Remember when Nintendo was printing money with the DS and the Wii? Oh how the times have changed.
While the video game behemoth is still enjoying success in the handheld market with the 3DS, they've struggled to make any type of impact in the console marketplace with the Wii U. Despite the fact that the system is an absolute joy with some truly wonderful games, you rarely hear it breaking through mainstream commercials or stories as it continues to sink in the ever-growing shadows of the Xbox One and PS4.
Excuse me a second while I console my Wii U system for writing that last paragraph.
Okay, back now. Where was I? Oh yes; Satoru Iawata, Nintendo's CEO, and his belief that the company can do whatever they want.
"[Hiroshi] Yamauchi was one to always say 'Nintendo is a company for entertainment, and it shouldn't be for anything else,'" Iwata recently told Diamond.jp. "He didn't necessarily think that 'entertainment = video games.' I've been wondering how to express Yamauchi's feelings, and I've been thinking about it non-stop."
"At the start of this year, I finally figured out that 'improving people's quality of life with fun,' with emphasis to the 'fun' would be perfect for Nintendo."
Nintendo has embraced the whole "we do whatever we want" attitude with their withdrawls from major events (no press conference at E3 2013, no booth at PAX East 2014, random Nintnedo Directs throughout the year, Tomodachi Life). Still, it hasn't yet translated into the same success from the previous hardware generation. Iwata mentioned that his recent revelation was a focus during the Nintnedo's fiscal results meeting in Janurary, so clearly it's a point he wants to stress to parties interested in the company's bottom line.
Hopefuly it starts to show some results, particularly in the marketing department. Seriously, when's the last time anyone saw a good TV spot for a Nintendo product?
