Iwata talks…
“We haven’t made any kind of blunder, but I should have shown a single picture of the new console, then started talking about the controller,” he continued. “The console is not drastically different, and Wii U is about the controller. The console itself will be almost invisible.”
I am hearing many newspapers reported that Wii U was a ‘new controller’ and not a ‘new console’. If you have an E3 Conference and people do not know there is a new console, it can be nothing but a blunder.
Iwata said that the press was also to blame, noting that it’s not possible to see how important the Wii U console is unless you’ve actually given it a try.
In other words, everyone who doesn’t agree that Wii U is awesome are a bunch of idiots. The tone of Nintendo executives has changed wildly from 2006. In 2006, it was, “I hope someone likes this console…” to 2011, “Only people who are allowed an opinion on the console are the people with hands on experience. Everyone else is misinformed and idiotic.” Of course, these people who have hands-on experience are not representative of the public. Many, also, are not free to write anything more than a glowing advertisement given the nature that their jobs depend on industry connections.
“There have been two groups of people writing about our announcement – those who have been able to experience the Wii U, and those who have not, and are simply writing about it from wire stories and pictures,” he mused.
One of the first rules of public relations is to never attack the press. Why? You do not attack people who buy ink by the barrel, as the saying goes.
A big difference between the press that are not there is that they are uncontrolled. And this is part of the reason why E3 was reformed (along with the major costs that EA didn’t like) after E3 2006. For example, at E3 2006, someone could catch a developer saying something on the show floor and immediately upload it to the Internet. The Industry did not like this.
After the Wii’s debut at E3 2006, Nintendo went on road shows to demo the system to ‘put the controller in as many hands as possible’. Since Iwata declares everyone not at the show idiots, will Nintendo follow the Wii’s path and go on roadshows to put the controller in as many hands as possible?
I bet you that they won’t.
“They cannot see how this can be a game changer. It reminds me of 2006, when we introduced the Wii for the first time. Here in LA, people enjoyed it, but in Japan, the atmosphere was very different. It seems to be the same this year.”
This is a lie. After E3 2006, Nintendo’s stock shot up and the Nintendo fanbase was extremely excited. Nintendo’s performance at 2011 is absolutely nothing like E3 2006.
“What Wii U will offer is very different, but I believe we have the strong potential to change the entire format of videogames and of entertainment,” he concluded.
Denial. Nintendo thinks they are still in the clouds when they are actually falling in the abyss. Iwata even seems to be in denial about the 3DS’s performance. Is there any contingency plan? What happens if 3DS doesn’t pick up to 3d Mario and Luigi’s Mansion, both of which are Gamecube-esque games? Not even Mario Kart or Smash Brothers could save the Gamecube, so it likely won’t save the 3DS either.
Iwata very well could be baffled by the plunging Nintendo stock. The Nintendo executives could be the last ones to discover reality. But by the time they do, the damage will already be done.
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