Nintendo investor meeting: cafeteria food, third-party support and more...

[Deleted_171835]

The English translation of the Investor Meeting that Nintendo recently had was posted, and it revealed a few interesting tidbits regarding Nintendo's general direction and the Wii U.

Regarding firing staff:

Iwata was asked why, given Nintendo's lackluster financial performance recently, he had not cut staff numbers. He replied that such moves might cause for better short-term results but may reduce overall employee morale and reduce the quality of software titles.

"If we reduce the number of employees for better short-term financial results, employee morale will decrease," he said. "I sincerely doubt employees who fear that they may be laid off will be able to develop software titles that could impress people around the world."

Third-party support, “more key titles to be announced by them”

When asked by an investor concerned about weakening third-party support, Iwata acknowledged that some publishers won't be releasing their games on the Wii U and reiterated his plan for bolstering support.

"One is to seamlessly release our first-party titles starting from next month to improve the momentum of Wii U. As third-party software developers do business for their own profits, they tend to avoid investing in a platform with little presence. We would therefore like them to see Wii U as a platform with which they feel they can make profits from an economical perspective. However, if we tried to do nothing but buying our way to create such a good condition for developers, our own business could collapse. Accordingly, we will give more momentum to Wii U through our software. This is one thing we need to do.

To explain the second point, let me show you a slide which shows some examples of Wii U games that had been announced by third-party developers at the time of E3. I am not in a position to discuss the software to be launched by the third-party developers in detail, but there are more key titles to be announced by them.

The other important thing is to have a hit from such third-party titles. There were so many games released by third party publishers for Wii U during the launch period, but most of them were converted from other platforms and therefore could not enjoy brisk sales. As a result, some software developers have become pessimistic about Wii U. However, the time will come when some third-party games for Wii U and for other platforms are released at the same time this year. It is important to have given much momentum to Wii U around that period.

If the number of consumers who prefer the Wii U version’s unique entertainment value, such as the ability to play games only with the Wii U GamePad (while the rest of the family is watching TV), increases to a certain extent where third-party publishers notice unexpected hit Wii U titles from other publishers and realize this system’s business potential, its momentum will be improved. Even if these publishers did not have any concrete plans to develop Wii U software, they will swiftly change their minds when they see the successful examples from others. By giving sales momentum to Wii U through our first-party software in the short run and seeing success from third-party software within this year, we would like to dramatically change the situation of Wii U next year and beyond. Thank you."

Cafeteria food:

Another very important concern raised by investors was the quality of the cafeteria food served to Nintendo employees. Iwata acknowledged this concern and said that they will examine the issue of food quality.

Q. In addition, I heard that the quality of the company cafeteria is not so good from one of my acquaintances who works for Nintendo. I think you should ensure that everybody is able to enjoy eating at the cafeteria as a part of the employee welfare program and improve internal communication among employees.

A. As for our company cafeteria, we regularly hear the same opinion when we gather feedback from employees. However, opinions vary considerably by individual and not all the employees agree with this. Still I examine such an opinion as an issue of the company because we receive such feedback constantly. Thank you.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/stock/meeting/130627qa/index.html

 

[Nathan Drake]

I know that Nintendo employee's lunch is the most important aspect of Nintendo as a company. I thank you for this great information.

 

[Deleted_171835]

I know that Nintendo employee's lunch is the most important aspect of Nintendo as a company. I thank you for this great information.

In addition to this...

Q. I would like you to energetically create software filled with dreams that is exciting for both children and adults. To create such excellent games, I hope Mr. Iwata and Mr. Miyamoto will go through various experiences, including deadly adventures like crossing the Sahara on camelback or exploring the Amazon, full of piranhas, anacondas and crocodiles, together with the company’s other game creators.

A. ... I would like to thank you for suggesting some interesting ideas full of dreams.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/stock/meeting/120628qa/02.html

 

[Gahars]

No, no, no, Nintendo! People didn't care about your lunch, they cared about the launch!

Geez, this explains everything.

 

[McHaggis]

I don't think this strategy is a good one. It's certainly a start―releasing more first-party games will undoubtedly improve console sales―, but it just doesn't seem like enough to appeal to the broader crowd. They need to do something to try and turn PS4 and XBox One buyers over to the Wii U, and the only way to do that is to have some exclusives that will appeal to more than just gamers of all ages. They need to target mature demographics with some mature games, IMO.

Nintendo could do that with a new franchise or a reboot of an old franchise, or by ploughing a small investment into a few third-party developers who are good at that kind of thing.

 

[air2004]

Something is missing from the link ... I can't find anything that says
Iwata was asked why, given Nintendo's lackluster financial performance recently

 

[Deleted_171835]

Something is missing from the link ... I can't find anything that says
Iwata was asked why, given Nintendo's lackluster financial performance recently

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/stock/meeting/130627qa/03.html, Q.10.

 

[FAST6191]

I know that Nintendo employee's lunch is the most important aspect of Nintendo as a company. I thank you for this great information.

