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Iwata Implies He May Resign Over Poor Business Performance

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Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has implied to investors at the recent analysts meeting that there is a chance that he may resign if he is unable to achieve 100 billion yen (US$1.09963 billion) in operating income for the next fiscal year. Iwata apologised to investors due to the company seeing two years of consecutive losses and said that he feels greatly accountable for this severe outlook. When asked how he would take responsibility if the goal is not met, Iwata emphasized his strong determination by saying, “Please understand that [achieving it] is my commitment.”

124 thoughts on “Iwata Implies He May Resign Over Poor Business Performance”

  1. It would suck. I really wish the Wii U to be a successful console. But people don’t seem to be embracing it as much as he believed they would. With Iwata and Shiggie gone soon, I wonder what would happen to Nintendo?

    1. Not even. This isn’t corporate ethics. His ethics are him staying loyal to fans and true to the original company. His being bullied to say that. Its the only way for him to stay there without them voting him out. If they vote him out, Nintendo is fucked as who ever is put in charge would turn Nintendo into what MS and Sony are.
      Fuck that.

      1. But who knows. He could be better than iwata. Iwata’s predeccessor was responsible for the snes, n64 and the GameCube. Which were all very amazing consoles.

          1. Iwata was put in charge during thr ganecube generation. If memory serves from nes until gamecube every single console sold less then the last. It was the wii that broke that pattern.

    1. yeah, what iwata said really surprised me. the man is always so optimistic and secure, and now all of a sudden he takes a 360 degree turn and leaves us with the impression that nintendo is seriously struggling.

  2. Has everyone already forgotten that he led Nintendo through their most successful time? He was there for the DS and Wii, Nintendo’s two most successful consoles, and now he’s talking about poor business performance?

      1. he didnt drop everything that worked, he continued to allow the company to be different. The DS and Wii were a hit because it was new, neither had equivalents in the markets ( and could of been called a shot in the dark during 2005). The 3DS and Wii-U are still different products yet along the same lines as its predecessors – the 3DS had a rocky start but its still on its way to selling a strong amount of lifetime systems (already reaching 30Million /DS’s 150Million). Iwata is a great president, i think his boldness takes time to enter into effect and for the consumers to find what they like about a said product. I still think he is doing great things for nintendo. If 3DS isnt living up to expectations in North America id blame NoA, they’ve been dropping the ball more than Nintendo of Japan.

      2. Yeah, Iwata’s a smart man though and tries his best for Nintendo. I’m sure that with all the big titles due to come out over the next year or so will turn things around for Nintendo after the last few years of limited titles.

  3. If you follow through the links there’s no real implication of it at all. You could extrapolate that from the information but there’s nothing concrete to suggest that’s what he’s implying. This is just to create buzz.

    1. Sam is RIGHT! Iwata wasn’t necessarily saying (or implying) that he’d resign. Nintendo has lost money these couple of years, but it does t even come close to Sony’s near-bankruptcy problem. Nintendo will be fine even if they don’t make a billion, because either they’ll be close, they’ll make it, or it just won’t be that big of a deal. . .

      1. maybe he just wants to check out the reaction of the nintendo fanbase on his rumored resignation

        personally i don’t believe it
        the money nintendo lost was peanuts in comparison to the profit they made with iwata as president of nintendo and in light of the general crisis the video game market is going through at the moment
        they’d be nuts to kick him out just yet

  4. That would suck if Iwata resigned. I’ve really grown to like him. And I always look forward to seeing him during Nintendo Directs and E3.

  5. really? well he’s taking this to heart quite a bit.. i haven’t heard any demands of his resignation at all.. maybe i missed them but i can’t imagine it

  6. Im sure the Wii U would’ve sold better if they took Wii out of the name and called it ”Nintendo U” or something.

    1. I’ve been saying that since the beginning. They should of called it the Nintendo U

      The Wii (we) implied games for everyone to enjoy together.

      The U (you) should of focused on games just for you the hardcore gamer. Since the console allowed for just one gamepad to be used at the time of early production, calling the system the Nintendo U sounded so much better and more hip. It would have ceased all the confusion too.

      Wii U (we ? Or You ? ) The name makes no sense really. Its like a confused man asking a silly question. Is it we or you? No. Wii U.
      Huh????

      1. I like the name. It implies that the console is both for hardcore and casuals which is what I want my console to be. Sometimes I want to play games like Rayman Raving Rabbits and sometimes I want to play Zelda, Metroid and Ninja Gaiden etc. etc. I think the worst thing a person can do is to limit themselves and I do not see Nintendo limiting themselves in the same way as Microsoft and Sony does hence why Nintendo has survived so long in the industry.

