollars on the DS. What I'm pretty sure Yamauchi meant when he said that was that if the DS is a success, Nintendo will have finally openned up a new realm for gaming, a new dimension to be exploited for years to come. If it fails, Nintendo will be heartbroken, because it will show that innovation no longer sells: that franchise sequels with technological pizazz are the meat of the gaming industry, that all gamers will ever want are the same old, same old. If the DS fails, then innovation fails. The industry is already practically at a technological peak. If the DS can't shake things up, then the industry will become stale, flooded with Final Fantasy XXXXXs and Madden 2080s that will be the only games that sell.
I believe in Yamauchi, I believe in Nintendo. And by god, if the DS fails, then I, like Yamauchi, like Miyamoto, like Nintendo, will be heartbroken. The industry needs to be taken in a new direction: the DS needs to shake it up.