Iwatas only mistake has been operating in a comfort zone for too long.
But he's a fresh thinker and he's willing and able to grow.
He's a bit stretched right now, but still laser focused. Admirable qualities.
With the advent of Wii u, he has led Nintendo to create an unprecedented console a "large screen" gamepad, with zero lag, a very capable console in terms of graphical chops, an entire, brand new and extremely robust social network, a tv integrated service, an application platform operating system, created an entire online ecosystem infrastructure, honed in on a fresh way of communicating directly to fans with animate do Directs, which he also takes personal time out to host, set up a fairly unique deal with best buy to play E3 games still in development, etc.
He is old school and that hampers him a bit, but he's fluid, meaning he rolls with the times and reaches for something greater.
Some of the guys around him could stand to learn a thing or two from him. Miyamoto especially. He's too wrapped up on what made him successful. He hasn't shown a desire to grow or expand his horizons since the original Pikmin a couple of generations ago. His recent critical comments at e3 about not seeing games her like to have made was meant as criticism of competitors. But in reality, it shows that he may be a little out of touch with what people are looking for. There are no doubt many developers who are looking at his games now and thinking that they would not have like to mske them. Miyamoto is a legend. But sometimes he is a roadblock.
Then there is Reggie. Regime is a salesman. He's not really wired to be a CEO. He's a jive talker. That what he does best. But it's not what Nintendo needs. Nintendo needs to be brutally honest with themselves and follow iwatas lead in terms if transparency and pushing beyond comfort zones for greatness. Reggie first became known in a big way with one of the most amazing intro films ever introducing the Wii. This amazing highlight film played, reminding everyone why Nintendo is the 800 lb. gorilla in the room, not Microsoft or Sony. And then Reggie started doing his thing: talking. Taking about kicking butts and taking names, blah blah blah... Right before brainwashing Nintendo fans into accepting another GameCube for the second generation in a row, but now with more waggle.
That's what Reggie does. It's almost embarrassing when he's asked legitimate questions by press. He almost never answers the question and just goes off into spin mode beating around the bush before finally arriving at a non answer. Often, the press seem a bit irritated and rightly so. Then there is the matter of him seeking more preoccupied with his own importance than to really push for growth on nintendos part. Iwata seems to have a head on Reggie and where his weaknesses are. That's why he has assumed many of Reggie's duties. That's a good thing. But Reggie is probably on his way out. NOA. Needs someone with aggressive vision to grow and stake claim in new territory. Not to simply talk big while metely protecting the little they have. There might be a place for Reggie. But not as president or CEO.
These are the big three at the big N.
Iwata is agile. He will lead the company onward and do it well. He hasn't always been. But recently he's showing himself to be a humble visionary. Miyamoto needs to pick up on the humility part a little more cryengine he will be able to care less about his status and more about the next great thing.
Reggie... Idk. He is what he is. He will be an asset where jive talk is needed, but little else.
The Wii u generation is a new Nintendo. It's an aggressive Nintendo that is pushing hardware power with software and hardware innovation at an impressive rate. Lets not forget Nintendo is playing catch up here. Me and Sony have bad a couple generations to learn. Nintendo is catching up very quickly though with all the infrastructure investments they've made.
This is a generation of transition which marks a new era for Nintendo. The foundations are being laid for now and the future.
Though the Wii U is not doing as well as hoped right now, it will pick up. And it's the springboard for a much more agile, robust, innovative, bigger, more powerful, and more developer-friendly Nintendo.
When you don't just look at current Wii I sales numbers, but look at what's actually taking place, it's all extremely encouraging.
Nintendo could so the exact same things ms and Sony did. They can buy gddr5 ram, they can buy an APU from AMD. But they built the Wii u. Because that's what they thought was best.
It was a choice. And it was a good one. But they has third parties go back on their word, hurting sales since there were no games. We've seen the first round of Wii u specific games at e3 and they look phenomenal. Some of the best graphics out there.
So iwata doesn't need to step down. He's lathing a new foundation. When you do that, you don't see a house yet. But the broader the foundation, the bigger the house. And the firmer the foundation, the better chance it has to withstand the trials and tribulations that hit everyone.
You have made a very good point by criticizing Reggie, and it is one I can frame my post around. Now, I could not (respectfully) disagree more, and I hope my reasoning opens some insightful discussion.
Reggie has a thankless job. He starts out as the marketing officer, and then moves on to the COO position of NOA. Now, this is a subsidiary of Nintendo, Ltd. in Japan, of which Iwata is the Global President (as you know, but I benefit from setting it all up).
Reggie is, more or less, limited to what he gets from the 'mother ship'. When he walks in, and they are readying the launch of the DS, and they are working on the Wii. At the same time, the PS2 and Xbox Original (stupid MS, now I have to type that word) are getting loads of content, and the GCN is dead in the water. Gameboy Micro is there, and the DS has a weak launch, with PSP on the horizon. He is fielding interviews about the obvious, "Where are the games?", and the like. Watch him talk at E3 '05. Pretty sad. Again, not his fault.
Additionally, from that period on, he has to defend the Wii against the monsters of PS360. Again, the mothership, Iwata's brain child, meant for Japan first, and everywhere else second, is thrust on NOA. Reggie has to talk about blue ocean's, different demographics, and yes, he has to side step those questions your talking about. I mean, how do you answer something like, "The real next gen systems are on their 3rd gen games now, and HDTV's are at 50% penetration, outside of the upcoming Mario Galaxy sequel, do you expect hardcore gamers to be satisfied with shovelware and fitness titles?", without losing your job?
This brings us to Wii U. Was it Reggie that told Iwata to sit on the firm's retained earnings instead of preparing for next gen development? This is where Iwata made a massive mistake, and it is one that made the head start irrelevant. Imagine Pikmin 3 at launch, or possibly something else, like Mario Kart 8. Instead, Nintendo was unprepared, which is shocking to me.
In short, Iwata appears to have a very different view of the industry, and I do not think it has anything to do with age. I believe it has to do with the, "Satisfy Japan first, and adapt it for the other territories", aspect of their organizational culture.
Back to Reggie. I do not know how the Wii U and Nintendo Land made it through testing if the goal was to have the Wii Sports effect on the consumer. I could imagine people liking it because it was new and different during tests, and imagining the potential, but those statistical inferences not carrying over to the real US market. Again, Reggie could now be so far out of touch, and sucked in to the organizational culture that he really thought the launch ports would be enough (believe me, you believe your own BS after awhile).
So, in looking at Iwata from the eyes of the typical PS4/XB buyer, Nintendo is really where it should have been with online 8 years ago. Where it should have been graphically 6 years ago, and, well....
The thing about the blue ocean concept is not to ignore your competition completely, but to look across different consumer groups and create a new product/service that satisfies them in a different way. Wii did this for casual gamers, but that ship sailed (most likely to Apple, I hope Wii Fit U proves me wrong), but right now the Wii U appears to be like the product that only really serves a limited audience, as the gamepad is not attractive enough to do what it is designed for (attract core gamers in 2011 and innovate, be for everyone in 2012, hide under the rug during E3 2013). Nintendo is doing this, ironically, with Bayonetta and X. Only one problem with that though (2014). Oh, and the limited scope of appeal again.
I should also say that I love Nintendo, Iwata, the Wii U, and 3ds. Iwata being the new CEO of NOA should change everything I spoke of. I hope Reggie is really paying attention, and I really hope things workout. I cannot go back to a gamepad-less experience.
