Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Considering the lengthy conversation between Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and Mother creator Shigesato Itoi over dinner six months ago, we're beginning to wonder if they consumed any actual food at their meal. Where did they find the time? So long as they didn't starve, however, we're glad to be privy to their chat, since so many interesting tidbit have come to light. The latest is on something close to our hearts: Wii Sports.

Is Nintendo considering a sequel to the popular pack-in? Maybe, says Iwata, but it's not something that's even in the planning stages at this time. The last thing Nintendo wants to do is take the "easy" way, he says, by slapping together something that's exactly the same, just with different sports featured. Our love for Iwata was renewed in spades as he spoke about the need to do something new rather than to rehash old ground just to make money. If we were feeling snarky, we might bring up a few franchises (like, say Mario Kart ... even though we love it, it tends to be pretty much Mario Kart), but Nintendo has been forging so much new ground lately that we'll let it slide. Some might argue that Nintendo did exactly what Iwata is talking about not doing with the recent Brain Age sequel, but the big man is quick to point out that the director of the titles has been breaking new ground himself: he's responsible for several of the Wii's channels.

Iwata did make the point, however, that it 's easier for Nintendo to take this stance right now because they're doing so well. If they weren't, he said, they might scramble to those "easy" sequels and decisions just to keep the boat afloat. We just wish other companies who are also in the black might take a similar line. Sure, the same game with slight tweaks may sell every year, but does it improve or expand the industry? Does it produce better games for everyone?

[Via Infendo]

In the past several years, it seems the reputation of gaming industry executives has begun to reach epic levels, proportionate, perhaps, to the spread of gaming as a culture. But we're also starting to think that maybe the corporate hype machines are getting a little out of control. What matters more, personality or product? Maybe it's just us, but it seems the lines are beginning to blur.

We can understand a healthy dose of Miyamoto-worship -- the man is a legend in the industry, and he's responsible for more of our cherished childhood memories than we'd like to admit. And sure, we love Reggie, and Iwata is the man (by that, we mean one hell of a savvy businessman), but is it really their personalities that make Nintendo what it is right now? No, it's certainly their skills ... so what's with all the executive worship that is spreading throughout gaming communities? Is it just that industry execs are out in the open more and more often, or is it something else? After all, most of the people that we're chasing in the industry are just in marketing. They're not doing much to create the things we spend our time on; they're just a face. A name. No different than mascot characters -- it's just now that we're growing up, apparently Sonic and Mario can't bear the brunt of the console wars any longer, and we've moved on to Reggie and pre-exodus Peter Moore. But let us know what you think -- that's why we're here.

Could the Wii end up outselling the PS2? Satoru Iwata seems to think so -- at least, that's what he told Reuters in a recent interview. He even waved away the impending PS3 price drop and redesigned PSP as likely having little-to-no effect on sales of the Wii and DS.

The PS2, however, is a legendary juggernaut in the world of consoles, with more than 120 million units shipped to date. The Wii is estimated to hit around 20 million by next March, and if Nintendo wants to catch the PS2, they better fix that whole shortage problem. But it's still early in the cycle of the system, and at the current rate, anything is possible.

The whole text of Nintendo's financial results briefing is worth reading (and would be mandatory if we could assign homework), but we'd especially like to point out this quote from Satoru Iwata: "As this month's production will be sold in the worldwide markets by the end of the next month, a small increase is expected at the retail outlets from next month." We knew that Nintendo was looking into expanding production, but could we already see results?

This report is from the end of April, so "next month" probably refers to May. We hope the statement is accurate and that the supply of Wiis increases from none to some very soon!

Barron's annual list of the 30 Best CEOs has a new addition, and we're proud to name him among the lords and masters of our wallets. The Wii's ridiculous success (and the fact that you can't get one) brought Satoru Iwata to the attention of the financial weekly's listmakers, who also recognized such perennial favorites as Steve Jobs. Not only that, but Iwata is the only game industry CEO to make the list. The common thread among these "best" chiefs? They deliver. Wow, it's like those finance fellas are speaking our language.

We figure it's about time someone made a Wii version of our favorite picture. Who's with us?

[Via Infendo]

International news magazine The Economist is not where we expected to find the Wii. After all, The Economist is where we find out about the invisible rich in the U.K. and Macedonia's consideration for membership in the European Union. It's serious news and our beloved Wii is, after all, about serious fun. But if Nintendo succeeds with the their plan for the new console, it will affect a global market that will only grow with that success, and when it's big business news, The Economist is there.

