Iwata: Nintendo won't 'do the easy'

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Sep 13th 2007 at 3:55PM }

When Nintendo president Satoru Iwata refuses to "do the easy," you may think he's merely declining to perform some sort of elaborate dance maneuver. Given its name, we imagine such a dance move simply entails lying face down on the floor and remaining motionless until everyone else has gone home. It makes perfect sense really, as Iwata isn't going to take things lying down (see the connection there?) when it comes to a Wii Sports sequel.

Simply adding new sports isn't good enough, he explained in an on-going series of discussions posted on Mother designer Shigesato Itoi's news blog, Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun. "We're not going to take such an easy way, not by including seven new sports in the game since Wii Sports has five," said Iwata." We're not closing our doors to the possibility of a sequel, but it's definitely not coming out soon." He goes on to say that if Nintendo hopes to continue expanding its audience, the element of surprise is vital.

And what affords Nintendo the opportunity to explore new things and have unexpected games pop out of their little white box? "But realistically, I think we can say 'we won't do the easy' because we are currently making profit."

Tags: Iwata-drop-the-bomb, Mother, Satoru-Iwata, SatoruIwata, Wii-Sports

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Shagittarius @ Sep 13th 2007 4:02PM

Move 'ZIG'. For great justice.

Sidepocket @ Sep 13th 2007 11:53PM

Shag, you said you design games. Oh tell me great guru of bullshit, what flawless mega games have you designed and put out on the market. Have I played them? Get 8.0's in GameSpot, IGN, 1up? Get in the New York Times for your outstanding achievements in game design that would put Will Write to shame?

....

Yea, thought so. Shut the fuck up and get the fuck back in the mob of other screaming fan boys you self important twit.

Logic! Not just for Wii-Haters! :D

Shagittarius @ Sep 14th 2007 2:42PM

Dickpocket what part of 'design games for fun' did you miss? Oh yeah the 'fun' part.

Ron Smith @ Sep 13th 2007 4:06PM

You know what is not easy? Matrix style virtual world. " Now make it so" /picard

Well at least get a hard drive and downloadable Wii games.

samfish @ Sep 13th 2007 4:06PM

Dear Nintendo,
Since Wii Sports 2 isn't going to happen, please give us at least some new courses in Wii Sports Golf via the shop channel.

kthxbai

Nushio (Honorary NDF Member) @ Sep 13th 2007 4:28PM

Or new Wigs for our Miis. We want options, damnit!

Slvrgun @ Sep 13th 2007 4:30PM

Downloadable content for our Wii games? That will never happen.

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Sep 13th 2007 4:44PM

I wonder if a future system update could double the options for Mii designs, and if so, if earlier Mii-using games like Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wario Ware, etc. would be able to recognize the new designs, or if they'd be limited to what I'll now call the Mii 1.0 palette.

Concerning a Wii Sports 2, all I need is CROQUET. And a golf course level editor. You'd only need those 2 sports. But if you wanted to, you could throw in some other bonus stuff I guess, like bocce, horseshoes, cricket, etc.

Croquet.

upz @ Sep 13th 2007 5:04PM

Hey who gets to be (MDF - Red Ring)?

GRANTED @ Sep 13th 2007 5:14PM

keep dreaming. they might "surprise!" you. but probably just come out with brain age wii multiplayer. like the vote channel, but with LSAT questions!!

REUYL @ Sep 14th 2007 12:02PM

A golf course editor would be a direct gift from the God.

vidGuy @ Sep 13th 2007 4:07PM

Do the easy or do the nasty? Doesn't really matter, Nintendo still owns all u noobs.

NvM @ Sep 13th 2007 4:38PM

Why shouldn't we play 1st-part games?
Zelda, Paper Mario, and Metroid are the best games for the system
None of them are mini-game collections.
I am currently playing MP3, and will be playing Mario Galaxy in less than 2 months, then Smash Bros not even a month from that.
None of them are mini-game collections.

