Satoru Iwata: The honest topic

[Goafer]

I stopped reading there.

 

Jesus, I knew you Nintendo casuals had a short attention span, but that wasn't even past the first paragraph.

[Ashley]

Been out all afternoon so sorry for bringing some stuff back up.

 

Not being as critical isn't the same as being dishonest. I suspect he's very wrong if he thinks people were lying in their tributes to Iwata last time around.

 

Depends how you define dishonest. If you say it is "someone being intentionally untrue" then yes, you're right. I was interpreting it more as "not being completely honest" and only expressing positive things within the content.

 

From what I can discern from your post, it's only a gimmick because you don't like it. I noticed this at E3 last year with Tearaway Unfolded. They were demonstrating the controls with the touchpad on the Dualshock 4 controller, and people, many of whom I know are anti-Nintendo, were going on about how innovative it is. And yet if Nintendo were doing the same, they'd be trashing Nintendo saying how gimmicky it is.

 

In fairness the original used the touch pad in similarish ways. The DualShock 4 is being used in new ways for the PS4 (as far as I can recall) and I think that's what people are being appreciative of. That's not to say the GamePad isn't used in similar ways, nor is it to say that those who are praising TU's usage are thus claiming Nintendo isn't innovative in these regards.

 

No, not really. Art style experimentation is amazing, and it helps keep game series fresh. Not to mention allows for being able to discern what game it is in the series much easier, because each game has a style that fits the mood of the game, the tone, the story and so forth. Give me screenshots of any of the Call of Duty last gen and I'd struggle to point out which is which, despite sinking scores of hours into them.

 

This is a ridiculous apples and oranges. The COD series graphic style is realism. Unless the definition of realism changes quite radically the COD series aren't style won't change radically, but that doesn't mean you should start comparing it to Zelda (or others) and criticise it for not doing something they aren't trying to do. It would be like criticising Mario for not having player's choices affect the storyline (in the same way a lot of Telltale titles do).

 

100 million Wii's sold.

150 million DS's sold.

50 million 3DS's sold right in the middle of tablet and mobile gaming revolution.

 

That's simply not true. Just look at the amount of kids playing 3DS or the Super Mario happy meal on at McDonalds at the moment. The deal Iwata brokered with Universal Studios, the move to mobile gaming which you didn't mention...

 

In fairness Daft said the 3DS had a terrible launch and it did. In credit to Nintendo they've managed to salvage it, but the launch was pants.

 

And personally I can't recall the last time I saw someone outside of gaming events playing a 3DS. It does seem that in 'time killing spaces' (transport, waiting rooms etc) people are using their phones and that's hardly surprising. They have them on them anyway.

 

And film studio deals and mobile gaming is Nintendo playing catch up

 

Anyway, let's all agree that Iwata helped get Pokémon Red/Blue on Pokémon Stadium so he deserves a statue for that alone.

[Dcubed]

Right, first off I just need to say that this topic is in hilariously poor taste.

 

Next, I'm going to point out what should be obvious to anyone who has played Nintendo games across the many decades that they've been around...

 

This sentence just confuses me...

Isn't Super Mario 64's 3D movement one big massive gimmick in the first place?

 

This guy is spot on. The whole point of making new gaming hardware in the eyes of Nintendo's designers is to introduce new forms of gameplay that couldn't be done before. Until the GCN came along, previous generations of hardware could bring about new forms of gameplay and gameplay mechanics in existing series purely through increased hardware specs. ALTTP simply couldn't be done on the NES (multifloor dungeons and variable height was its main new gimmick), while OoT couldn't be done on the SNES for instance.

 

That kind of evolution came to an end when the 6th gen came along though, as the hardware became capable of delivering pretty much any type of experience you could throw at it (just not as pretty as what you get nowerdays - something like MGS 5 could absolutely be done on PS2 if you cut back the visuals - hell, it itself is basically an evolution of Peace Walker; a PSP game!)

 

So in order to continue justifying the introduction of new hardware, Nintendo focus on delivering new forms of gameplay through innovating and evolving the method of player input; rather than the raw hardware spec alone because that has reached a creative dead end. That was what the whole "Nintendo Difference" spiel during the GCN era was all about :p And even with their more traditional series that don't rely so much on new forms of input (like Mario Kart), there's always some new "gimmick" that the games are based around (be they two riders per kart or anti gravity).

