Nintendo's Satoru Iwata: Lost Interview 20th Anniversary Remaster
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ค. 2024
- 字幕あり -- new EN & JP subtitles available via options/cog (highly recommended!) -- for the first time, this new source-quality remaster reveals the full original Japanese and English content with new subtitles for both languages, and includes previously unseen material.*
20 years ago TODAY on May 19, 2004 -- my website at the time (www.kikizo.com) scooped one of its biggest ever interviews. As global Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata (岩田 聡) was notoriously difficult to access 1-1, even for the biggest consumer games media.
(* Previously unpublished material includes comments from Mr Iwata about Hiroshi Yamauchi (at the time Nintendo's chairman, and to all intents and purposes its founder, who also sadly passed away in 2013, nine years after this interview), including: "Hiroshi Yamauchi has led Nintendo for over 50 years, and in the past 20 years, he is someone who can be called the father of today's gaming industry" -- and "I don't think we should just do exactly what he has said in the past..." -- this video is the first time these comments from Mr Iwata have ever been revealed, after recovery from my original source tapes for this remaster. )
The newly restored video offers a glimpse into the mind of one of the most important people in gaming history, whose impact is certainly still felt today -- someone we described at the time as "full of ideas guaranteed to surprise fans over the coming years".
At a time when Iwata hadn’t long been Nintendo president, DS was only just revealed, and the first glimpse of Revolution/Wii was a whole year away, nobody could have predicted how much Iwata-led Nintendo would truly shake up the industry.
In fact, some of Iwata's comments are verging on prophecy, viewed in 2024...
Like so many, I was sad to learn of Satoru Iwata's passing in 2015. Iwata's warmth of character, which became so well-known over the years in press conferences and Nintendo Directs, truly came across when we met him for this interview and on other rare occasions.
Satoru Iwata was an inspiring and charming leader who will always be very fondly remembered.
--
Thank you so much to Shinki Nishikori for working with me on new and improved translation text for this video way beyond the original 2004 transcription. You are an incredible collaborator!
I’m including Mr Iwata’s full answers in Japanese, followed by NCL's Yasuhiro Minagawa’s interpretations in English. (Note, the JP subs intentionally include some EN text).
Original interview - Kikizo.com / Adam Doree & Steve Boxer
00:00 Backstory
00:42 The day before
01:11 Nintendo Revolution (Wii)
03:56 Revolution vs PS3 & Xbox 2
08:36 Nintendo DS
11:13 Sony PSP vs Nintendo DS
13:00 Hiroshi Yamauchi Pt1
16:08 Shigeru Miyamoto Pt1
16:40 Hiroshi Yamauchi Pt2
17:48 Shigeru Miyamoto Pt2
19:53 Fair global release timing
23:02 Developer support
24:32 Nintendo share price
27:25 My closing thoughts
Chapters for reference - it will be a miracle if they ever start working again on any of my videos.
** In memory of Satoru Iwata, 1959-2015 ** - เกม
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字幕あり -- new EN & JP subtitles available via options/cog (highly recommended!) -- for the first time, this new source-quality remaster reveals the full original Japanese and English content with new subtitles for both languages, and includes previously unseen material.
20 years ago TODAY on May 19, 2004 -- my website at the time (www.kikizo.com) scooped one of its biggest ever interviews. As global Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata was notoriously difficult to access 1-1, even for the biggest consumer games media.
The newly restored video offers a glimpse into the mind of one of the most important people in gaming history, whose impact is certainly still felt today -- someone we described at the time as "full of ideas guaranteed to surprise fans over the coming years".
At a time when Iwata hadn’t long been Nintendo president, DS was only just revealed, and the first glimpse of Revolution/Wii was a whole year away, nobody could have predicted how much Iwata-led Nintendo would truly shake up the industry.
In fact, some of Iwata's comments are verging on prophecy, viewed in 2024...
Like so many, I was sad to learn of Satoru Iwata's passing in 2015. Iwata's warmth of character, which became so well-known over the years in press conferences and Nintendo Directs, truly came across when we met him for this interview and on other rare occasions.
Satoru Iwata was an inspiring and charming leader who will always be very fondly remembered.
