As the stories about Nintendo keep coming in, we cannot help but wonder who is actually running the company? Comments claiming that a successor to the GameCube will not be released at the same time as rival products cannot be taken lightly when they are the direct result of statements made by the former and current Nintendo Presidents. At the same time a new dimension has been given to the company's DS project which claims that it could make or break Nintendo.
When Nintendo came out, mid-last week with all guns blazing, claiming in a determined fashion that their next-gen box will be out in 2005 or 2006 just as had been previously expected, we all thought that some statements may have been misrepresented but the Japanese Nikkei Industrial Daily has now released Mr Yamauchi's and Mr Iwata's comments in full and they tell a different story.
Nintendo's former President Hiroshi Yamauchi was well known and loved for his outspoken and controversial opinions and he kept to form when he stated, in no uncertain terms that I have been saying this for some time, but customers are not interested in grand games with higher-quality graphics and sound and epic stories. Cutting-edge technologies and multiple functions do not necessarily lead to more fun. The excessively hardware-oriented way of thinking is totally wrong, but manufacturers are just throwing money at developing higher-performance hardware.
Just in case the first statement failed to alienate all gamers and market analysts Mr. Yamauchi added, Nintendo has no plans to release a so-called 'next-generation' videogame console at the next year's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas. We will rather make a new proposal that uses the GameCube at its core. Only people who do not know the videogame business would advocate the release of next-generation machines when people are not interested in cutting-edge technologies.
Mr. Yamauchi was also very clear on what the DS will mean for the company, If we are unsuccessful with the Nintendo DS, we may not go bankrupt, but we will be crushed. The next two years will be a really crucial time for Nintendo.
Up to this point no one could act surprised as Mr. Yamauchi has always been controversial and being a former company president does not make someone an expert in current strategies.
Unfortunately for Nintendo however, Mr. Iwata did not exactly contradict his predecessors comments. Iwata's statement was the real reason the speculation party got started last week. However strongly Nintendo rush to quash rumors the fact remains that the company president said, I do not believe releasing a higher performance machine is the solution, adding, ...our hardware development team is thinking about the next move, but I cannot tell you about it.
The company insist that they will have something to display at this year's E3 show but considering the importance of the DS project for the company, it is more likely that any announcements will concentrate on that and possibly, on surprise Cube peripherals.
It seems that the Japanese giant will leave us in doubt for a good while longer.