  7. If they advertise the Wii U and the 3DS, release more Nintendo Selects versions of their games for the Wii U, Wii, 3DS and DS i’m pretty shure they would sell more.
    Also, €70 for ZombiU and some other games in the EShop? Thats like €20 and more than when you buy them in a store!! Fix that!!

  8. No that shouldn’t happen and I’ll explain why with a “what if” scenario.
    Let’s say Iwata resigns and the nextvpresident will make NOA to the “decision center” that’s right Reggie would be the boss then. We all know that Reggie is helpless without Iwata and every Nintendo gamer out there knows more about Nintendo than Reggie does. He would initiate Nintendos doom. He is even that unskilled that a little girl completely destroyed him in Mario Kart 7. Shibata and about everybody else would be better at being da boss. Don’t get me wrong Iblike him as a private person but he seems to think the whole Nintendo audience is stupid as hell.

      1. But this guy do have a valit point. Even though he puts it up in a bad way. Reggies body might not be ready to be the head of Nintendo quite yet.

        1. Reggie’s body isn’t ready because he sucks at Mario Kart? Where the hell is that a valid reason?!
          Anyways, I like Iwata more than Reggie, so I hope he doesn’t resign!!

        2. What in the world makes u think a Japanese company is going to put an American president in charge? Even if Iwata left it would never happen.

  9. Microshit knows their audience are stupid though so Nintendo ain’t that bad.
    Other than that, I’ll know they would choose someone great to replace him whenever he resigns.
    Shibata…well if he markets Nintendo better in Europe then maybe…because right now it’s to the point of utterly shit…

    1. I think Shibata should resign because he sucks at his job, hell a fucking monkey would do a better job! Iwata did a great job and he has cooped with all this stress and hate for many years now from Xbox, PC and PS3 fans about Nintendo’s consoles. I think he should resign on his own accord.

    2. People aren’t buying Wii U’s in europe and it’s shibata’s fault? he’s marketing it decently, advertisements are better than they are in america and we got more deals, offers and localizations. People just aren’t buying, it’s not his fault.

  10. He’ll need more than a year, it take a while to make games these days, in Nintendos business the right decisions you make today are the profitable decisions for 2- 4 years in the future. He should have got more games in development 3 years ago.

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  12. Well, I’m going to miss Iwata but if he does resign it isn’t the end of the world. I’m sure Nintendo will put a much better person in charge because you think about it, Iwata went through a great deal of stress and yet in each conference he is cool as a cucumber because unlike Microsoft’s new CEO who is fulled by rage, Iwata respects the fans of Nintendo which is what made him great.

    It would be sad to see the guy go but everyone needs to rest once in a while, same goes for Miyamoto.

    Now Shibata, there is a dick cheese that needs to quit. He is doing jack shit to help Nintendo sale Wii Us in Europe and UK, worst of all he allowed that fucking stupid German law to be put into place for us here in the UK and Europe -_-

    Shibata, Blow me

    Iwata,…. I love you man ;w;

  13. True…Shibata…either rise the stakes…or quit…
    Doing Nintendo Direct only…is not very helpful…
    Where are all those pwnage advertisements you guys used to do during the NES-N64 ages?!

  14. I don’t think he’ll leave.
    I think that, as seems to be a growing negative trend, the staff here at Nintendo News are blowing things out of proportion due to lack of proper research.

    Besides, Iwata will reach that billion mark easily, with the games coming out soon.

    1. For the sake of a word for word, quote;

      “http://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articl…1/news090.html
      http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/libr…131/index.html

      Translation of ITmedia report follows:

      At an analysts’ meeting on the 31st, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata (53) implied that there is a possibility that he may resign if he is unable to achieve 100 billion yen (US$1.09963 billion) in operating income for the next fiscal year. The company had recently revised its forecast for operating income for the full year ending March 31, 2013 to -20 billion yen (US$220.144 million), making the goal a high hurdle. Iwata aimed to appeal to investors by putting himself on the line to recover the business.

      President Iwata, having seen 2 consecutive years of losses, apologized by saying, “We feel greatly accountable for this severe outlook.” He further explained that the basis of meeting the goal by saying, “…we plan to actively release our key titles for Nintendo 3DS which could potentially lead the markets this year.”

      In the midst of sluggish sales for the next-generation home console Wii U released last year, Iwata also indicated that portable and home console development groups would be merged.

      When asked how he would take responsibility if the goal is not met, Iwata emphasized his strong determination by saying, “Please understand that [achieving it] is my commitment.”

