Hiroshi Yamauchi On Nintendo's Future

Thanks to 1UP for its article covering a new interview with former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, as he discusses the recently announced DS portable and the state of Nintendo as a whole. In particular, the article notes: "The DS represents a critical moment for Nintendo's success over the next two years, Yamauchi said -- 'if it succeeds, we rise to the heavens, if it fails, we sink into hell.' His hope, and Nintendo's mission, is to spread new gameplay through this device and re-energize the games market in both Japan and the rest of the world." Apparently, it was the 76-year-old Yamauchi "...who first proposed the concept of games employing a dual-screen device about 18 months ago", and elsewhere, Game Science has coverage of largely enthusiastic comments from Japanese developers on the DS, ranging from the positive ("It's exciting hardware for both makers and users) to the guarded ("A machine with two screens is going to be quite a high hurdle for developers to get over.")

Comments

What I want to know...

[ReyTFox]

Does it have two sets of controls or not?

If it does, it has the smack-your-head obvious advantage of being a portable multiplayer device; with only one unit and one game, you can play with your friends.

If not....well, I'm sure that people will come up with ways to use multi-screen in a single-player fashion.

Look, it's the DEVIL

[Rallion]

As a longtime N fan, I have to say, this guy's an idiot. I haven't read the article yet, I'm just saying. This is the man who dismissed internet gaming as a fad, and who is possibly a significant part of the reason that GameCube lags so much in that respect. He also, supposedly, doesn't like kids. Luckily the people around him were always up to their eyeballs in genius. I'm glad he's gone.

Re:Look, it's the DEVIL

[nathanh]

This is the man who dismissed internet gaming as a fad,

I only wish he was right. I don't know if I'm the only one, but I DETEST Internet gaming. All the online games are full of cheats and weenies and fu><0r j00 d00d morons. The servers are always full, or down, or slow, or whatever. But it's never a smooth experience. I'm constantly frustrated when trying to connect. Plus with half the online games charging a monthly service, it's simply too expensive for a casual gamer like me.

I'd like to think I could just say "pfeh, I don't play them, but they don't bother me". But it's not true. Internet games are sucking up all the developer resources. Every second game has Internet connectivity. That's wasted effort on a feature I'll never use, but I still have to pay for.

I do like LAN games. LAN parties are great. I also like party games (ie, 4 of you crowd around the same telly). But Internet gaming? No thanks. Been there. Done that. Wasn't interested in the t-shirt.

Re:Look, it's the DEVIL

[Snowmit]

As a longtime N fan, I have to say, this guy's an idiot. I haven't read the article yet, I'm just saying.

Awesome! This is the first time I've seen someone get +4 Interesting for blatantly admitting that they didn't RTFA.

Re:Look, it's the DEVIL

[TechniMyoko]

You have never played a good game. Xbox live servers are always up. I dont get any lag and Im on a crappy DSL line. Admittidly there are some idiots, none of the leet speak bastards thanks to voice chat. Internet games do not suck up resources, it's very simple these days to add some reusable code modules to get/send data to/from other players. And if the dev's dont know how to do that, then they haven't been programming very long

Heh, slow down a minute

[metroid composite]

Yamauchi said -- 'if it succeeds, we rise to the heavens, if it fails, we sink into hell.'

I don't buy that at all (though I tend not to believe Yamauchi). I saw an insightful post on slashdot a while back which suggested that this was designed to cut into PSP market share only. That, and it's not designed to replace the GBA, and it won't because it's more expensive and has a smaller library. Nintendo can still do fine off the GBA/GC whether or not the DS takes off.

Agreed.

[metroid composite]

I think this sumarizes both sides of the argument fairly well. It doesn't look to be a profitable market area; not yet at least. Nintendo's gotten more out of the Link Cable via Pokemon.

Re:This basically sums it all up...

[Apreche]

My guess is that the DS has some secret awesome thing going for it. What I'm thinking is this. Link cable gaming never really took off on the game boy because you needed two gameboys, two cartridges of the game and the cable. On the GBA it is starting to pick up because of the e-reader, the gamecube connecting, pokemon, and all the multiplayer games that need only one cartridge for 4 people instead of 2 for 2.

My guess is that the ds will have cool single player games that utilize both screens in an intuitive and revolutionary way. However, I'm also guessing that the thing will split in half, physically, to become two pieces that communicate wirelessly with each other. With a single cartridge and a single system two people will be able to have never before considered portable gaming experiences. Imagine the possibilities. Battleship. Spy vs. Spy (remember!), Final Fantasy Tactics. Mario + Luigi! Zelda! Mario Tennis! Mario Party! Now if two dses can commuicate you can have 4 players 4 screens two systems two cartridges in the car on the go.

The evidence I have? None, it's just a guess. But here's a qote from Iwata

- ...we're thinking about new forms of play using wireless communication

If they do what I'm thinking the DS will become king. Either that or I'm hoping they are such creative geniuses that I have not thought of their secret. I just hope they have something. I want Nintendo to stay around for a loooong time. When I have kids I need some games for them to play.

Re:Dead on arrival.

[MMaestro]

1. Actually there are a lot of game ideas that would work with two screens (Action/RPGs, turn-based strategy games, adventure games, etc). The only reason why it seems like two screens wouldn't work is because no one has ever taken the time to think it out (how many people even use dual computer monitors let alone use two TVs for console gaming).

2. Programming for the multiprocessors would actually be pretty interesting. Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean it can't.

3. Better hardware and/or better screen does not always equal success. (Game Gear? Neo Geo Pocket Color?)

4. Even with the twin hardware, chances are it'll be priced around $200. Saying that it'll be priced at $300 is really ignorant of Nintendo's history. Nintendo has been in the gaming business for over 10 years, they're not stupid enough to have a HANDHELD be priced at anything over $200 no matter what hardware is inside.

Playstation (like all systems) in the beginning was weak. Poor graphics, lack of great 1st or 3rd party developers (name one besides from Square that made a good 1st generation PS1 game), and insanely annoying and long load times. Sony managed to sell it thanks to great marketing, the large sizes of CDs, and the innovative (at the time) use of FMVs.

The day Nintendo retires its franchises (Metroid, Mario, F-Zero, Donkey Kong, etc) is the day the gaming industry and gamers all over will greve over the loss. Considering the amount of experimentation and innovation Nintendo incorporates into their games; compared to Sony's 3rd party developers (nearly every sports, racing, FPS, and RPG game), Nintendo is a frikin think tank.

Re:Dead on arrival.

[MMaestro]

I'd even suggest the same for Metroid Prime. A 3D game tends to inherently have worse control than a sidescroller (you usually have to spend far more time playing the camera than the actors), so don't take a game based on an excellent sidescroll series and try to add a third dimension

Have you even played Metroid Prime? Theres no camera at all, you play from a 1st person view. The only time you use a 2st/3rd person view is when you're in morph ball form and thats not saying much.

I don't think you even have an idea of what you're talking about if you think the Metroid series was built on its sidescrolling aspect and then state that a game with no camera is bad because 3d cameras suck.

P.S. The Metroid series wasn't built on its sidescrolling aspect. It was built on the ability to explore a seemingly endless planet at your own will. If you knew the areas in the first game well enough by memory you could get through the entire game without dying once, with one missle tank, no energy tanks, without getting the wave beam, and under 1 hour... without a mini-map available.