Support NeoGAF

[Cheerilee]

If this ends up happening, does anyone have any idea of who he may have groomed to be his successor.
I'm terrified of some random western focused "yes man" getting put in the driver's seat and making things even worse.

Iwata rearranged Nintendo into himself being at the top of the pyramid, Miyamoto being in charge of games, and Takeda being in charge of hardware. Everyone below that is an unknown nobody. Might as well give the company to Norville from the mail room.

Except Tatsumi Kimishima. He was a banker, before he was put in charge of administrating the Pokemon empire. When Lincoln and Arakawa quit as the heads of NOA, Kimishima was quietly put in charge of administrating NOA. When Reggie became a powerful meme and was promoted to the apparent "head" of NOA, Kimishima became the secret head of NOA, outranking Reggie and enforcing the will of Iwata. Under Kimishima, NOA fell from being the most powerful branch of Nintendo, a leader on the edge of the Western revolution and holding up the company in spite of NCL's failings, to a broken shell of a company that merely markets and distributes the will of Iwata.

Kimishima was recently promoted out of his position as the secret head of NOA, and brought closer into Iwata's inner circle in Japan, while Iwata took over direct control of NOA. It's not clear what Kimishima does in Japan, but he's officially the fourth most powerful person in Nintendo.


Miyamoto might make a good leader for Nintendo.

Kimishima might make a terrible leader for Nintendo. He's apparently a yes man, but you don't need to worry about his Western focus because he doesn't have any.

Reggie might make a great leader, but that's never going to happen. They're hardly even going to let an American like him have NOA.

They need to hire Crazy Ken Kutaragi. Vote Kutaragi in 2015! He's so crazy, it just might work!

Another good outside hire would be Tom Kalinske, former head of Sega in the days when Sega was kicking Nintendo's butt. He made it his business to understand Nintendo, in order to beat them. It's like Rocky III, if you want the best ally, look for your oldest enemy who has a bone to pick with your new ones. Sega is the perfect place for Nintendo to look for new allies.

 

[trinest]

My issue is all these people are so old, surely there is like a 40 - 50 year old hiding within Nintendo which could take the reigns.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Another good outside hire would be Tom Kalinske, former head of Sega in the days when Sega was kicking Nintendo's butt. He made it his business to understand Nintendo, in order to beat them. It's like Rocky III, if you want the best ally, look for your oldest enemy who has a bone to pick with your new ones. Sega is the perfect place for Nintendo to look for new allies.

I feel like Tom Kalinske was the best thing to ever happen to Sega and they wouldn't have had the mindshare they did without him. Yet almost every decision of his was met with strong resistance from the Japanese arm who had the final say, even if he did get his way on some things (like packing in Sonic with new Genesis consoles). He'd probably run into the same problem with Nintendo - I doubt they would let an American head NCL.

For the same reason, I actually think Reggie would be great for acquiring more Western/third-party support. From what it seems he definitely has a good understanding of Nintendo's uniqueness and what makes them appealing, yet he's practically begging for third party games in every interview. If he were in a position where he made decisions for the company as a whole he might be able to balance Nintendo's strategy to appease to third parties while allowing their internal developers to keep chugging along.

 

[TreasureHunterG]

Iwata rearranged Nintendo into himself being at the top of the pyramid, Miyamoto being in charge of games, and Takeda being in charge of hardware. Everyone below that is an unknown nobody. Might as well give the company to Norville from the mail room.

Except Tatsumi Kimishima. He was a banker, before he was put in charge of administrating the Pokemon empire. When Lincoln and Arakawa quit as the heads of NOA, Kimishima was quietly put in charge of administrating NOA. When Reggie became a powerful meme and was promoted to the apparent "head" of NOA, Kimishima became the secret head of NOA, outranking Reggie and enforcing the will of Iwata. Under Kimishima, NOA fell from being the most powerful branch of Nintendo, a leader on the edge of the Western revolution and holding up the company in spite of NCL's failings, to a broken shell of a company that merely markets and distributes the will of Iwata.

Kimishima was recently promoted out of his position as the secret head of NOA, and brought closer into Iwata's inner circle in Japan, while Iwata took over direct control of NOA. It's not clear what Kimishima does in Japan, but he's officially the fourth most powerful person in Nintendo.


Miyamoto might make a good leader for Nintendo.

Kimishima might make a terrible leader for Nintendo. He's apparently a yes man, but you don't need to worry about his Western focus because he doesn't have any.

Reggie might make a great leader, but that's never going to happen. They're hardly even going to let an American like him have NOA.