 

So for those of you wanting evolution in Nintendo games like "the good old days", you're never going to get that because that form of evolution is long since dead. There's nowhere really to go in terms of just pushing more specs alone; all you'll get are prettier versions of the same games you've already played and that's something that Nintendo aren't willing to settle for (nor should they).

 

Oh and finally...

 

Nintendo must love you.

 

You're justifying their DLC in perfect marketing language.

 

Just gonna point out that Ronnie is right. The Amiibo have intrinsic value by virtue of being physical figurines; the unlockable content is just the cherry on top.

 

And with that, I'm outta here! Toodles!

 

Do try not to kill each other... :p

Edited September 7, 2015 by Dcubed

[Sheikah]

Depends how you see it - some people want the content and see no value in the toys.

[Ashley]

Depends how you see it - some people want the content and see no value in the toys.

 

Yeah I'm personally one of those. Stupid bits of plastic taking up space!

[darksnowman]

I'm not sure I remember those complaints, but I take your word for it.

 

I'm sure I read comments and opinions from plenty of gamers and critics alike, who after coming through generation after generation of standard button pressy gameplay, had the foresight to realise that after the DC/GC/PS2/Xbox generation (which basically just perfected what started with the 32 and 64 bit machines) if all gaming was going to continue to be was an arms race for power, it was going to become very stagnant indeed. Then enter the DS and we are tapping, drawing, etc, followed by the Wii and we are moving and pointing at the TV... and a lot of gamers found it refreshing. I'm *pretty* sure it wasn't just mums and tots that lapped up the DS and Wii. :p

 

You can't really credit the idea of Amiibo to Nintendo... without Skylanders or Infinity they probably never would have happened. Nintendo were actually pretty late to the party with their own.

 

Skylanders has a lot to answer for. Nintendo jumping on that bandwagon is such a blatant "it prints money" exploitation. Seeing as they like to portray themselves as fighting the good fight for gamers, its annoying to see them go down this road.

 

Jesus, I knew you Nintendo casuals had a short attention span, but that wasn't even past the first paragraph.

 

Keep it classy, man. You have that P4 sig to live up to.

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

If you ignore portables, which Nintendo has a formidable record, the Wii is the statistical anomaly, not the Wii U; progressively decreasing sales for each home console.

 

It doesn't matter the reason, third party or not, the portfolio of games is patchy. and variety doesn't mean that they have filled every genre covered.

 

We've already had the Amiibo discussion. There are upsides and downsides.

 

Again, ignoring the other market that is portables – that Nintendo is very successful in – the Wii is a statistical anomaly. No one who is good at business, goes from selling over 100 million units of a console to 10 million and crawling. [Edit: WITH a whole year's head-start on the competition, lest we forget.]

 

 

 

And, obviously totally anecdotally (manly from people I know who are teachers), kids seem to care much more about Minecraft and superheroes than a fat italian plumber. And playing the 3DS? I see more kids playing on their phones. But this is a pointless 'I saw this/I saw that' argument.

 

You'd have to look at things like social media, like this.

 

Why on earth should we ignore the portable market for the sake of this argument? Let's ignore Nintendo and Iwata's successful accomplishments to make the point he was naff at business?

 

To be fair actually, if you don't include home consoles (which Sony are formidable at) they're an utter embarrassment.

 

Nintendo's portable market and focus is just as important to them as the home console division and they happen to be bloody good it at. My hope and surely the logical step, should Nintendo ever decide to bow out of the home console market, would be for them to go hand held only.

 

Iwata nailed the DS and recovered the 3DS from an utterly atrocious launch, they continue to dominate the hand held console market and aren't doing too bad considering, as has been mentioned before, the mobile gaming revolution we are in the middle of.

[Ashley]

One argument could be that Microsoft don't have one so it's the easiest way to compare all three?

 

He's in France for a few days so don't expect a response!

[dazzybee]

The same arguments again and again and again - woohoo!!! Let's hope they stay in here rather than infecting all the other threads because it's sensationally dull!!!

 

As for the supposed topic, I think Iwata did brilliantly, I love nintendo today as much as nintendo 30 years ago. Some huge successes, some clunkers, and some amazing, but unsuccessful products like the wii u.

 

I still find it pitiful that people tie commercial success with quality. Such a weak argument to fit a painful agenda. Need to clarify the discussion - is let's make nintendo a successful business, or what do we want as gaming fans from nintendo. They're not the same thing.

