Nintendo has a new president who saw something about the Wii U Satoru Iwata didn’t.
Tatsumi Kimishima, the new chief executive of gaming publisher Nintendo, predicted the Wii U would fail, according to a report from the Japanese news outlet Nikkei (via analyst Serkan Toto). He noted that it is too similar to its predecessor the Wii, which is a criticism that gamers also hurled at Nintendo. But the company went ahead with the Wii U, and that is one of the main reasons its market share has fallen well behind that of its rivals Sony and Microsoft.
Looking at raw sales numbers, the Wii U only recently surpassed 10 million consoles sold. That’s a milestone that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were both able to do with one fewer year on the market. The Wii U’s sluggish sales were also the primary culprit for putting Nintendo in a situation where its profits had evaporated and it was consistently losing money.
But prior to his death in July, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata had moved ahead with a turnaround strategy that returned the company to profitability. He did that by reducing the company’s costs but also by focusing on pushing the biggest Wii U and 3DS releases with smart marketing.
In an interview with Nikkei, Kimishima has said that he will continue the company down the path of seeing through the Wii U, releasing a followup console, and embracing smartphone games. But he won’t do it simply as an executive or as a money man — this is in contrast to Kimishima’s history working as a banker.
3) Despite his business background, he is quoted as saying it’s wrong to lead a gaming company on numbers alone.
— Dr. Serkan Toto / Kantan Games Inc. (@serkantoto) September 14, 2015