      Iwata, formerly the president of a development company making games for Nintendo, was selected in 2002 at the young age of 43 by former Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi, being called a person who had skill in both game development and administration.

      Shares of Nintendo stock were sold off on the Osaka Securities Exchange on the 31st, at one point falling 530 yen from the previous close to 8820 yen.”

      Un-quote.

      So, there you have it. Not one single word saying he would retire if they didn’t reach that billion mark.
      He said he’d take responsibility, but that’s not the same thing as saying he would quit if it didn’t happen.
      Sickr, or whoever posted the head-line for this article, please, in the future, review the headers you use for articles such as this, so as to avoid confusing your readers.
      You can get views without misleading people.

  15. Would be very sad if iwata left. On the subject however I think bill trinnen would be a good sucsessor to reggie. :)

  16. I think the lose come for the fact that Nintendo is not thinking clearly and with the time, they are a very high tech country, the Wii U is proof of that, but their are still ruled by people that are root in the old times and that is what is stoping the potential of Nintendo as a hardware and software (not games, those are awesome, but the OS and all the other software things of the Wii U) maker; meaby a change in head (Iwata) is what Nintendo need to really grow.

  17. What great news smash brothers guy is sick, and iwata may resign now if only Miyamoto would get sick and retire the world would make sense again and Nintendo has a chance to rise.

  18. That’s sad, I hope he doesn’t go. he’s so humble, I heard he cut his salary in half so his employees get more pay.

  19. Imho all Nintendo needs to do is to constantly update their consoles to keep them relevant. Right now they seem to be taking the right direction with the Wii U (Wii Street U, planned improvements to the OS and Miiverse, Wind Waker Reborn, etc) but two big things are missing: Youtube app for the 3DS with obvious support for 3D videos and NTSC-quality games for the Wii U VC. About this article, I respect Iwata very much and I think his resignation would be a harmful loss for the company that made me fall in love with videogames two decades ago :o(

  20. Dude, I admire his need to take responsibility, but he doesn’t need to do that. The company has been doing great under his command, just because the company had a shaky past two years doesn’t equal doom and gloom. Every company goes through rough times, it’s normal. I think Iwata is overreacting. He has already shown how humble he is when he took a pay cut, that was a very honorable thing to do in itself, I doubt any other CEO would do that. But to quit is just going too far. In fact his action of taking that pay cut shows how great a CEO he really is. Nintendo is lucky to have this man.

  21. LOL @ MORONIC TWATS DONT UNDERSTAND JAP CULTURE

    IATA HAS NO CONTROL OVER THE EXCHANGE RATE TE LOS WAS DOLLAR TO YEN CONVERSION

    HIS BEING A HONERABLE LEADER NOTHING MORE HE KNOWS NINTENDO WILL GO PROFITABLE THIS YEAR ANDHE ALSO KNOWS TGE DOLLAR POUND AND EURO WILL GO UP A BIT THIS YEAR

    SO HE ALREADY KNOWS THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT HIS BEING DRAMATIC FALLING ON HIS SWARD TYPICAL JAPANESE CORPERATE CULTURE NOTHING TO SEE HERE MOVE ON

  22. …! I-Iwata…! Jeez, that guy must feel terrible. I mean, think about how he must be feeling to consider that he’s going to quit. Poor Iwata.

  23. Bring all the old SNES-,GBA-,GBC-games etc. to the Virtual Consoles already. That would bring in a lot of effortless money. People have been waiting forever. Not a trickle here and there, and sucky games inbetween. Offer them all and let people have a large library to choose from. So what if you have to share the profits with the license holders ? It should bring Nintendo a nice extra profit and maybe even some earlier Nintendo Fans back into gaming for nostalgic reasons.

  24. He better stay on. Wii U will continue to sell well. He won’t have to resign. That would be a huge blow to the company if he leaves. Leave luck to heaven.

  25. Don’t you even think about that Iwata. Nintendo needs you as much as Nintendo needs Mario and Zelda and Metroid and Smash Brow.

  26. Damn, I really hope he stays, he is the best thing to happen to nintendo since Miyamoto made the legend of zelda. When presented with the prototype for the DS, he said: It needs a second screen. And it needs to be touch-sensitive. The rest is videogame-history.

    1. Reggie just needs to learn how to advertise better. At E3 and during interviews and such Reggie nails it every time. Regginator is awesome. Reggie much like Iwata has alot of passion for NIntendo. You dont kick someone out who makes a few mistakes but loves his company to death.

      1. Yeah but he refuses to release the white 3DS and white 3DS XL because he thought that the previous white-colored handhelds didn’t sell as well as they expected. That is complete bullshit. Now Nintendo fans hate him for that.