They need to hire Crazy Ken Kutaragi. Vote Kutaragi in 2015! He's so crazy, it just might work!

Another good outside hire would be Tom Kalinske, former head of Sega in the days when Sega was kicking Nintendo's butt. He made it his business to understand Nintendo, in order to beat them. It's like Rocky III, if you want the best ally, look for your oldest enemy who has a bone to pick with your new ones. Sega is the perfect place for Nintendo to look for new allies.

How long is Tom Kalinske away from the gaming industry? I know he was great into the Genesis days but he's out of the business for a very long time. I don't know if he can be in touch with current industry anymore.

But yeah... Strategy-like speaking, Nintendo does need an agressive approach in order to grab the market back in the western seas, so a Kalinske-like strategy would be a good idea.

I really, really doubt Ken Kutaragi would ever accept working for Nintendo, or even Nintendo would accept him, given how bad the Nintendo/Sony deal turned out in the 90s as he was the major schemer of that deal.

 

[LiveWire]

Iwata rearranged Nintendo into himself being at the top of the pyramid, Miyamoto being in charge of games, and Takeda being in charge of hardware. Everyone below that is an unknown nobody. Might as well give the company to Norville from the mail room.

Except Tatsumi Kimishima. He was a banker, before he was put in charge of administrating the Pokemon empire. When Lincoln and Arakawa quit as the heads of NOA, Kimishima was quietly put in charge of administrating NOA. When Reggie became a powerful meme and was promoted to the apparent "head" of NOA, Kimishima became the secret head of NOA, outranking Reggie and enforcing the will of Iwata. Under Kimishima, NOA fell from being the most powerful branch of Nintendo, a leader on the edge of the Western revolution and holding up the company in spite of NCL's failings, to a broken shell of a company that merely markets and distributes the will of Iwata.

Kimishima was recently promoted out of his position as the secret head of NOA, and brought closer into Iwata's inner circle in Japan, while Iwata took over direct control of NOA. It's not clear what Kimishima does in Japan, but he's officially the fourth most powerful person in Nintendo.


Miyamoto might make a good leader for Nintendo.

Kimishima might make a terrible leader for Nintendo. He's apparently a yes man, but you don't need to worry about his Western focus because he doesn't have any.

Reggie might make a great leader, but that's never going to happen. They're hardly even going to let an American like him have NOA.

They need to hire Crazy Ken Kutaragi. Vote Kutaragi in 2015! He's so crazy, it just might work!

Another good outside hire would be Tom Kalinske, former head of Sega in the days when Sega was kicking Nintendo's butt. He made it his business to understand Nintendo, in order to beat them. It's like Rocky III, if you want the best ally, look for your oldest enemy who has a bone to pick with your new ones. Sega is the perfect place for Nintendo to look for new allies.

/thread

 

[shinra-bansho]

Most CEOs didn't preside over the simultaneous meteoric rise of the DS and Wii. But I'm sure spearheading two of the best selling and most profitable game systems of all time at once is a mere coincidence, and no actual reflection of Iwata's business acumen. He's only accountable when Nintendo underperforms.

Ken Kutaragi presided over the best-selling home console of all time. That didn't stop him from being kicked upstairs, before being shoved out entirely. Iwata is accountable for both successes and failures. He's currently responsible for failures, however, and past laurels can only give you so much leeway if you can't replicate success again.

The handheld market that's disappeared is the adult handheld market. That market was always going to be difficult to sustain. The kids handheld market can survive because kids are in the back of a car or have a backpack so they can carry a second device with relative convenience.

Kids have backpacks. And woman have handbags. And men have manbags. And college students have backpacks. And not every adult drives.

That doesn't stop the march of substitution. The problem isn't just the obsolescence of carrying two devices, it's also the obsolescence of having dedicated devices at all if the convergent device will suffice and provides comparable or better perceived benefits/costs. Much of the time that's not even a value judgment the child gets to make, but the parent.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Iwata rearranged Nintendo into himself being at the top of the pyramid, Miyamoto being in charge of games, and Takeda being in charge of hardware. Everyone below that is an unknown nobody. Might as well give the company to Norville from the mail room.

Except Tatsumi Kimishima. He was a banker, before he was put in charge of administrating the Pokemon empire. When Lincoln and Arakawa quit as the heads of NOA, Kimishima was quietly put in charge of administrating NOA. When Reggie became a powerful meme and was promoted to the apparent "head" of NOA, Kimishima became the secret head of NOA, outranking Reggie and enforcing the will of Iwata. Under Kimishima, NOA fell from being the most powerful branch of Nintendo, a leader on the edge of the Western revolution and holding up the company in spite of NCL's failings, to a broken shell of a company that merely markets and distributes the will of Iwata.