Thank you for uploading this video.
Thank you!
On my end none of the subtitles are available
"As the CEO and Manager of Nintendo, I should not be too concerned with very short-term share price fluctuations, otherwise we will lose sight of what's really important." We should frame that quote and send it to almost every CEO in the games industry today lol.
sadly other CEOs (or their shareholders / board members) seem to be fine with not just rushing things but the ever expanding micro- and macro transactions as they're effective. I don't know a lot about Japanese business culture but that's my guess -- their culture hasn't 'corrupted' so to speak, yet at least.
They'll chuck it right in the bin.
Yes! Yes!
Iwata not being around to see the enormous success of Switch will always be a great tragedy
He saw its development, and so he likely had a gut feeling that the Hybrid approach would be successful 👍
He did in heaven 😢
Iwata knew that these graphical powerhouses will not hold up. Just look at the switch, its destroying the competition despite being less powerful than the competition. It's about the gameplay experience, not the graphics.
That's why the switch is scared about their successor. 3rd parties drive the market outside yet another milked mario, and stuff on consoles is prone to censorship between ff7, stellar blade and paper mario. Nintendo switch expansion isn't updated as frequently to justify paying over basic for more than a year. At least the price didn't go up and the family plan encourages social interaction to do up to 8 people as individual for both costs more than for 2 people, which is dumb.
Why not just go pc/hybrid and get more demos, better performance with additional/xbox game pass storefronts, and not deal with obsolete game trials? Would've been nice if Nintendo at least made one of their new games free for a week.
Ask Iwata was a good book, but yeah a lot of the good nintendo had died with him (free online multiplayer, nintendo selects $20 games) and when Fils-Aime left (and he had to leave gamestop once they felt he'd sabotage their trade secrets, which is impossible to suggest anything in that environment as an advisor, he did fight to bundle wii sports, which yeah better than waiting piecemeal and overpaying for switch sports, though it is better now with golf and wii matt cheat code for chanbara).
I'd avoid reggie's book though. It's more his life experiences, has a typo warning and the audio book has an interview not on the written versions.
Iwata was educated by Yokoi, who firmly believed in making yesterday’s technology into today’s affordable and accessible toys. That’s why Nintendo still produces “weaker” systems, to this day. The original Game Boy was super underpowered when it came out and it was a huge hit.
@obsidianchao I just wish they didn't make lame upgrades like gb micro, new 3ds and switch OLED. Game and watch for mario and zelda were underwhelming but at least switch online has one of the gbc games
@@obsidianchao oh cool! I didn't know about that
@@MrVariant The Switch was set up by Iwata. If I remember correctly, Kimishima basically acted on Iwata's vision.
Iwata was one of the greatest ceo ever. Gone too soon. RIP
bro why are you here, your MS and sony are in verge of collapse 😂 day after day its getting worse for them
@@tiwitiwi6202 Glad I'm not the only one that knows he does that as well, This dude is annoying as hell and He's a nut job
I grew up with Nintendo during childhood and teenage years during the Iwata era. I never knew the man personally but I was always happy to see him in Nintendo Direct's or E3. There is one picture on the internet of Mr. Iwata, Mr. Miyamoto and Reggie putting their hands together at E3 and it will be always my favourite picture in regards of Nintendo. In my eyes, Mr. Iwata was a true leader who thought about his employees and truly cared about them whilst also knowing the industry in which he was a CEO extremely well due to his personal interest in it. His action to half his salary as a CEO during one of the weakest time of the Wii U in order to be able to finance his employees salary so that they will not have to think about layoffs and can continue their work in good mental health is an action that speaks louder than words. From my knowledge the Switch was again an idea of Mr. Iwata and I'm so happy that it brought the company back to the spot. It's sad he isn't able to see it but I'm still proud to own a Switch. He is someone who I look up to on how to be a good boss
That’s so cool you got to interview the great Iwata, he will be missed.
So Hiroshi Yamauchi came up with the idea of two screens. That's really surprising!
