When the President of Nintendo over in Japan speaks, the world listens, and 48-year-old Satoru Iwata has just held a very open interview in which he talks about the company as a whole, Wii, Nintendo DS and various other subjects, including that of the online Wi-Fi Connection that has already been a massive success.

Thanks to the advent of both the Nintendo DS and Wii, the former bringing gaming otaku out-doors and the latter bringing families together and off the sofa, encouraging them to be more active, the image of games rotting the mind and body has been significantly altered. That is largely thanks to the sterling efforts of Satoru Iwata-san, who many believe ’saved’ Nintendo after Hiroshi Yamauchi stepped down. Iwata states that he believes both platforms have been so successful due to the aim of expanding the target audience over the past few years, following the decline in traditional gamers. According to Iwata, the reason for the decline was due to negative images being portrayed of gaming, with people beginning to feel it impacted on study and helped increase crime. Therefore, Nintendo’s main objective was to start changing that with the DS’s style. It also helped that user feedback helped Nintendo design the DS to make it more like what people really wanted, in other words something that was not too hard to use and was not too time consuming. This does not mean Nintendo is now resting on its laurels, though, with Iwata stating that the Kyoto Company is currently beavering away, trying to think how it could possibly out-do the DS and Wii.

Below is an extract from the interview, which also covers how the Nintendo DS’s Wi-Fi capabilities are set to be expanded throughout 2008:

What surprises will we see in ‘08?

Satoru Iwata: The use of the DS’s WiFi capabilities for information. With over 20 million units sold domestically, we can go beyond games. Uses like getting off a train and downloading a map of the surrounding area, with descriptions of stores. The expanding of WiFi access throughout train stations, underground plazas, and restaurants allows the DS to get online from many more places.

There are many people who, rather than play alone, prefer to play as a family.

Satoru Iwata: There’s the 20th-century image of the family gathered in the living room before the TV. When the Famicom appeared in that image, everyone gathered around, wanting a turn on the controller. Games of that age were so fun. But somehow, the controller became complex, the father and mother backed off. Our concept for the Wii is to, centering on games, create a 21st-century lifestyle where the family can come together to laugh and converse.

So in a way, it’s changing normal family life.

Satoru Iwata: It’s not enough to just create an amusing pastime; we must also suggest to the current busy consumer that it’s something they, also, can do. With many hit titles, we can give even the grandson and grandfather with no common ground something to talk about. If we manage to get even the mothers who hated games to buy in, it marks a bright future for our industry.

Are there differences between the production styles of Nintendo and other firms?

Satoru Iwata: Since so few people have that je ne sais quoi required to produce really striking, fun new ideas, we leave a lot of power to individuals. This might be different from many other companies. However, in producing a programme, it’s also necessary that many people cooperate on the troubles and problems. Without both individualism and teamwork, we couldn’t create fun games. Nintendo’s advantage is, ignoring an emproyee’s age or work history, supporting everyone’s individual capabilities.

Finishing things off, when asked about mobile phones becoming significant rivals to Nintendo due to their increased amount of gaming functions, Iwata-san simply responded with “Cell phones do a lot besides just send calls. Recently they combine a phone, email, television, and become an all-purpose system. Because of this, even someone with engineering training such as myself finds it difficult to master all the functions without studying the manual,” continuing by saying the whole point of the DS is that users can pick it up and dive straight in without the need for hefty manuals. “This ease of comprehension lets us produce games that are easy to understand, becoming the new, more refined Nintendo’s strength,” he concluded.

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