Yamauchi Helped Influence Wii U And Nintendo DS

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, and executive managing director of Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto recently took some time out to talk about the influence that Nintendo’s former third president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, had on both the Nintendo DS and Wii U. The company’s stance on creating new, unique, and innovative products clearly stemmed from Nintendo’s third president. Here’s what Miyamoto and Iwata had to say about their former mentor.

“When we developed the DS, we started from the question, ‘If we make a high spec Gameboy Advance, is it something people will want?'” recalled Miyamoto. “If you make the same sort of thing, there’s no uniqueness to it. When there’s nothing unique, all you get as a result is a price war.”

“Mr. Yamauchi had no direct input in the development of the Wii U, but indirectly, you could say his idea from the DS is connected.”

“Even before the DS was born, we often heard Mr. Yamauchi say ‘Don’t do the same as what’s been done before’ over and over.” recalled Iwata. “I practically had calluses on my ears.” added Miyamoto with a laugh.