People like to hate him because of the Sony deal but he really was a genius and despite not playing games he understood what’s good about them
@@sora5501Ehhh. Honestly it’s a great thing really. Sony now makes PlayStation, Microsoft’s Xbox. PC gaming of course. It adds more diversity and wide range of different games. Too bad the fanboys are so close minded.
@sora5501 why would people hate him for the Sony deal when Sony was the one trying to trick Nintendo? Lol. If you were to hate him for something that would be him calling gamers nerds and for selling rare to Microsoft
Iwata was so well spoken both in English and Japanese. It’s so interesting comparing his speech to someone like Shigeru Miyamoto. Iwata always addresses thoughtfully with administrative intent, whereas Miyamoto always has a childlike floating wonder to his talks.
Iwata-san was so forward thinking! I think a lot of things he said back then can be applied to today‘s gaming industry‘s landscape. A true one of a kind leader 😢
Your futures so bright you need shades to see it.
What an incredible piece of Nintendo history. Thank you for saving this all these years!
Time has caught up with him. AAA game development is collapsing.
なんて貴重な映像でしょう。
岩田聡社長がおっしゃってることは現代にも通じますね。
本当に偉大な方を亡くしました。
改めてご冥福をお祈り致します。
ゲームをやらない母がはじめてのwiiのシューティングにはまりこちらが付き合わされたのは良い思い出ですねw
その当時本当にゲームが複雑化していてゲームをやるのが億劫になってた僕にwiiはゲームの楽しさを思い出させてくれたゲーム機でした。
岩田聡社長本当にありがとうございました。
Iwata's death is the perfect example of "k*lling a character for the sake of the plot, he was too OP"
These uncut, extended videos are truly priceless.
RIP to a real one, F in the chat
It's impressive today to appreciate how humble he was, especially when he misinterpreted the question about Miyamoto-san and how quickly he corrected himself. Still legendary, and yet it's easy to see why so many people admired him.
I was so lucky to meet him in person and play a game with him. He was an amazing visionary and a true gamer at heart.
Amazing, Whoop, Whoop! I wish I would have had the chance to meet him. Sadly I didn't know enough about him until he passed away. Then we had a bunch of videos showing who he was. I knew he was important but I didn't know that it was that deep rooted from the beginning of gaming.
I miss Satoru Iwata. Nintendo isn't the same without him.
They're like, exactly the same.
@@NuiYabuko No, they aren't. Iwata was in every direct, every E3. He was personal and spoke to fans directly. When was the last time you saw Nintendo's current CEO?
@@lukebrady65 Yeah the new CEO hasn't really been very public for some reason
@@NuiYabuko early days of the switch lets you play online without any subscription. lets not forget that
@@lukebrady65 I wonder what is he up to ngl
We lost him way too soon. I truly hope his wisdom is still found within Nintendo's walls to this day...
そうそう、現行機の処理能力向上や解像度を上げるだけでは誰でも予想できる
任天堂は機能を上げるだけじゃ意味がないよねっと
より面白い体験を沢山の人に提供させるのが任天堂の強みだとおもう
現代にこそ刺さるよね
いわっちのこの考え
No one will ever replace Iwata.
If only he can see the success of the Switch now. Now it has entered its final chapter.
岩田さんの貴重な映像を提供いただきありがとうございます。
Thx for providing extremely precious movie that is involved to Iwata San.
Ironically, the part that was left out 20 years ago, the one resulting from a misunderstanding, is the most insightful but also bittersweet due to his death but it does pave the way for the future.
Wow I was just watching and reminiscing this sorta thing from E3 2004 since last night!!
Thanks for this. This is the man who saved Nintendo.
レジェンドの人物がこの世から居なくなるのは本当に悲しいわ
Love how he states his design idealism starts and ends at “Is this game fun to play?” People don’t care how it looks. They care about FUN. They ALWAYS have. Atari 2600 looked like shit even when it came out but was still a hit.
4:08 2004年5月の段階でこれ言えたのすごい…
Neku! how can you walk around with this!
天才的なプログラマーだったからこそ、視えたものがあったのかも(しらんけど🙃)
またすげえ動画が出たもんだ
そして、挿入されてるどうぶつの森64の夜のBGMのセンス！分かってる！
During the 2020s, people would weaponize and use his death against the Nintendo DMCA legal team and thinking Shigeru Miyamoto, Sakurai and the other developers were affiliated with those decisions, but in reality they weren't.