Konny @ Sep 13th 2007 4:10PM

Dont you Wii owners ever get the urger to play something substantial and completely enthralling? Like Bioshock, Oblivion, Halo multiplayer, Warhawk, Gears, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Forza etc, etc..

...or, do you guys play the same mini games over, and over? Doesnt that get boring?

religiousjedi @ Sep 13th 2007 4:19PM

LOL! You are funny Konny! Mini-games are the only things played by Wii owners...lol!

And I don't understand why Halo is so enthralling (not bashing it, but I find it dull...).

megaStryke @ Sep 13th 2007 4:19PM

Of course, I get tired of mini-games, which is why I DON'T play mini-game collections on the Wii! Shocking, yes, but there are other games on it that aren't simple game compilations!

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Sep 13th 2007 4:20PM

When I get tired of minigames, I play "Pin the donkey sausage on your mom's butt."

Come on man, give it a rest. There are substantial games on the Wii, and there are minigames on the 360. You see what you want to see.

vidGuy @ Sep 13th 2007 4:24PM

Yes, Konny, I do. That's when I turn on the 360 and pop in Bioshock, Oblivion, Halo, Gears, etc. It's amazing how I can own and enjoy both consoles, isn't it?

Vegnagun @ Sep 13th 2007 4:32PM

When I get bored of my wii for the day I turn on my 360. It's crazy I know, I own both of them. PS3 is there but I just don't feel like warhawk.

Konny @ Sep 13th 2007 4:34PM

I was quite serious.. what are you guys playing? Cooking Mama? Wario ware? Metroid? Strikers? etc, etc... aside from a few 1st party franchise games.. all are incredibly shallow experiences.

So, what the heck are you guys playing that isnt a minigame compilation or Nintendo franchise game? And, dont you want more out of your games?

Vegnagun @ Sep 13th 2007 4:37PM

Once again Konny. If someone owns a wii it doesn't mean that they own only the wii. Do you get tired of shooters?

samfish @ Sep 13th 2007 4:38PM

You know what, Konny? I'm going to blow your tiny little mind right now by saying something I've held off on saying for weeks:

Bioshock sucked.
It didn't just suck, it *FUCKING* sucked.
Great graphics, hokey story, bad acting.

Konny @ Sep 13th 2007 4:41PM

lol.. you guys are basically proving my point by not answering my question:

What games are you playing on the wii that isnt a mini-game or Nintendo franchise rehash?

Any takers? No? Didnt think so.

vidGuy @ Sep 13th 2007 4:44PM

You are fun.

Looks at games' shelf:

Zelda: Twilight Princess
Super Paper Mario
Resident Evil 4
Metroid Prime 1, 2, 3
Madden 08
Super Mario Strikers
Trauma Center
Tiger Woods 07
Resident Evil 0
Resident Evil
Zelda: WW
Zelda: OoT
///
Gears of War
Guitar Hero 2
Condemned
Halo 2
Bioshock

Looks at Wii Menu:
Super Mario 1, 2
Kid Icarus
Zelda: LttP
Breath of Fire 2
Super Metroid
Super Mario World
Bomberman 93

Will soon be playing -
Zack and Wiki
MoH Hereos 2
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Smash Bros Brawl
///
Assassin's Creed
Halo 3
Guitar Hero 3
Mass Effect

What about you?

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Sep 13th 2007 4:52PM

I shall take the bait! Here are some good non-first-party non-minigame games for the Wii:

Alien Syndrome (I'm about to get it and I doubt it'll suck)
Elebits (Ghostbusters meets Katamari)
Godfather: Blackhand Edition (fun GTA clone with great controls)
Kororinpa: Marble Mania (awesome labyrinth game)
Metal Slug Anthology (heaven)
Resident Evil 4: the best edition (the best edition)
Sonic and the Secret Rings (rocks your Sonic's ass, but only on mute, it has the worst music ever)
Super Swing Golf (my favorite Wii golf so far)

Throw some Wii Sports, Super Paper Mario, Twilight Princess, Mario Strikers, and Metroid Prime 3 on top of that, and you've got a goldmine until Manhunt 2, No More Heroes, Dewey's Adventure, SMASH BROS., and Galaxy come out.

