I would say the greatest challenge we had with the Wii U was being crystal clear in our communication of what the product was and what the product could do.
— Reggie Fils-Aime
That 'Super Mario' movie from the 1990s... left a really bad taste in the mouth of our developers.
One of the things that, on one hand, I love and, on the other hand, that troubles me tremendously about not only our fanbase but about the gaming community at large is that, whenever you share information, the perspective is, 'Thank you, but I want more.' 'Thank you, but give me more.' I mean, it is insatiable.
Whether it's with a 'Metroid' experience or a 'Donkey Kong' experience, we're constantly looking to push the envelope on the IP versus doing sequential small iterations with a particular franchise.
When we launched the Wii - I mean, again, people look back and say, '100 million units, it was easy!' Believe me, I was there, and it wasn't easy at all. We had tough conversations, internal debate, like, 'How are we going to do this? How are we going to bring it to life? What are we going to do?'
Nintendo has an enviable position of having the best franchises in this industry in terms of 'Mario' and 'Zelda' and 'Metroid' and 'Donkey Kong' and all of those great franchises. Together, those are a library that any developer would kill for.
When the DS was first announced, our focus really was on communicating to consumers and to developers the innovation that's in that unit: two screens, a touch screen, voice activation.
'Star Fox' is a fan favorite.
Nintendo Switch is a home console you can play anywhere, with anyone. Clear. Compelling.
We don't believe used games are in the best interest of the consumer. We have products that consumers want to hold onto. They want to play all of the levels of a 'Zelda' game and unlock all of the levels.
I think Nintendo is fortunate, having been in this business for over 30 years, to really understand the dynamics and recognize that it's software that drives hardware, and it's new, unique, compelling experiences within software that make it stand out.
At Nintendo, we think deeply about everything.
Our goal is that everything we do blows people away.
For us, we're clear that, in terms of Nintendo-developed games, we want to bring new experiences from our best franchises to Nintendo Switch, and that's what you see with 'Smash Bros.' and 'Pokemon.'
If we had not had the Wii U, we would not have the Switch.
Ours is a company that doesn't do annualized software, and so when we create a 'Zelda' game, when we create a 'Smash Bros.' game, or a 'Pokemon' experience comes on the platform, it needs to be exceptionally compelling because we plan on selling it for a very long time.
October, November, December is a huge selling season globally for Nintendo.
I really suck at 'Smash Brothers.'
There's no doubt that 'Breath of the Wild' is the Switch game I've put the most time into.
We are so fortunate that our IP has been so effective out in the marketplace that every time there's a new iteration, our developers feel a sense of pressure.
I would say that 'Breath of the Wild' is a dramatic departure from the conventions of a 'Zelda' game.
In the end, I don't mind how you interact with our IP as long as you're interacting with it every day.
Nintendo is about innovation and bringing new and unique game play to the consumer - both the core gamer as well as new gamers.
We believe that there are a number of Nintendo titles that could do exceptionally well in the competitive play space.
'Yoshi's Woolly World' for young families and new entrants into the overall video gaming space, I think, is going to be a hardware driver.
We want great third-party titles to achieve mass-market success on Nintendo platforms. We also want the evergreen Nintendo titles to continue to do well.
We believe used games aren't in the consumer's best interest.
'First to market' is simply a demarcation on a calendar. It really doesn't mean anything.
I still really like 'WarioWare.' It's a great quick hit, especially for air flights.
Software drives hardware in this business. We see it time and time again. We saw it with our Wii and DS businesses.
We see our mobile initiatives as a way to bring our intellectual properties and our gameplay experiences to a larger population than the tens or hundred million consumers that own a dedicated gaming system.
The Wii had sold a hundred million units globally; the Wii U did not have that same level of success.
We do think deeply about the sequencing of our games, but having said that, Nintendo is well-known that if a game isn't ready, we will push out the development in order to make sure that it is as strong as possible when the game launches.
You don't own a 3DS? What's wrong with you?
I love playing our content. Except for 'Smash Brothers.'
Nintendo, at its heart, is about making us feel younger than we are today.
Our developers are constantly thinking about, 'How do I bring new and novel experiences to our platforms?' whether it's the Switch, 3DS, or even a smart device. So that is just part of the way our developers think.
The marketplace is absolutely mercurial. But what I love about our company is that we create a vision, and then we go all in.
'1-2 Switch' is a party in a box.
Look at how many times we've improved on the Game Boy Advance in terms of the look, the feel, screen changes, and everything else. We believe that type of constant innovation is critical to driving this industry, and certainly if you look at the world wide sales of Game Boy Advance, I don't think anyone would disagree.
I get asked constantly, what's Nintendo's approach to the esports community. And our approach is we want to enable consistent standards. We want to enable an approach to the competition that's fair, that's balanced, that enables the players to showcase their skills.
'Super Mario Maker' clearly is going to drive hardware. There are consumers who have always wanted to make their levels of Mario games. So that game will really speak to those consumers.
The consumer likes having a brand-new experience and reliving it over and over again. If you create the right type of experience, that also happens in video games.
The fact is, there's no single magic number that defines profitability for a game.
For Nintendo, we do believe the GamePad is a critical innovation, and we believe that integrated experience with a second screen is something that brings new propositions to the consumer.
I love 'Spirit Tracks' - I'm a 'Zelda' fan all my life.
In the end, what developers want is a healthy ecosystem to create content and launch it into.
The one point gamers all hate is the point where they have to put the controller down.
Nintendo, as a company, prides itself on doing things differently.
During my tenure with Nintendo, we've pushed back development a number of times on key games - in the end, it's always worth it - because our focus on quality is so strong.