Kimishima was recently promoted out of his position as the secret head of NOA, and brought closer into Iwata's inner circle in Japan, while Iwata took over direct control of NOA. It's not clear what Kimishima does in Japan, but he's officially the fourth most powerful person in Nintendo.


Miyamoto might make a good leader for Nintendo.

Kimishima might make a terrible leader for Nintendo. He's apparently a yes man, but you don't need to worry about his Western focus because he doesn't have any.

Reggie might make a great leader, but that's never going to happen. They're hardly even going to let an American like him have NOA.

They need to hire Crazy Ken Kutaragi. Vote Kutaragi in 2015! He's so crazy, it just might work!

Another good outside hire would be Tom Kalinske, former head of Sega in the days when Sega was kicking Nintendo's butt. He made it his business to understand Nintendo, in order to beat them. It's like Rocky III, if you want the best ally, look for your oldest enemy who has a bone to pick with your new ones. Sega is the perfect place for Nintendo to look for new allies.

*raises eyebrow*

 

[MisterGrey3000]

They need to hire Crazy Ken Kutaragi. Vote Kutaragi in 2015! He's so crazy, it just might work!

This made me laugh harder than it should have.

 

[Aquamarine]

Iwata rearranged Nintendo into himself being at the top of the pyramid, Miyamoto being in charge of games, and Takeda being in charge of hardware. Everyone below that is an unknown nobody. Might as well give the company to Norville from the mail room.

Except Tatsumi Kimishima. He was a banker, before he was put in charge of administrating the Pokemon empire. When Lincoln and Arakawa quit as the heads of NOA, Kimishima was quietly put in charge of administrating NOA. When Reggie became a powerful meme and was promoted to the apparent "head" of NOA, Kimishima became the secret head of NOA, outranking Reggie and enforcing the will of Iwata. Under Kimishima, NOA fell from being the most powerful branch of Nintendo, a leader on the edge of the Western revolution and holding up the company in spite of NCL's failings, to a broken shell of a company that merely markets and distributes the will of Iwata.

Kimishima was recently promoted out of his position as the secret head of NOA, and brought closer into Iwata's inner circle in Japan, while Iwata took over direct control of NOA. It's not clear what Kimishima does in Japan, but he's officially the fourth most powerful person in Nintendo.


Miyamoto might make a good leader for Nintendo.

Kimishima might make a terrible leader for Nintendo. He's apparently a yes man, but you don't need to worry about his Western focus because he doesn't have any.

Reggie might make a great leader, but that's never going to happen. They're hardly even going to let an American like him have NOA.

They need to hire Crazy Ken Kutaragi. Vote Kutaragi in 2015! He's so crazy, it just might work!

Another good outside hire would be Tom Kalinske, former head of Sega in the days when Sega was kicking Nintendo's butt. He made it his business to understand Nintendo, in order to beat them. It's like Rocky III, if you want the best ally, look for your oldest enemy who has a bone to pick with your new ones. Sega is the perfect place for Nintendo to look for new allies.

Mr. Kimishima's official current title is:

"General Manager, Corporate Analysis & Administration Division"

He holds a concurrent title:

"General Manager, General Affairs Division"


While the other Board members are focused on specific areas of the company (Game development, hardware development, Finance, Marketing, Licensing, Manufacturing, etc.) Mr. Kimishima is primarily focused on general administration and assisting Mr. Iwata in determining Nintendo's overall broad corporate strategy.

In that sense, Mr. Kimishima seems like the heir apparent to Mr. Iwata if promoted from the inside.

The problem is that Mr. Kimishima is 64 years old, Mr. Takeda is 65 years old, and Mr. Miyamoto is 61 years old. They're quite close to retirement age, especially Mr. Kimishima and Mr. Takeda. As a result, it doesn't seem like Mr. Kimishima would be the type of person to assume the incredible responsibilities and stresses of the CEO given his age / the current position in his career.

For comparison, the recently retired long-standing Board member Mr. Mori retired at the age of 68, and Mr. Takemura (another Board member) just retired at the age of 68 as well.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Perhaps if it does come to the point that they need a replacement for Iwata, they could institute an Executive Chairman role à la Larry Probst at EA, for one of these senior but ageing individuals, to ease the transition for some younger internal talent they've kept hidden away somewhere, (assuming that exists.)

 

[Aquamarine]

Personally I find it fascinating that Minoru Arakawa (who retired as CEO of Nintendo of America 12 years ago) is only 67 years old.