[Ashley]

As a gaming fan I want Nintendo to be successful. Their current trajectory isn't sustainable, but at least they're trying some new stuff. And it seems that if nothing else amiibo will help float them a bit while they figure out how to move forward.

[Pestneb]

Tbh, as a business man I have no opinion on the guy. I am fairly ignorant of the nuances of business, but even on a personal financial basis there is a huge difference merely living in a different country.

How an international business is run is well beyond me.

 

However, from what I understand that guy knew his health was terrible, more than likely knew he didn't have much time left.

1) He stuck to his job. That speaks volumes about his character. Dedication, loyalty, conscientious... a whole load more on top. All positives.

2) I never knew him, never met him or even saw him in the flesh. But from the video's I saw he seemed a really nice guy. I know we all have our different facades, but he really did come off as a personable guy, one I wouldn't have minded sitting down in a pub with and having a chat and a few drinks with.

 

That's what matters to me, I think he was a good CEO, he really cared about the company and he seemed to care about the people who worked for him. At the end of the day Nintendo aren't in peril at this moment... 10 million. Just think, how long would it take for you to meet every owner of a Wii U. Try to fathom it. Sure competitors have done better, but 10 million IS impressive. The Wii U has done well... not as well as it's dad, but it has done good. I've had to pack my games (the physical ones at least!) and looking at the library I have already, it's great. Now obviously I bought these games... but they were available to buy. So sure, I have frustrations, don't understand a few decisions... but on balance I do like my Wii U.

 

 

Just a suggestion, it may be more productive to consider two things.

 

1) What you liked about Iwata's Nintendo

2) What you hope to see continued/newly implemented by the next CEO?

 

Personally I think my main hope is that online infrastructure will be strengthened, voice chat as standard. I'd prefer a cheaper console, yet also a more powerful console... a wide range of games with a good "Nintendo" feel, and solid 3rd party support throughout system lifetimes.

[Ashley]

I don't think anyone was ever questioning or criticising his personality or his approach as a boss though. I think all people considered him to be a personable individual with a strong sense of passion and commitment. If anything I think people are questioning whether that was enough and, in a way, what the next CEO needs to do differently. I'm sure we'd all agree we want the same sense of fun and niceness that Iwata brought where possible, but perhaps a different approach to business.

[Pestneb]

I don't think anyone was ever questioning or criticising his personality or his approach as a boss though. I think all people considered him to be a personable individual with a strong sense of passion and commitment. If anything I think people are questioning whether that was enough and, in a way, what the next CEO needs to do differently. I'm sure we'd all agree we want the same sense of fun and niceness that Iwata brought where possible, but perhaps a different approach to business.

 

I'll be honest, I have only at best skimmed a large part of the thread, so this was more a response tot he thread title than addressing anything in particular I had read.

 

As a Nintendo only gamer, I would say it is enough though, as a shareholder (which I am not to clarify here!) perhaps not.

 

It is hard to know how well he handled things internally and externally with 3rd parties, obviously we have to rely on

1) tertiary anonymous sources

2) primary and secondary sources

3) speculation based on the outcomes

 

The first has issues because it is hard to tell which (if any) are genuine.

 

The second is limited to a splattering of individuals generally. Often they come from a negative position (relationship has soured, individual has been fired) so things may be spun to make Nintendo look worse, and there may be positive reasons that relationship failed (even if negative consequences stem from it).

The positive positions will be mindful of factors, such as maintaining a good relationship with Nintendo, trying to get a stronger negotiating position with Nintendo, keeping their job :P

 

And the final one is so wide as to be useless. I mean... A company stops supporting Nintendo could be due to:

1) Financial incentives

2) Ability

3) Company politics etc.

 

then from each of those assumptions there would be a number of different variations which again...

 

But as I said I am ignorant of the business side more or less... I heard people talk about "power" being too japan-centric for example, but I personally have no first hand experience of the centricity of Nintendo's business... the deepest I go is hearing console sales numbers and if they made a chunky profit/loss that year.

[Hogge]

I completely agree Ashley. I loved him in Nintendo Directs, his contributions before becoming head honcho are great. And I still want him in Smash Bros. And not to beat the everlasting crap out of him. I want an Iwata Amiibo.

 

But he did run the company into the ground. People are not running out and buying Wii U's. Third parties have abandoned it. As CEO of Nintendo, his job was to make sure this situation would never come. That is a fact that cannot be disputed.

