Iwata: Why Nintendo Games Aren't Works of Art

By Jorge Ba-oh 01.08.2013 4

Iwata: Why Nintendo Games Aren

Whilst fans may consider Nintendo-developed titles in line with magnificent works of art, Iwata doesn't feel this way.

The Nintendo president was recently interviewed by Toyo Kezai Online, and re-iterated the reasons why the Nintendo Wii U is simply struggling to gain momentum globally. "Understanding it takes time" and Iwata feels that because of the weak line-up during the first half of 2013, that he doesn't "think that the concept and potential of the Wii U have been rejected".

Nintendo may appear to go on tangents when it comes to creative/innovative ideas from time to time, but Iwata highlighted that a Nintendo product has to be one that simply resonates with the audience.

Nintendo developers are extremely insatiable when it comes to whether what they make resonates with customers or not. They'll do anything to achieve it. Both Miyamoto and I repeatedly say, 'It's not like we are making pieces of art, the point is to make a product that resonates with and is accepted by customers.

Iwata feels that "you can't just force your way through" and that customers need to understand the concept - "it's more important that they do and you should shift your idea".

What are your thoughts on Nintendo's approaches to game design?

Comment on this article

You can comment as a guest or join the Cubed3 community below: Sign Up for Free Account Login

Preview PostPreview Post Your Name:
Validate your comment
  Enter the letters in the image to validate your comment.
Submit Post

Comments

Hm, it does seem like the really successful games recently are the ones being regarded as "Works of Art" though, and that seems to be the way the game industry is shifting. Again, what they are saying just sounds to safe. For Iwata, and Nintendo, It seems like their idea of what "resonates" with consumers are Mario games, and they are afraid to move past that and take any sort of risk.      

Working like a fiend isn't very fun... and surprisingly isn't very fiendish either.

I thought Pikmin 3 was a work of art. Shoot me. Games can still be works of art, even if you have to make sure the product "resonates" with customers. Nintendo just care about making great games though... and most of them I could consider works of art.

The games as art (endless) discusions are nothing to do with games - its all really just about how you define "art".
As this has been translated we really cant state much about it.

http://www.fanficmaker.com <-- Tells some truly terrible tales.
Last update; Mice,Plumbers,Animatronics and Airbenders. We also have the socials; Facebook & G+

I think his message could also be interpreted this way:

If you focusing on making a great game, your effort may turn into a work of art.
But if you set out to make an masterpiece then your game is probably going to suffer.

It's like an old Nintendo proverb!

Subscribe to this topic Subscribe to this topic

If you are a registered member and logged in, you can also subscribe to topics by email.
Sign up today for blogs, games collections, reader reviews and much more
Site Feed
Who's Online?
RudyC3

There are 1 members online at the moment.