He's only like 2 years older than Mr. Takeda and Mr. Kimishima....if we're thinking Mr. Arakawa is "too old" to come back to the company, we must consider Mr. Takeda / Mr. Kimishima as too old to run it.

 

[AniHawk]

Perhaps if it does come to the point that they need a replacement for Iwata, they could institute an Executive Chairman role à la Larry Probst at EA, for one of these senior but ageing individuals, to ease the transition for some younger internal talent they've kept hidden away somewhere, (assuming that exists.)

that's basically what happened when iwata became ceo.

 

[MisterGrey3000]

that's basically what happened when iwata became ceo.

Wasn't Iwata just a very talented programmer at HAL before he became the head honcho?

 

[Aquamarine]

Wasn't Iwata just a very talented programmer at HAL before he became the head honcho?

He didn't just program...Mr. Iwata stood out from the rest as a clear leader right from the outset, whether or not that was in his official job description.


Iwata chronology:

1980-1982 - Was pursuing a degree in Computer Science from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, joined the small, newly-formed HAL Laboratory as a part-time programmer.

1982 - Graduated from college, started a full-time programming job with HAL Laboratory.

1983 - Rose through the ranks as a leader within the tiny, newly-formed company very quickly...in addition to programming, he was also responsible for coordinating software production and developing a relationship with Nintendo.

1983-1990 - Continued to have a very prominent impact in the production of HAL Laboratory titles whether as a programmer or otherwise. For example, in a 1987 HAL Laboratory game "Air Fortress," Mr. Iwata was credited as a "Technical Advisor" and a "Producer." He also branched out and worked for Nintendo Co., Ltd. as a freelance programmer.

1992-1993 - HAL Laboratory went bankrupt / virtually bankrupt, emerged out of it with Mr. Iwata as the formal president of the company.

1993-2000 - Mr. Iwata served as the formal president of the company, forming a very close business relationship with Nintendo. The company rose back from bankruptcy during this time.

2000 - Hired by Hiroshi Yamauchi to lead Nintendo Co., Ltd.'s Corporate Planning Division as a General Manager and join the Board of Directors. Yamauchi would groom Iwata as his successor for the next two years.

2002 - Iwata became the official CEO of Nintendo, but Hiroshi Yamauchi would remain on the Board to keep a very close eye on Iwata. In addition, Yamauchi appointed Atsushi Asada to maintain executive control and further watch over Iwata.

2005 - With the rise of the DS and the Wii in development, Yamauchi started to back off and let Mr. Iwata run things without his oversight.

 

[Mariolee]

Considering what Cheerilee wrote as well as many of Reggie's comments in the past, especially in Emily Roger's piece on his private comments during the Gamecube era, Reggie would be a greath breath of fresh air for Nintendo. He understands the Western Market thoroughly and is realistic about the competition here. Wha he does have to constantly deal with however is with the Japanese branch restraining his power.

Although incredibly incredibly unlikely, I'd love to see how Reggie would do in Iwata's position.

 

[Kimawolf]

Perhaps if it does come to the point that they need a replacement for Iwata, they could institute an Executive Chairman role à la Larry Probst at EA, for one of these senior but ageing individuals, to ease the transition for some younger internal talent they've kept hidden away somewhere, (assuming that exists.)

You assume much then. I don't think they have someone "hidden away". I think once Iwata goes, they'll find some other old guy to take his place. They need to bring in someone younger though, more modern but still with their sensibilities.

 

[Mysterious]

You assume much then. I don't think they have someone "hidden away". I think once Iwata goes, they'll find some other old guy to take his place. They need to bring in someone younger though, more modern but still with their sensibilities.

Iwata was young when he became head honcho.

 

[MisterGrey3000]

He didn't just program...Mr. Iwata stood out from the rest as a clear leader right from the outset, whether or not that was in his official job description.


Iwata chronology:

1980-1982 - Was pursuing a degree in Computer Science from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, joined the small, newly-formed HAL Laboratory as a part-time programmer.

1982 - Graduated from college, started a full-time programming job with HAL Laboratory.

1983 - Rose through the ranks as a leader within the tiny, newly-formed company very quickly...in addition to programming, he was also responsible for coordinating software production and developing a relationship with Nintendo.

1983-1990 - Continued to have a very prominent impact in the production of HAL Laboratory titles whether as a programmer or otherwise. For example, in a 1987 HAL Laboratory game "Air Fortress," Mr. Iwata was credited as a "Technical Advisor" and a "Producer." He also branched out and worked for Nintendo Co., Ltd. as a freelance programmer.