Being a game lover myself, I see little wrong with the hardware. When the Wii U launched, it was the most powerful console in the world and Nintendo had 18 months to capitalise on that.

Long story made short: he didn't. Until Splatoon came out, ports of Need for Speed Underground and Watchdogs were the only proof the console was more powerful than a PS3 (a widespread rumor of the opposite plagued the Wii U for a long time)

When third party support started to dwindle, he should've made sure that the first party lineup was broad and varied. Nintendo have more than enough different IP's to do so. He didn't.

Edited September 8, 2015 by Hogge

[Serebii]

I completely agree Ashley. I loved him in Nintendo Directs, his contributions before becoming head honcho are great. And I still want him in Smash Bros. And not to beat the everlasting crap out of him. I want an Iwata Amiibo.

 

But he did run the company into the ground. People are not running out and buying Wii U's. Third parties have abandoned it. As CEO of Nintendo, his job was to make sure this situation would never come. That is a fact that cannot be disputed.

Being a game lover myself, I see little wrong with the hardware. When the Wii U launched, it was the most powerful console in the world and Nintendo had 18 months to capitalise on that.

Long story made short: he didn't. Until Splatoon came out, ports of Need for Speed Underground and Watchdogs were the only proof the console was more powerful than a PS3 (a widespread rumor of the opposite plagued the Wii U for a long time)

When third party support started to dwindle, he should've made sure that the first party lineup was broad and varied. Nintendo have more than enough different IP's to do so. He didn't.

Do note that Wii U is not the only avenue for Nintendo and the 3DS has done really well despite the massive influx of smartphones. Even the N3DS has done well and it's 2015, sure not DS levels of success but it hasn't been bad or even mediocre, especially considering the influx of mobile gaming..

 

As such, it's a bit erroneous to say he has run Nintendo into the ground because of one part of it, especially as he has pulled the company back into a profit (and it was initially only at loss because they were taking loss on the hardware) before he passed. Plus, handhelds have typically been Nintendo's main focus out of the two, not the home console.

 

So yeah, a bit of hyperbole. Not defending the Wii U's performance as that'd be ridiculous (though it's what made me love gaming again after being burned out and bored of games last gen), but to say he ran the company into the ground is definitely hyperbole considering the company is in the black and selling software, hardware (aside from Wii U) and others at a decent rate..

Edited September 8, 2015 by Serebii

[Guy]

I liked Iwata's public persona and played a lot of fun Nintendo games that came out on Nintendo systems under his leadership. The company absolutely feels worse off without him, but then again this is speaking about a company that frequently seems worse off no matter what they do or how they do it.

 

Nintendo constantly baffle me with their crazy decisions and an approach to many aspects of modern gaming that sees so many good ideas either ignored, or "adapted" with Nintendo "magic".

 

Totally get their strategy as of late isn't doing it for everyone, but as a big sweaty manchild with more money than sense, I love their newfound love for plastic and plush tat. Give me all the amiibo if it allows 'em to keep churning out those 2-4 first party gems every year. That's essentially what Nintendo is for me now - a slog, reward, slog, slog, reward cycle that some would probably question any sane person's commitment to.

 

Gotta take the good and the bad. We've had plenty of both in the last few years, but overall I'd say my experience with the 3DS and Wii U has been a positive one. Especially 3DS, hundreds of hours of fun right there and the Wii U lineup is fucking solid for someone who likes the games I do, so cheers for all that Iwata, but I sincerely hope the next CEO learns a little from what many of us consider your biggest mistakes.

[Dcubed]

I completely agree Ashley. I loved him in Nintendo Directs, his contributions before becoming head honcho are great. And I still want him in Smash Bros. And not to beat the everlasting crap out of him. I want an Iwata Amiibo.

 

But he did run the company into the ground. People are not running out and buying Wii U's. Third parties have abandoned it. As CEO of Nintendo, his job was to make sure this situation would never come. That is a fact that cannot be disputed.

Being a game lover myself, I see little wrong with the hardware. When the Wii U launched, it was the most powerful console in the world and Nintendo had 18 months to capitalise on that.

Long story made short: he didn't. Until Splatoon came out, ports of Need for Speed Underground and Watchdogs were the only proof the console was more powerful than a PS3 (a widespread rumor of the opposite plagued the Wii U for a long time)

When third party support started to dwindle, he should've made sure that the first party lineup was broad and varied. Nintendo have more than enough different IP's to do so. He didn't.