And there is one minigame collection that I might have to get due to the historical significance of Mario battling Sonic.

megaStryke @ Sep 13th 2007 4:55PM

What I'VE been personally playing, excluding Nintendo games and mini-game compilations? Trauma Center was a solid experience, but of course it was a remake of the DS game. That's why I'm really looking forward to New Blood, a ground-up experience for the Wii with co-op and online leaderboards.

Metal Slug Anthology spins in my disc slot from time to time. Seven hardcore Neo-Geo games in one package? Yummy.

Sonic was a decent experience, but nothing life-affirming or anything. Just a nice step in the right direction is all.

Then I got the VC, playing games that I NEVER PHYSICALLY OWNED. Which turns out to be quite a lot.

I haven't purchased many other games because I've had a lot of go time on my PS2 and DS, but this fall is looking positively magical for me.

Aside from the new Trauma Center, I've got Zack & Wiki (pure point-and-click!) and No More Heroes on the Capcom front. I'm surprisingly pumped for Geometry Wars Galaxies (I love a solid shmup and this is turning to be quite the expansion over Retro Evolved). I'm not a big first-person shooter guy, but I make exceptions from time to time and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (instead of a port, a ground-up version completely separate from the PSP build) with its, what we've been hearing so far, near-mouse-like controls and 32-player online matches WITHOUT friend codes. Ghost Squad is light-gun madness with online co-op. Guitar Hero III is a maybe for me, but at least RedOctane clarified that there IS online in the Wii build. Speaking of online, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 will be online only on the Wii version. Then, of course, the "Big Two" Nintendo games which I will not name.

Next year, I've got FFCC: Crystal Bearers which is turning away from a multiplayer experience to an action-RPG one. Oboro Muramasa Youtouden (from the makers of Odin Sphere) looks to feature IMPRESSIVE 2D artwork. There's that Tales of Symphonia sequel that is so far exclusive to the Wii. Mushroom Men and Eternity's Child look to be out-of-left-field titles. And yadda, yadda, yadda...

Of course, those are just game I'M personally interested in, and of course I'm ignoring Nintendo-published games.

AstroZombie @ Sep 13th 2007 5:00PM

I'm glad Microsoft has never done the easy. Boy, it's really hard work writing huge checks to buy developers to make games for your console! And pretending 1/3 of all your consoles aren't bricking? Phew! Thanks for working SO HARD to make gamers happy, M$!!!

Shagittarius @ Sep 13th 2007 5:22PM

Bioshock is a great game. However it is not a great shooter, its pedestrain at best. The whole of the game makes up for what it lacks in shooter chops though. For example the limited POV in Bioshock is a detriment to any proper shooter, especially when you zoom in with a weapon, the point of view goes down to almost nothing making the use of looking down the gun barrel almost nill. That is a cardinal sin for a game claiming to be a shooter. The designers claim they tried to make it a great shooter from the start and in that respect I think it failed.

To say Bioshock had a lame story and bad acting is really pushing it. The way the graphical elements of the game world blended with the audio recordings of the characters without beating you over the head helped advance the story in a manner so subtle I can't recall a game that has ever done this so well.

I design games for fun and I usually design game games, you know ones based on mechanics and not stories but Bioshock was the first game to make me think that perhaps a game can be more than the sum of its game mechanics. It actually inspired me to think about games in a different way. It gave me a glimpse into a future for games that I hadn't thought was worth pursuing until I saw this game.

I can see how a Wii fanboy would be threatened by a game like Bioshock. It pretty much shows what putting true next gen power to good use can achieve and shows just how lacking Nintendo is in this area. Nintendo themselves said that games aren't art though so no surprises there.

You got a big long comment outta me Samfish I think thats what you were looking for.