1992-1993 - HAL Laboratory went bankrupt / virtually bankrupt, emerged out of it with Mr. Iwata as the formal president of the company.

1993-2000 - Mr. Iwata served as the formal president of the company, forming a very close business relationship with Nintendo. The company rose back from bankruptcy during this time.

2000 - Hired by Hiroshi Yamauchi to lead Nintendo Co., Ltd.'s Corporate Planning Division as a General Manager and join the Board of Directors. Yamauchi would groom Iwata as his successor for the next two years.

2002 - Iwata became the official CEO of Nintendo, but Hiroshi Yamauchi would remain on the Board to keep a very close eye on Iwata. In addition, Yamauchi appointed Atsushi Asada to maintain executive control and further watch over Iwata.

2005 - With the rise of the DS and the Wii in development, Yamauchi started to back off and let Mr. Iwata run things without his oversight.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Hermii]

Considering what Cheerilee wrote as well as many of Reggie's comments in the past, especially in Emily Roger's piece on his private comments during the Gamecube era, Reggie would be a greath breath of fresh air for Nintendo. He understands the Western Market thoroughly and is realistic about the competition here. Wha he does have to constantly deal with however is with the Japanese branch restraining his power.

Although incredibly incredibly unlikely, I'd love to see how Reggie would do in Iwata's position.

I can't imagine that would be good. Whenever he is saying something its mostly nonsense PR, including that terrible Reggie Asks article. The initial Wii U marketing in the US was horrible, and thats the sort of thing I think Reggie would be in charge of. Do you have a link to that article with the private comments?

I don't think Reggie would be as willing to delay games for that extra polish. DKCR for example, the game was finished and still got delayed a few months to brush up the visuals were most other publishers would have said it was good enough and bugs can always be patched.

 

[JoeM86]

Oh for sure. I have no doubt that, if his approval rating is right around 50% this year and he thinks he'll be voted out at the next meeting, he'll announce his retirement when Nintendo releases their FY3/2015 results (May 2015), at the same time that Mr. Yamauchi did back in 2002.

I imagine that Mr. Iwata is very aware of his job security.

That would have been a considerable drop, though. At least 20%. I very much doubt it'd have been that much. Hell, I even have a feeling it went up to the 80s.

 

[Aquamarine]

Never mind.

 

[JoeM86]

It dropped 13.34% from 2012 to 2013.


Historical Iwata Approval Ratings:


Iwata, 2010:
Approve: 952,201
Oppose: 19,072
Approval Rating: 96.74%

Iwata, 2011:
Approve: 932,379
Oppose: 48,339
Approval Rating: 92.89%

Iwata, 2012:
Approve: 913,453
Oppose: 83,740
Approval Rating: 90.60%

Iwata, 2013:
Approve: 772,384
Oppose: 218,960
Approval Rating: 77.26%



Applying that same percentage drop to the next three years:


Iwata, 2014:
Approval Rating: 63.92%

Iwata 2015:
Approval Rating: 50.58% (voted out if below 50%)

Iwata, 2016:
Approval Rating: 37.24% (voted out if below 50%)

It would be enough to get Mr. Iwata voted out within the next few years if he didn't stave off the decline.

But there is no reason to assume that it would go down at a similar, or larger, rate.

 

[Scum]

But there is no reason to assume that it would go down at a similar rate.

It probably will though. I'm expecting ~65% - 70%. I reckon Iwata will give it up by Winter next year.

 

[JoeM86]

It probably will though. I'm expecting ~65% - 70%. I reckon Iwata will give it up by Winter next year.

I personally disagree. I think it'll be level if not higher due to the fact the net loss could largely be attributed to the injection into R&D and marketing this January, and the new strategies of Nintendo.

 

[wsippel]

It dropped 13.34% from 2012 to 2013.


Historical Iwata Approval Ratings:


Iwata, 2010:
Approve: 952,201
Oppose: 19,072
Approval Rating: 96.74%

Iwata, 2011:
Approve: 932,379
Oppose: 48,339
Approval Rating: 92.89%

Iwata, 2012:
Approve: 913,453
Oppose: 83,740
Approval Rating: 90.60%

Iwata, 2013:
Approve: 772,384
Oppose: 218,960
Approval Rating: 77.26%



Applying that same percentage drop to the next three years:


Iwata, 2014:
Approval Rating: 63.92%

Iwata 2015:
Approval Rating: 50.58% (voted out if below 50%)

Iwata, 2016:
Approval Rating: 37.24% (voted out if below 50%)

It would be enough to get Mr. Iwata voted out within the next few years if he didn't stave off the decline.

