Nearly a decade after his passing, fans get treated to a rare glimpse into Nintendo's then-president, the now late Satoru Iwata’s leadership, and the company with its curtains fairly peeled back during the era of the DS.
Nintendo's Former President Satoru Iwata Shares Thoughts in Rare Recently-Published Interview
A recently published video interview from twenty years ago in 2004 featuring Nintendo's then-president, the now-late Satoru Iwata, was recently made available online in full on YouTube. Recorded by media brand and site Kikizo at the E3 2004 event, the now complete 30-minute interview, remastered in HD, offered in-depth insights into Iwata's vision and ideas during a significant era for Nintendo.
At the time of the interview, Iwata had been Nintendo’s president for just two years. He had recently showcased the Nintendo DS and teased the upcoming new console, Revolution, which would later be renamed the Wii at E3 2005. Despite his high-profile status in the gaming world, Iwata was rather known for his reserved media presence and sparing involvement in media publications outside Nintendo's press releases.
Views on Hiroshi Yamauchi
Iwata shared his thoughts on one of Nintendo’s legendary figures, ex-president Hiroshi Yamauchi. Despite Yamauchi stepping down as the company's president, Iwata said that his predecessor remained influential at Nintendo, additionally revealing that the decision to have a dual-screen DS came from Yamauchi himself. "Of course, Hiroshi Yamauchi is a person who has led Nintendo for over 50 years, and in the past 20 years he is someone who can be called the father of today’s gaming industry," Iwata remarked.
Additionally, he remarked on the importance of adapting Yamauchi’s philosophy to modern challenges Nintendo had faced during that time. "I have heard a lot from him in the past about his philosophy on how the gaming industry should change, and I intend to inherit that philosophy as it is, if it’s good. He himself said we need to change with the times, and I also intend to inherit that."
Nintendo Wii (fka Revolution) and How Nintendo DS Led the Trend
Iwata discussed the forthcoming console, at the time marketed as the "Nintendo Revolution," with enthusiasm and teased how Nintendo's commitment to innovation will conceive a literal game-changing console—just as they did with the Nintendo DS. "Just as Nintendo surprised people with the DS, if we were to create new hardware after the GameCube, I believe there's no point in making it unless it's something that will surprise people," he said. This was a rather commanding preamble for the Wii, the console that brought in broad appeal with its motion controls.
Nintendo DS Will Leave Sony PSP in the Dust
The interview also touched on the competition between the hotly anticipated handhelds, the DS and PSP, both of which were months away from launch at the time. Iwata explained that he felt that the PSP was competing directly against two of Nintendo's handhelds, the Game Boy Advance and DS, saying that it would be a tall order for Sony to beat out the competition.
Iwata also expressed confidence in the DS’s unique appeal, noting that it wouldn’t replace the Game Boy Advance (GBA) but rather expand its market. "By the time the PSP is probably released worldwide, the total (GBA) install base will be around 60 million units," he confidently remarked, "They will need to show superiority against both the existing 60 million GBA units and the DS, which offers new ways to play. I think that will be a tough challenge."
Iwata also shared his views on how consumers respond when new gaming hardware is introduced, saying that consoles should be innovative in some ways to attract buyers. "A completely new user interface, or a completely different way of playing, without something like that, I don't think the majority of customers will want to buy a new hardware just to play games."
Legacy of the Nintendo DS
The Nintendo DS proved to be a major success for the company. With its innovative dual-screen design, touchscreen capabilities, more powerful engineering, added features and capabilities, and diverse library of games, the DS quickly appealed to a wide demographic, ranging from intensely-invested players to casual gamers, and eventually became Nintendo’s best-selling console. Titles from long-standing crowd-favorite series like Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing, and Pokémon showcased the DS’s capabilities and contributed to its widespread popularity.
The DS' success also paved the way for several console iterations, including the DS Lite, DSi, and DSi XL, each improving on the original design. As of March 2024, the DS remains as Nintendo’s top-selling hardware unit with 154.02 million units sold, making it the second best-selling video game console of all time, trailing behind Sony’s PS2 by roughly over a million units.
Source:
A previously unpublished 2004 video interview with Satoru Iwata has been shared online
Nintendo: Dedicated Video Game Sales Units
Retro Tech: Nintendo DS