The quick look over Nintendo's goals for the Wii -- and how they compare to the DS - offers those of us who live and breathe gaming daily an interesting look from the outside of the market. But the long and short of it is that Nintendo doesn't see the point of being crowned king of a shrinking market when the whole world is out there. And if their old-but-new viral marketing (hey, try this!) strategy works, the gaming market will be stretched, perhaps even broken wide open. And everyone is watching to see what happens. In that, dear readers, we are not alone.

[Thanks, Special_K!]

Though we wouldn't normally pay much attention to something called a "Corporate Management Policy Briefing," we'll make an exception when it comes to Nintendo and their beloved Wii. Fielding some questions regarding the system's impending launch, Satoru Iwata attempted to assuage some concern over Nintendo's previous cubic console and its muted commercial success. He noted that Nintendo's inability to consistently and timeously release new games after launch stuttered the system's momentum, a problem which, if all goes to plan, won't rear its snarling head in the next round.

"To avoid repeating this with Wii, we have been intensifying the software development, both internally at Nintendo and at developers outside the company, in order to prepare aggressive software lineup for Wii at and after the launch." However, Shigeru Miyamoto (who admits to being occupied by a super secret project) added that Nintendo hasn't greatly increased the number of people working on projects, with over 1,500 people already banging keyboards and waving wiimotes in the hopes of generating more Nintendo classics.

In that case, how exactly does Nintendo plan to intensify software development? If they have stricter management and curtailed development times in mind, how will that affect their forthcoming titles? Careful Nintendo -- striking the perfect balance between quantity and quality isn't going to be easy.

[Update: See comments.]

Speaking at a business briefing in Tokyo, Satoru Iwata has declared that our desperate and entirely unhealthy desire to learn the Wii's launch date and price will be satiated by September at the latest. Unless Nintendo's going for a cataclysmic surprise launch strategy (see: Sega Saturn), a release period of late October to early November seems to be a fair guess.

And that's all it is -- a fair guess. As you are no doubt aware, the internet is a veritable minefield of launch dates leaked from top secret sources and overheard exchanges. Watch your step out there.

Short of having Satoru Iwata hurl bricks into the crowd at the Nintendo press conference, it seems that there was very little the Japanese giant could have done to disappoint the myriad E3 attendees, especially the overly critical ones. The Game Critics Awards, an independent group of journalists from 37 different media outlets, have deemed Nintendo's Wii Best of Show, praising its unique controller and "different" approach to gaming.

Nintendo also grabbed the Best Hardware and Best Sports Game gongs, the latter one being awarded for the very energetic Wii Sports collection. Other big winners were Will Wright's Spore, Microsoft's Gears of War, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed. The shockingly innovative PS3 controller was mysteriously overlooked.

With the Wii receiving this sort of vindication, both as a concept and as a console, we hope that critics and gamers alike don't forget that, like any other system, the games are what will make or break it. The Wii was a success at E3 due to games like Super Mario Galaxy. Games like Final Furlong, on the other hand, remind us that the hardware alone, weird controller and all, can't guarantee an enjoyable experience.

[Thanks AssemblyLineHuman!]

Whether it's the backing of an unorthodox console or just the sight of an opponent stumbling over a price tag, Iwata exudes a good deal of confidence in the interview where he shrugs off the PS3's knee-jerk addition of motion sensing capabilities. Mr. Iwata points out that having to hold the DualShake with both hands makes for a noticeably different experience. "There's a huge gap between the two, I can tell you, with that whole experience, so I really don't think that the inclusion of motion sensing into Sony's classic type of controller can affect in one way or the other the advantage that we have with the Wii controller."

Though gamers will be pointing and yelling "thief" for a while to come, Iwata's calm reaction is probably the best illustration of what's really happening here. The PS3 controller has an extra feature (at the expense of rumbling) that, judging by the games we've seen so far, is unlikely to become the primary form of input as it has with the Wii. The types of games on the two systems are thus likely to be different enough to dismiss any sort of suggestion that Sony is somehow stealing from and encroaching upon Nintendo's market. It's important to keep in mind that the functions of a controller, whether they be motion sensing or sensual massaging, are pretty worthless without games that make proper use of them. (That excludes the original Xbox controller. It made for an exceedingly effective blunt weapon.)