However, there are thankfully a bunch of casual and respectful Nintendo fans that are telling those types of people to knock it off. And finally and after the Super Mario Bros. Movie credit scene
People are no longer weaponizing his death anymore and letting the man rest, He's still a legend as always and we will never forget him.
The secret in my opinion to great games is between art direction, gameplay, storytelling, immersion, performance and interaction!
Thanks so much for sharing Adam.
Thanks for uploading the whole interview!
I saw a “meme” (using the term loosely) containing the controllers of PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo. PlayStation’s controllers had the caption “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I don’t remember what Xbox’s controllers said, but it’s Nintendo’s that holds true to the company’s philosophy: “Innovation requires risk.” Personally, I feel as though Nintendo is honoring both Gunpei Yokoi (father of the GameBoy and many others) and Satoru Iwata’s philosophies even though they’ve been deceased for a long time. Sure, Nintendo’s consoles may be a generation behind in terms of specs, but that’s what Yokoi’s “Lateral thinking with withered technology” philosophy comes into play. The technology has existed for a while, Nintendo’s designers are thinking of new ways to use said hardware.
Thank you for sharing this.
Tenía razón, las consolas más potentes solo significan más trabajo para los desarrolladores de los juegos y cada vez se nota menos la diferencia gráfica. Muy fuerte lo de "si creyéramos que eso fuera a funcionar, estaríamos haciendo lo mismo".
Veía a largo plazo no como las empresas de ahora que solo veen a corto...
Thank you for share this!
thank you for the piece of history, great work and miss him
Thank you for releasing this interview!!!
Thank you for releasing this insightful video with the man who brought us many classic gaming moments. A real pleasure to watch.
Man, I fucking love this channel. A true gem.
(question: why the profanity)
It’s crazy how Iwata’s prediction for the videogame industry 2 decades later became true. Nintendo has the weakest hardware with the Switch compared to Microsoft and Sony and yet it is now tye 3rd best selling videogame console of all time. Gameplay is more important than graphics
looking back newer gen console is indeed loses it's way. back in the day it's use to be matured technology that console builds upon not these bleeding edge super advanced like sony and microsoft do. that likely to put pressure on developers and trend to make games ever harder to develop for. console should never try to be pc it's futile effort.
優しい笑顔だけど、眼差しは鋭い
Thank You Mr Iwata for lifetime memories
Every time he said we and knew the final name xD what Wii should be doing. Thanks for surfacing this it's very informative and there's alot that I think people in similar positions can glean from this.
Woooooo! Iwata-san! Iwata-san made a revolutionary development in Console Game
and... What a great interview! I'm glad to see a video like this
Thank you so, so much!
We miss him so much
Thanks for that! I hope it inspires nowadays CEOs
this is a really cool find
Seeing the Legend and hearing the Word Gamecube just warms my heart!
He was very forward thinking with his insight. His death left a big hole in the industry.
Just wanted to say, thank you so much for uploading all of these videos.
This really takes me back to a time when the internet was a much funner place, at least for me.
Kikizo, The Gia, Magic Box... So many great memories.
I just love his era and legacy: DS, Wii and Wii U!
後ろメトロイドだ
Rest easy, Legend 🫡
Nice.
He was 44 at the time.
Damn
Great
Almost prophetic, but then again he was the CEO - extensive knowledge on his industry. His words ring true, where do we see the future of PlayStation and Xbox? Perhaps cloud based? Aside from adaptive triggers we are yet to see something out of the box. Iwata-sama is so right, time and time again Nintendo change the way we interact with the software we love. Here’s just a few things that are absolutely incredible and push their products to their fullest capability. Labo, Wii, DS, GB, Switch. Absolute game changers. Look at the surge in handhelds now, there are strong rumors of a Microsoft handheld. Specs aside Nintendo are the pioneers and all the rest can do is increase the amount of polygons on screen. As for the games though, we are spoilt with the fantastic software we have across the board but yet again Nintendo games are just so filled with soul, so full of life!