 

You can't just say that and totally ignore his other successes though.

 

Many mistakes were made regarding the Wii U, but it's not right to discount all the success that he had with DS, Wii and (to a lesser extent, but still impressive; especially considering the extremely hostile environment surrounding it) the 3DS.

 

I think that the biggest problem with Nintendo during his tenure was that it was lumbering and slow to adapt. When issues with the company and the industry as a whole presented themselves, Nintendo were always too slow to react. The Wii's pathetic online infrastructure and horribly crippling storage space issues were all very avoidable and stand as one of their biggest missed opportunities; the fact that it took 3 whole years to somewhat implement workable SD Card storage for downloaded games was utterly embarrassing (as was their insistence on sticking with the 43MB limit).

 

Not enough was invested towards garnering 3rd party support on Wii (and really, they needed to play the moneyhat game there; MS had completely changed how 3rd party/1st party relationships worked when they entered the industry and especially when the 360 came out) and the lack of investment into localisations in the later era of the Wii and DS was embarrassing. They really could've and should've done much more to avoid those horrendous droughts which completely killed the Wii's momentum stone cold dead.

 

And when it came to the 3DS... I actually think that they made the right choice in regards to the hardware; it was the right hardware at the right time (and it has proven its ability to keep up with mobile game development fine enough - very impressive for circa 2010-2011 hardware!), but the pricing was way too high (they should've taken a small hit from the beginning, rather than suffer the huge slash that utterly destroyed their operating income) and the lack of variable pricing for software was utterly crippling. The eShop came way later than it should've done (not launching with it in place was simply embarrassing) and it took too long to get a solid workflow and consistent software schedule going (though it did come in the end).

 

Overall though, Iwata did a solid job of getting the 3DS back on track after its slow start and Nintendo as a whole did a great job of keeping the 3DS relevant and strong in a market that completely shifted against dedicated handhelds completely. They had to fight tooth and nail to fight back against the overwhelming tide, but they did it. Large western developers moving away from handhelds completely was inevitable - outside of small independent developers (which Nintendo have done a decent job of fostering this generation), western developers have never put their best foot forward on Nintendo's handhelds and couldn't wait for mobiles to rampage against them so that they could focus on the platforms that they actually want to develop on. Focusing on fostering Japanese developers, indies and localisations was absolutely the right decision to take.

 

And with the Wii U; despite all the mistakes they made (the name, the marketing, the timing, the problems with internal development, the choice of games to put out in the first year or so etc), they've done a solid job of squeezing some success out of it regardless with things like Amiibo, DLC, Smash, Splatoon, their digital efforts etc.

 

Ironically it is only towards his last few years when Nintendo finally started to become more agile. With the recent restructuring in place, a newfound embrace of social media/new media platforms like Youtube, a renewed and modernised approach to independent developers and digital platforms and an upcoming shift away from independent platforms and specialized development towards standardised hardware across handheld and console and a shared OS/shared assets/shared code as well as FINALLY replacing Club Nintendo with something from the 21st century, it's a real shame that he never lived long enough to see his labours finally bear fruit

 

I can't help but look back at his tenure and see tons of missed opportunities from a company that was was always tragically slow to adapt and react, but today's Nintendo is far more affluent, flexible and agile. It's such a shame that it has taken this long for them to get to this point, but they now seem pretty well placed to make a solid future for themselves if NX pans out how they're positioning it to. Iwata's Nintendo has seen tragic missed opportunities and failure, but it's easy to forget that it also had its biggest success during this era as well. For however slow they were to react, it can't be denied that Iwata made the company into a juggernaut. If only they had what they had now, they could've really have properly built on that success but with the legacy that Iwata has left them, perhaps they can recapture that success once more and find themselves able to hold onto it properly this time

Edited September 9, 2015 by Dcubed

[Hero-of-Time]

Great post @Dcubed.

 

You make some very valid points about his success and failures, most of which I agree with.

 

I have two big issues with his time as president of the company.

 

1. Not capitalising on the success of the Wii. The money gained during that generation, on both the Wii and DS, should have been invested into looking to either get 3rd party support or sorting out exclusive Western studios to develop games that the Japanese teams typically wouldn't touch. This would have helped during the twilight years of the Wii and also preparing for the Wii U. The drought peroids for the Wii U have been insane at times.

 

2. Not moving the company forward in terms of online. This is probably my biggest peeve and to this day it still has me worried about what will happen with the next console. While things like Miiverse have been a fantastic addition, the basic features that other devices already have ( and have done for 10+ years now ) have been completely dismissed.