It may be a Japanese thing as well but combined with them not being inclined to sort the wheat from the chaff it probably speaks to their hiring policy and the sorts of people there* tend not to function quite so well in society which means you probably ought to make sure they get at least one square meal a day.

*despite a great amount of experimentation I have yet to discover an equivalent if you replace the bottom axis with LSD or some other psychotropic
http://xkcd.com/323/

 

[Ericthegreat]

Hey, google has good food and look how well they do.

 

[GHANMI]

In addition to this...

Q8: To create such excellent games, I hope Mr. Iwata and Mr. Miyamoto will go through various experiences, including deadly adventures like crossing the Sahara on camelback or exploring the Amazon, full of piranhas, anacondas and crocodiles, together with the company’s other game creators.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/stock/meeting/120628qa/02.html

He sure does seem like a particularly evil Sony / Microsoft / EA fan-boy, doesn't he?

 

[MegaBassBX]

Talk about admitting their fucking mistakes, shame on you Nintendo for letting your employee eat shit !

 

[Clydefrosch]

Not disagreeing with nintendo doing many things wrong, but I still find it funny how all the publishers somehow prefer the yet unreleased consoles. They're not much more than big black holes. Nobody knows what dangers might lurk behind their shiny cases. Could it be new death rings? or a drm more devious and devilish than the one they recently threw out the window?

 

[Mantis41]

I wanted to compare release titles per console from release date for the same period of time.

Spoiler

Looks as if the 360 had the fewest titles of all 3 in the first 6-7 months after launch.

 

[Nathan Drake]

Not disagreeing with nintendo doing many things wrong, but I still find it funny how all the publishers somehow prefer the yet unreleased consoles. They're not much more than big black holes. Nobody knows what dangers might lurk behind their shiny cases. Could it be new death rings? or a drm more devious and devilish than the one they recently threw out the window?

DRM is a developer choice only. Even the One's DRM was still up to the developer prior to total removal as an option, and the PS4 also has optional DRM options, though none of them will involve actual system functions such as a digital only used marketplace or the like. Likely much more minor at the worst. Regardless, the Wii U is doing poorly. The One and the PS4 are unreleased. As of now, the PS4 and One are more appealing to developers than the Wii U simply because they don't have poor sales. It doesn't matter that they have no sales. It's simply that their sales aren't yet poor. That alone is enough to take the jump and see what happens.

Even with that aside, I feel like this one year jump the Wii U has taken in advance has people forgetting that developers always gamble on new consoles. Consistently, without fail. No gamble means no potential profit. No games means the systems won't sell to begin with. They like to test the waters. Did developers jump ship on the Wii U without giving it time first, and without releasing some games to see how they sold? No. They gave it a shot, even if it wasn't great, and sold what they had. As it stands, the Wii U tried to be next gen ready at a time when the next gen wasn't ready to get started, so Wii U owners can't even really complain about third parties not necessarily putting their best out there, or complain about just getting somewhat mediocre ports, since frankly, that's all third parties could realistically offer at a time when the next gen wasn't actually ready to go.

I wanted to compare release titles per console from release date for the same period of time.

Spoiler

Looks as if the 360 had the fewer titles of all 3 in the first 6-7 months after launch.

That image host is absolutely awful. I'd strongly consider rehosting the image somewhere like imgur or anywhere that has actually proven not to be a terrible image service for half of this website.

 

[Mantis41]

That image host is absolutely awful. I'd strongly consider rehosting the image somewhere like imgur or anywhere that has actually proven not to be a terrible image service for half of this website.

Can you recommend one that doesn't try to re-size the image?
Either that or is there a way to use the HTML version exported from Excel?

 

[Nathan Drake]

Can you recommend one that doesn't try to re-size the image?
Either that or is there a way to use the HTML version exported from Excel?

Is this not as big as it originally was?

Spoiler

 

[Mantis41]

Is this not as big as it originally was?

Thanks. I will use imgur in future.
It's a pity you can't dump the HTM file straight into a post it would be a lot clearer than a screen capture.

 

[Ergo]

In defense of at least NOA's cafeteria food, it's very good.

(Because I know you are all terribly concerned about the state of the food at their WA state campus.)

(EALA also has great food, which is about the only nice thing I have to say about the place...oh, and an awesome gym...that no one--shock!--uses.)

 

[Taleweaver]

No, no, no, Nintendo! People didn't care about your lunch, they cared about the launch!

Geez, this explains everything.

Too late. everything is set in motion to put a stellar and sparkling new lunch window in the office kitchen.

 

[Amber Lamps]

Iwata has a good point about not firing staff. I have worked at a couple places where I could tell the people were worried about getting let go. needless to say, productivity takes a DIVE when that happens. last place I worked at barely is putting out any work due to that. it is not a good way to go. When it is the boss' fault that there's no work coming in, one might think that the boss should be the first one to get fired and then go on from there. lol