That's my guy right there
The 🐐 🗣️
It is nice hearing from him again... Two things that concern me though are if it was somehow faked... And if there are more of these. I should go and watch it.
So, he acknowledged that simply putting another console on the shelves not going to cut it for Nintendo since the competition is steep. Thus, they came up with Wiimote... It's kind of funny that even though they're aware of being different in the market is important, they still launched Wii U as is... Since many people don't distinguished it as a new and different console then Wii. They literally fell in to the same trap that they foresee. Ironic.
wii u was a failure in marketing not the product itself. in many ways it has things the switch and wii u do not have.
@@LOLxUnique Well, yes. People thought Wii U is nothing more than an accessory to Wii. That's why it's funny, because Nintendo knew that they need to distinguish their console, not only from competition. Yet, I think their stubbornness to not name their consoles with numbers, ultimately cause the demise of Wii U. Especially given the fact that Nintendo appealed the casual market with Wii which those people don't seek knowledge about upcoming devices. Nintendo should've known very well that Wii owners will dismiss Wii U. They need to market Wii U as a new and distinguish console that's more than Wii and other competitors. They epically failed at this.
Also, as a side not, I don't think third party devs really love the idea of Wii U. So, in a way it was also a failure in product itself. I mean think about it, even if Wii U was a success, what sort of games do you expect on the system that utilize the controller? I doubt there will be any meaningful thing. Devs would put bunch of UI elements on controller screen and call the day. I think Nintendo partially fooled themselves with the success of DS. They really thought that having dual screen adds something meaningful to gaming. But it was nothing more than a gimmick.
He was such a well rounded and smart and funny man. It hurts.
But why was it not released before?
This is being misreported slightly in some press. It was mostly published as an original English only video and transcript in 2004, but not in full language format and with some of the missing bits that are now here. This is the definitive and uncut version if you like.
@@AdamDoree I see...
На его идеях до сих пор держится Нинтендо. Гений!❤
Damn I miss that man.
Satoru Iwata the "man behind most of these unique consoles and guided Nintendo as a company."
Please low the volume of the music. Thanks for the video
4:42 -2024😅
Iwata would shoot for the sky if he knew he made the switch the dominating console of the 9th gen, the best selling console in his country, and one of the best selling consoles of all time
Are all interviews on the website inaccessible? you have a David Yarnton interview that sounds super interesting. I'm attempting to make a very in depth video on the details of Wii sports and there are many interviews and videos you landed that sounds intriguing considering it was made in September 2006, 2 months before Wii sports hit the public. Thank you! great channel as well been surfing through a ton of these videos they are very informative and rare to see.
Thank you for the request! I will add the David Yarnton and other Nintendo ones soon like Katsuya Eguchi from around the same time.
I hope the R&D team has been cooking whilst the Switch has absolutely taken the world by storm. Its going to be yet again, another revolution from Nintendo 👏
Iwata's telephone bill must be expensive with how much he called it for 20yrs
THIS SON OF A GUN WAS TOTALLY RIGHT!
HOLY SHIT!
Will the switch 2 be as unique without him
Great interview, interesting to hear the reasoning behind the Wii being so different to the PS3 and 360, some of what he said still holds true today, and nintendo seems to be loosing that creative edge, the Switch 2 sounds like just a spec bump of the original switch which is exactly what Iwata was trying to move away from..
I mean, there is also the rumor of the magnetic joy-cons, they can also innovate through digital. It will probably be more like the DS to 3DS.
@@coyhCoyHerbert I think the 3DS innovated a lot more than people give it credit for (even though I think overall the original DS was a better system) it has a 3D screen, a widescreen display on top, a new analogue stick, gyro controls, 3D camera, new internet features (mii verse, friends list, virtual console etc. I don’t see the switch 2 changing much, maybe higher resolution, better specs and magnetic joy con, but it doesn’t feel like anything fresh or exciting.. maybe we’ll be surprised when it’s announced and this comment will seem very dated 😅 time will tell!
Nintendo’s often released iterative systems. Game Boy > GBC > GBA. Wii > Wii U. DS > 3DS. As long as the Switch 2 does more than update the chipset, I think they’ll be just fine.