 

This could all be a case of playing catch up, though. I mean Iwata was never the biggest believer in online gaming from the start. While some of his points were right ( internet needed to be faster ) it seemed like he had no interest in pursuing the online side of things, meanwhile all of the others were starting to make great strides in getting people online and creating an ecosystem that consumers became attached to.

[Dcubed]

I'm not really sure that it's a matter of them not believing in the importance of online gaming; so much as it is a matter of misplaced priorities.

 

Putting aside the fact that they have experimented with online gaming on every single console/handheld they've put out since the NES, let's not forget that Nintendo WiFi connection was a strong driving force of their software and something that they put a lot of muscle behind (it also predates Playstation Network by over a year - the PSP actually never had a unified online infrastructure at all; unlike the DS).

 

It also had some pretty forward thinking features like the stat tracking features of NintendoWiFi.com and the replays that were automatically captured by their servers and placed online on the website - even if it was a tragically under-utilised feature that ended up being overly clunky for all involved.

 

Their bullheaded focus on online safety was also a noble concept, but the execution was horrible. And likewise, Wii Connect 24 was another forward thinking concept that was absolutely cackhandled - something that wouldn't end up realising its potential until Spotpass was introduced on 3DS and Wii U and even now, it's a feature that is still not being used to its full potential - they could still make much more extensive use of it; imagine if you could pre-order games well in advance and then when the game is available for pre-load, the console automatically charges you and automatically downloads/installs it for you. They already have the tech in place (the Wii U can already download and install DLC/updates automatically while it is turned off in standby - in fact, it was the first console to do so!), they're just not making full use of it.

 

Not listening and reacting properly to feedback about the DS' online system was also a big misstep with the Wii, as was failing to implement party chat on an OS level on Wii U and 3DS. As for Achivements? I think Nintendo had a good idea with the Wii U in allowing 3rd parties to implement their own systems like UPlay, rather than forcing it on everyone (especially since they don't want to use them themselves, as their designers are largely philisophically opposed to them); but of course that didn't pan out because the whole 3rd party ecosystem collapsed overnight. I reckon that with the NX they should consider a similar approach, but maybe have a team like NERD or NST work alongside them to help develop something tailor fit to them; I do think that it's a concept that's well worth revisiting; especially in this day and age as large publishers have gravitated more towards these bespoke systems like EA Access and WB Play as they seek more control over their audiences.

 

They have some good ideas, but really need someone from the outside to really help them find a good way to implement them. Hopefully DENA are up to the task!

[Hero-of-Time]

As for Achivements? I think Nintendo had a good idea with the Wii U in allowing 3rd parties to implement their own systems like UPlay, rather than forcing it on everyone (especially since they don't want to use them themselves, as their designers are largely philisophically opposed to them); but of course that didn't pan out because the whole 3rd party ecosystem collapsed overnight.

 

I was hoping that Stamps would have became the norm across first party/exclusive games. This would have been a nice alternative to achievements and trophies. Sadly its hit or miss whether they are actually implemented in a game. Not being able to use them outside of the game you get them from is another baffling thing.

 

There are a bunch of ideas like this that Nintendo do but they often fail to utilize them well. It's like they constantly keep chopping and changing features, instead of keeping what works and progressively nurturing the idea into something special.

[Hogge]

Mere hours after announcement, Apple TV gets what some Nintendo fans have been asking for for 17 years.

 

 

Would it have been so difficult to call Eden games and make them an offer to good to turn down? Or make the same call to Sumo?

[Nolan]

What announcement? I've just got a black box on my phone

[Hogge]

What announcement? I've just got a black box on my phone

 

The announcement of the Apple TV. Straight away it got an exclusive racing sim.

[darksnowman]

Mere hours after announcement, Apple TV gets what some Nintendo fans have been asking for for 17 years.

 

Seventeen years? It feels like yesterday I was snoozing round GT 64. Some Nintendo fans are also waiting patiently for Dragon Quest VII on the 3DS to be translated to English. Have Apple got that deal stitched up? If so then, and only then, will it be Corpse of Steve Jobs 1-0 Corpse of Iwata.

[Ashley]

If so then, and only then, will it be Corpse of Steve Jobs 1-0 Corpse of Iwata.

 

I'm now imagining some darker version of Celebrity Deathmatch.