I wouldn't be surprised if his approval rating slightly improved this year, though. We'll see I guess.

 

[jeffers]

It probably will though. I'm expecting ~65% - 70%. I reckon Iwata will give it up by Winter next year.

Cant really say the bold unsubstantiated, rest is fine though (but probability is maths, and so needs to be rooted in numbers).

As for aquaMarine extrapolating 1 % drop, 1 data point does not a trend make (realise its casual speculation/theorising and its your job, but gotta think of the audience who reads ); you got any history on when the %'s turn up following the AGM? will be interesting.
I guess this at least allows him to show his QoL plans in greater detail (assuming he has enough % gap not to be being shuffled to the door).

 

[Aquamarine]

Cant really say the bold unsubstantiated, rest is fine though (but probability is maths, and so needs to be rooted in numbers).

As for aquaMarine extrapolating 1 % drop, 1 data point does not a trend make (realise its casual speculation/theorising and its your job, but gotta think of the audience who reads ); you got any history on when the %'s turn up following the AGM? will be interesting.

I'm not extrapolating a probable drop or a trend from one data point. I'm theorizing Mr. Iwata's departure if his popularity with shareholders maintained a constant decline.

It obviously doesn't reflect a real-life scenario.

 

[jeffers]

I'm not extrapolating a probable drop or a trend from one data point. I'm theorizing Mr. Iwata's departure if his popularity with shareholders maintained a constant decline.

It obviously doesn't reflect a real-life scenario.

was more a casual criticism of even playing with the idea that you'd get the same drop each year (and more that some people would take that and run with it). But I guess it works to the opposite, if say thats a 'bad drop', and it continues, thats the time he has left. But guess it really comes down to next years financials, improvement would be a hold on the % and another year of loss (assuming not something unplanned makes a giant dent) would be a pretty big drop.

 

[Darius]

The hypothetical (big) linear percentual drop you came up with for 2014/2015/2016 is really something only a complete laymen would come up with.

 

[Aquamarine]

The hypothetical (big) linear percentual drop you came up with for 2014/2015/2016 is really something only a complete laymen would come up with.

Can we stop with the personal attacks, please?

Since it's apparently such a big problem and I'm such an idiot, I'll delete the post.

 

[lenovox1]

Can we stop with the personal attacks, please?

Since it's apparently such a big problem and I'm such an idiot, I'll delete the post.

I doubt it was intended to be an attack on your intelligence or character in anyway. You certainly don't have to be an idiot to use loose statistics (see, Polygon, and you weren't even publishing something as an Op/Ed). You were just thinking/pondering out loud; it's no big deal. And you really didn't have to delete the post. It's an interesting discussion and the only thing there really is to discuss until the meeting is translated.

 

[RiggyRob]

I personally disagree. I think it'll be level if not higher due to the fact the net loss could largely be attributed to the injection into R&D and marketing this January, and the new strategies of Nintendo.

Personally I think the shareholders won't care that the loss is due to R&D, they'll just focus on it as a loss. I do think Iwata's rating will have dropped, but not quite as much as before.

The hypothetical (big) linear percentual drop you came up with for 2014/2015/2016 is really something only a complete laymen would come up with.

Do you even know who Aquamarine is and what she does for a living?

 

[Terrell]

Ken Kutaragi presided over the best-selling home console of all time. That didn't stop him from being kicked upstairs, before being shoved out entirely. Iwata is accountable for both successes and failures. He's currently responsible for failures, however, and past laurels can only give you so much leeway if you can't replicate success again.

Kutaragi may have presided over the best-selling console of all time, but the money spent getting them to that point made the PS2 venture nowhere near the kind of money that the Wii did. Nowhere even remotely close. Lots of goodwill with gamers, though... which didn't mean a hill of beans when they pissed it away with PS3. THAT is why Kutaragi was dismissed. Even his biggest success was only a moderate financial windfall. And since we're talking about investors, I think that's something they'd be concerned with.

 

[Mysterious]

Kutaragi may have presided over the best-selling console of all time, but the money spent getting them to that point made the PS2 venture nowhere near the kind of money that the Wii did. Nowhere even remotely close. Lots of goodwill with gamers, though... which didn't mean a hill of beans when they pissed it away with PS3. THAT is why Kutaragi was dismissed. Even his biggest success was only a moderate financial windfall. And since we're talking about investors, I think that's something they'd be concerned with.