@@obsidianchao Can't just use logic on people's nostalgia glasses.
@@RetroBreak So those fairly minor things are innovation, but then you downplay the Switch 2 as just a spec bump, even though we know nothing yet? Way to push a narrative.
How would Iwata-san design Switch 2?
For an ordinary person like me, all I can think of is upgrading the specs.
Yeah, it'd be just like the transition from DS to 3Ds, minor changes, but a better hardware overral
If I were Nintendo, I would just beef up the Switch 2 to maintain compatibility with the Ps5 and XBOX I don't-know-what games to keep the foot on their necks and bring even more games to the new platform. Sony and Microsoft walked into a corner now 😂. But after Switch 2? I don't know. That's a big problem and I'm concerned as well. Maybe revisit some ideas from the Wii U and 3DS? I'm actually concerned for videogames overall tbh. The PS5/New Xbox gen is almost ending and it feels it didn't even start
I think there's a flaw in the idea of it being one approach or the other, when it should ideally be a combination of both imo.
i dont think this is a remaster. knowing this is upscaled from a 240p video, i only know see the scan lines clearer 😢
It's not upscaled from 240p, it's original DV source -- pretty much as good as it gets from DV.
Hi, where i can find "Lost Planet Video Interview"
Keiji Inafune in-depth interview?
I will add it to the channel soon, thanks for requesting.
@@AdamDoree Thank you )
Was all downhill for the industry after his passing.
the philosophy of revolutionizing how to play in every generation is cool, but also scares me they might get rid of having a hybrid system
Furukawa confirmed it's a Switch-like console.
Everyone when iwatq was alive: terrible president, needs to step down, ruining shitendo
Everyone after he died: iwata was the best thing to ever happen to gaming
I only remember very positive comments about Iwata when he was alive, he was routinely singled out as a charming and fun part of the early directs.
Not true at all.
Where did you hear that? He was always revered as a great president...
@@Yarlick I was around when this was happening bruh, since I am not a child like u i actually remember things that haplened 8 years ago
@@technobladeleakedclips1827 What do you expect me to be? A Gen Z? Because you’ll have to guess again.
The only thing your comments shows is your ignorance. Stop trying to give your narrative as the absolute truth to others because your comment is bullshit. It’s not because there were some questionable decisions that it makes him a bad president. He is the only one so far that had a paycut to avoid his people to be fired.
Reggie Fils Aime was the one we were critical the most, not Iwata.
So no, from what you’re saying, you certainly weren’t there.
The next time you want your comment to hit home and not just feel like a troll, give some facts and try looking at profile before assuming people’s age.
The translation is atrocious. You would think the CEO of a large corporation would have a better translator..
He's not translating to English, he's translating to corpo speech.
Yasuhiro Minagawa is actually a very competent interpreter. He may not be native English speaker but as Japanese native delivering answers in English, he is very good - and in fact, as we now show both the source Japanese and English answers, we see they are very close. Also I have to tell you that at game events like E3, TGS etc even these days but especially back then, competent EN/JP interpreters were few and far between. Most game cos just roped in anyone on their teams to do it and the results were often very mixed, to put it politely. Minagawa is at the high end of that spectrum and the appropriate level for a CEO of a Japanese public company.
@@AdamDoree thank you for explaining it. He seems to have a lot of qualifications. I noticed that he was in charge of translating Iwata at shareholder meetings. He was obviously very well trusted for the job. But on the subject of the video, he translated a few things incorrectly as far as I'm concerned. Maybe he was having a bad day.
Unfortunately, with the passing of President IWATA, Nintendo could be making hardware that simply has better specs. At least the portability and controller of the switch did not give me a new experience😔
The Switch was Iwata's baby, though?
@@NuiYabuko
yes. Iwata's last job
Nintendo of America COO Reginald Fils-Aimé
writen his Books『DISRUPTING THE GAME』『崖っぷちだったアメリカ任天堂を復活させた男』
I hope the R&D team has been cooking whilst the Switch has absolutely taken the world by storm. Its going to be yet again, another revolution from Nintendo 👏