James @ Sep 13th 2007 6:16PM

Wow, if Bioshock is ¨an example of a next gen shooter¨ then I'll pack up my 360 controller now.

It's a naff game that tries to be bigger than it really is

Ps. I just bought Orange Box on Steam. I wasn't going to. But the number of console FPS games (barring MP3, funny how an FPA is lecturing the console FPS) that have been absolute piss poor is disturbing.

Almack64 @ Sep 13th 2007 6:30PM

Ok Konny I was planning to ignore you but here you go.

Godfather (I actually had more fun with this than GTA)
Elebits
SSX Blur
Sonic
Ratoulie (strangly actually a really good platform game)
Prince of Persia: Two Thrones (I mean Rival Swords)
Trauma Center

Those along with Zelda, Paper Mario, Mario Strikers and now Metroid have kept me pretty busy. Oh yeah don't forget VC: DKC2 and Shining Force.

Almack64 @ Sep 13th 2007 6:32PM

Oh and I forgot Excite Truck

Calviin @ Sep 14th 2007 10:02AM

Even if someone did only buy the Wii for casual games, where does that matter to you? After you leave this post and finish with Joystiq for the say, do you go over to Yahoo casual games and berate them for not liking the same type of games as you, or did you do that before you came to Joystiq today?

CJA @ Sep 13th 2007 4:11PM

You ever have a boog you just couldn't pick so you cover one nostril and force air out of the other one but you didn't have a tissue to catch the snot so you used your hand but you blew your nose so hard that the hard rock snot bounced off your hand and onto your arm?

Yea me neither.....

JL @ Sep 13th 2007 4:33PM

I have no idea why I just voted you up.

hvnlysoldr (NDF - Wind Ring) @ Sep 13th 2007 5:52PM

It's a metaphor on the retard rodeo

Gavin @ Sep 13th 2007 4:16PM

Sorry, but I look at the Wii's 1st party lineup and the first thing I think is that they took the easy way out. Especially when they port games like Brain Age from a portable to their console and charge you full price for it.

The Wii is quickly becoming the dumping ground for recyled crap and they help foster that enviroment by taking Zelda, holding off on it for ever just so they could take a last gen title and sorta pseudo kinda but not really dress it up for the Wii.

To me, that is totally taking the easy route.

If Sony or MS had done the same thing, they would be constantly called out for it. Nintendo does it, and they get a free pass. When Sony, MS, or EA does a cheap rehash they get raked over the coals for that.

Shagittarius @ Sep 13th 2007 4:19PM

Logic? Fairness? This is Nintendo!

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Sep 13th 2007 4:24PM

Since when has Nintendo been getting a free pass? Is this your first time in the Joystiq comments section?

I blame lazy developers for the shovelware on ALL THREE SYSTEMS. The market leader is always the target for the biggest heap of shovelware due solely to the larger heap of potential customers. That is all. Ask the PS2 and every other market leader ever.

And regarding your Zelda comment, that happens with every new system. Nintendo didn't invent dressing up older games. In fact, I think that may have been Square, but who's counting.

Almack64 @ Sep 13th 2007 4:26PM

I think your response (and similar ones from others) identifies that Nintendo does not "get a free pass" when they do such things. There will allways be supporters and also dissenters.

Your argument against Nintendo is the same argument just about anybody can make about any of those companies.

Shagittarius @ Sep 13th 2007 4:29PM

I think in this case though the 'crap' releases are what actually appeal to the casual gamer. The Wii platform is THE target for crap.

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Sep 13th 2007 4:34PM

The casual gamer is what makes Madden the best-selling game every single year, and they're never going away. They will also be the majority of Halo 3 players. Your problem is not with casual gamers, but this very specific branch of them called "women, children, and oldies." One day you will be old, or a woman. Fuhgedaboutit. Casual gamers can evolve into gamerzards or gamerchus or other types of gamers as they experiment and develop their tastes. Except for me. I was born with a joystick in my hand.