Investors didn't really have a direct impact on Ken Kutaragi's position, since he wasn't a board member of SNE Sony Corporation. Iwata is the Chairman of NTDOY Nintendo Company Limited, and therefore investors have a direct impact on his position as chairman. CEO is up to board of directors, but they can be pushed a certain way with investors.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Are we going to see the nonsensical "cumulative profit" graph now? Because obviously as long as that's in the black investors should be satisfied and Iwata must have until they've lost every penny from the NDS and Wii before they should consider alternative leadership. And the loss of essentially all the market value that was gained during those successes is entirely irrelevant to shareholders.

Investors are interested in current and future performance, that's the point of analogy. Past success isn't enough if it can't be replicated or sustained.

I personally disagree. I think it'll be level if not higher due to the fact the net loss could largely be attributed to the injection into R&D and marketing this January, and the new strategies of Nintendo.

Why do you keep talking about R&D and marketing expense as if it's not part of the core operations of a company that develops and sells hardware devices and software?

 

[JoeM86]

Why do you keep talking about R&D and marketing expense as if it's not part of the core operations of a company that develops and sells hardware devices and software?

Because this was a one-time additional injection into it that they made a big point about, not the usual amount within it.

 

[The Giant]

Q/A from the meeting is up... but only in Japanese for now.

Maybe someone can translate some choice excerpts?

It's been what 2 days and no one has translated some of it?

 

[Terrell]

Are we going to see the nonsensical "cumulative profit" graph now? Because obviously as long as that's in the black investors should be satisfied and Iwata must have until they've lost every penny from the NDS and Wii before they should consider alternative leadership. And the loss of essentially all the market value that was gained during those successes is entirely irrelevant to shareholders.

Investors are interested in current and future performance, that's the point of analogy. Past success isn't enough if it can't be replicated or sustained.

No need to bring out a graph.
If investors are only interested in current and future performance, why aren't they bailing out, then? We can clearly see that Iwata has a base of support with shareholders and has strengthened his position with the board of directors (because if GAF can piece it together, so can a major investor, considering they have money riding on it). If I were a major investor, I'd realize that replacing the CEO would change absolutely nothing and bail out at the first opportunity if I didn't see any reason to hope for improvement.

But there's no mass sell-through of Nintendo stock happening, so that leads to only a few logical conclusions, with the easiest to grasp being that perhaps investors still have faith in such a replication of success and have some confidence that their current performance will improve in the short term. That's definitely not infinite if things don't improve, but it's not as insignificant as you make it seem, either.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Because this was a one-time additional injection into it that they made a big point about, not the usual amount within it.

So?

If said injection does not make the money back then thats potentially a massive loss.

Nintendo being in the red is not somehow excused by R&D marketing expenses, especially given how long they have tried to stay in the black.

 

[Interceptor]

This thread is strange. Some of you guys act as if Iwata was not reelected and is about to leave the company. There is one chance you might get what you want: If Nintendo is still bleeding money one year from now.

Iwata made a risky statement (as a japanese ceo) when he declared 3 subsequent years of losses as "unacceptable". 2014 is all about milking the 3ds and getting at least a black zero with the Wii U. If he fails to deliver on this your wishes might get fulfilled.

Unfortunately he probably will deliver on his promise. The transition to the new r&d building is finished as is the "unexpected" acquisition of new tech for the qol device. The Wii U stopped losing money on each unit just in time for the new fiscal year and smash and kart together with amiibo will generate new revenue streams. The Wii U itself is a lost cause, but they stopped losing money on it. The only thing to ruin this might be the lawsuit with Philips. Until then expect a loooong time with Iwata as the head of Nintendo.

 

[Sandfox]

This thread is strange. Some of you guys act as if Iwata was not reelected and is about to leave the company. There is one chance you might get what you want: If Nintendo is still bleeding money one year from now.

Iwata made a risky statement (as a japanese ceo) when he declared 3 subsequent years of losses as "unacceptable". 2014 is all about milking the 3ds and getting at least a black zero with the Wii U. If he fails to deliver on this your wishes might get fulfilled.

Unfortunately he probably will deliver on his promise. The transition to the new r&d building is finished as is the "unexpected" acquisition of new tech for the qol device. The Wii U stopped losing money on each unit just in time for the new fiscal year and smash and kart together with amiibo will generate new revenue streams. The Wii U itself is a lost cause, but they stopped losing money on it. The only thing to ruin this might be the lawsuit with Philips. Until then expect a loooong with Iwata the head of Nintendo.

Wouldn't that be good thing?

 

[Interceptor]

Wouldn't that be good thing?