        I love Reggie (not literally) because he made the famous My Body is Ready meme. I don’t hate him, i just don’t like the way he’s not releasing the much-better colors of the 3DS family.

  27. Um… He didn’t say anything of the sort. All he said was that making profit was his commitment. That wasn’t even a slight implication towards a resignation Lost some respect for MyNintendoNews, you’ve been lost in translation.

    1. If it was someone who just got dropped in after Iwata being forced to resign the company would die instantly. When Iwata WANTS to retire and he can plan ahead and find the right guy for the job then Nintendo can survive and continue to dominate. Being forced to resign wont end well at all.

  28. Iwata don’t you even think about it. It isn’t his fault. Investors are bulling Iwata. They are all saying what happened to N64, GC and even the Wii days when you guys were rolling in the money? Its been more then 2 months and the Wii U isnt bringing in tons and tons and tons of money waaaa we arent happy Iwata.

    The thing Nintendo Investors seem to have forgotten is the fact that they got invested into Nintendo knowing THEY ONLY MAKE VIDEO GAMES AND CONSOLES. The system is out. NOW SLOW YOUR ROLL AND GIVE NINTENDO TIME TO MAKE THE DAMN GAMES!!!

    You dont want to wait? Then sell your shares in Nintendo and GTFO. Don’t blame Iwata and try to cause the company to implode. Most people don’t realize how important Iwata is. He is the single main pillar holding up Nintendo. Miyamoto is a 2nd pillar assisting but taking Iwata out as President will KILL Nintendo.

    Obviously 1 day he will retire and pass the torch. However he can plan for that and find the right guy. Dont force him to step down that wont end well. Investors complain they arent getting enough money? Well taking Iwata down as president will mean they get NO MONEY AT ALL.

    Iwata is a nice dude who has so much passion for Nintendo you dont let you’re own greediness for money as an investor kill the company you invest in.

    I get it Investors main goal is to make money. But HAVE SOME FUCKING PATIENCE. By Christmas Wii Us will be selling like nobodys buisness with all the killer games announced so far.

    I know it doesnt actually say in the article he will step down. But everyone who is a Nintendo fan really should help out anyway they can. Buy the amazing games coming out this year on Wii U and 3DS. Tell you’re friends about them get them to buy a Wii U. Tell you’re family.

    Point is we as Nintendo fans CANNOT LET IWATA BE FORCED TO STEP DOWN. Thats just not right.

  29. Please don’t Iwata!!! The Wii U is just beginning!!! When larger titles like Pikmin and Legend of Zelda release, the sales will spike for sure, just like the 3DS did with Super Mario 3D Land!!!

  30. Final wake-up call for Nintendo: IT’S 2013! Maybe you should release stuff that coincides with that! You know… first party games with ONLINE FUCKING MULTIPLAYER?!

    Just a thought. Oh, and congrats on JUST NOW having any sort of structured online gaming setup, even if it is absolute shite.

    Lastly: way to really sell your latest console to us with a Mario game that you just copy-pasted from the Wii, added new levels, and some wonky pointless tablet controls that are only useful on the rare occasion I’m with 3 other people gaming in-person instead of ONLINE LIKE THE REST OF THE GAMING WORLD.

    Jesus Christ on a bike…

  31. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  32. You you gotta admire the man for you even saying that a putting yourself in that position if you think about celebrity Apprentice where the project manger that’s in charge of projects when they dont well or live up to expectaions thier head is first on chopping block so basically he’s just taking the blame and also taking the responsibility for failure to meeting certain goalx to a new level, most would nt go that far they would blame someone under them got to admire that man

    1. You get your copy of Rhythm Heaven Fever yet? I went and bought it today and holy cow…I can’t wipe the smile off my face. I pealyd it for about 40 minutes and now I can’t get the tambourine song out of my head…damn money…

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  34. No plans at this time. That is not a direct no, and so the pobtsiilisy remains open for the future. I’m not too hopeful, but all I can say is at least it’s not a no. Still, it’s a little insulting. I think Nintendo’s core fans deserve better for all they’ve done.However, Nintendo has always acted this way, at least to my knowledge. They’ve constantly kept fans in the dark, but we come back because there are some great games for Nintendo platforms. Nintendo’s first party releases really are something else, and I’ll get a Wii U simply to see Zelda, Metroid, and Mario make the jump into HD. In this case, I just think Nintendo is seriously underestimating these particular games. Japanese-developed RPGs and action games are still awesome, but they don’t have the same market presence in the US because of the (completely and utterly oversaturated) shooter genre.

  35. Pingback: Iwata Says He Has No Plans To Resign | My Nintendo News

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