Not for some people around here. ^^
Iwata will pull every trick this year to achieve this - don't worry, he is here to stay.

 

[shinra-bansho]

No need to bring out a graph.
If investors are only interested in current and future performance, why aren't they bailing out, then? We can clearly see that Iwata has a base of support with shareholders and has strengthened his position with the board of directors (because if GAF can piece it together, so can a major investor, considering they have money riding on it). If I were a major investor, I'd realize that replacing the CEO would change absolutely nothing and bail out at the first opportunity if I didn't see any reason to hope for improvement.

But there's no mass sell-through of Nintendo stock happening, so that leads to only a few logical conclusions, with the easiest to grasp being that perhaps investors still have faith in such a replication of success and have some confidence that their current performance will improve in the short term. That's definitely not infinite if things don't improve, but it's not as insignificant as you make it seem, either.

7974 has fallen by 80% in value since 2008, so I would assume that there has been some manner of sell-off. It's no longer at the lows seen in 2012, it's not anywhere near the highs, and from memory more analysts were rating Nintendo a sell than a buy, although I could be wrong on that. Presumably irate questions about finances wouldn't be met with applause at their AGM if investors were wholly satisfied. And approval rating of the Chair of the Board of Directors wouldn't have fallen significantly at last known vote. Perhaps he's recovered some shareholder confidence and it's gone up again.

As for why there's a base of shareholders that still support current management despite their loss in capital value; the management has engaged in shareholder friendly activities that act to placate unease, namely the paying out of dividends despite net negative income and the share buyback, as Yamauchi's shares flooding the open market wouldn't have been good for the price.

It's seemingly held as infinite, considering how often it's brought up to deflect criticism of the current situation and as part of some sort of strawman about selective memories of Iwata's record as a CEO. Again, he's responsible for both successes and failures, and at present he's responsible for failures.

Meanwhile, replacing the CEO with someone with a better read of Western markets and partners would probably make a difference, perhaps someone external, but I doubt it's something Nintendo would do. If the replacement is simply Iwata by proxy then yes, I'd agree it will have no impact.

 

[Rösti]

Today they issued a report on corporate governance/management, I find it highly interesting. Currently available only in Japanese though: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/management/governance.pdf

Some additional details about Naoki Mizutani can be found there, for example.

 

[Mpl90]

Today the issued a report on corporate management, I find it highly interesting. Currently available only in Japanese though: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/management/governance.pdf

Some tidbits for us non-Japanese speakers, please?

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Today they issued a report on corporate governance/management, I find it highly interesting. Currently available only in Japanese though: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/management/governance.pdf

Some additional details about Naoki Mizutani can be found there, for example.

He's the newest member of the board, isn't he?

 

[AniHawk]

He's the newest member of the board, isn't he?

yeah. he used to be the corporate auditor, which i think means he's the one who listens in on the wiretaps.

 

[Rösti]

Some tidbits for us non-Japanese speakers, please?

• Foreign shareholding ratio is 30% or more
• Mizutani seems to be involved with human resources in some way (may be a mistranslation, it's anyway this line "言出来る人材として選任しました。")
• Variable compensation for directors can be a maximum of 600 million yen (around 6 million $)

Then there's information on internal control systems, CSR and the likes. There's also an organization chart on page 9.

He's the newest member of the board, isn't he?

Yes, he was elected Outside Director.

 

[KooopaKid]

This thread is strange. Some of you guys act as if Iwata was not reelected and is about to leave the company. There is one chance you might get what you want: If Nintendo is still bleeding money one year from now.

Iwata made a risky statement (as a japanese ceo) when he declared 3 subsequent years of losses as "unacceptable". 2014 is all about milking the 3ds and getting at least a black zero with the Wii U. If he fails to deliver on this your wishes might get fulfilled.

Unfortunately he probably will deliver on his promise. The transition to the new r&d building is finished as is the "unexpected" acquisition of new tech for the qol device. The Wii U stopped losing money on each unit just in time for the new fiscal year and smash and kart together with amiibo will generate new revenue streams. The Wii U itself is a lost cause, but they stopped losing money on it. The only thing to ruin this might be the lawsuit with Philips. Until then expect a loooong time with Iwata as the head of Nintendo.

Source?

 

[AniHawk]

Source?

it was announced at the end of the fiscal year. but it's not really true. what iwata had said was that basically the costs of manufacturing so many wii u consoles were absorbed into last year's numbers, so that this year whenever they sold a unit to retail, it would be profitable. it's kind of smoke and mirrors. i don't think this system will ever be a net gain in any way for nintendo considering what they put into it.