We've known that Sony's Shuhei Yoshida is a fan of the Wii U for some time — he has previously revealed that he owns Nintendo's current home console — but in a chat with IGN's Greg Miller, he has spoken a little more of his desire to see the console become a success.
During the interview, Yoshida mentioned that he has not one but two Wii U consoles at home and explained that he plays on them a lot with his daughters. He states that Nintendo's strength has always been creating a fun and "safe" environment for players, and that in his opinion, the Wii U feels like a continuation of that.
However, Yoshida did admit that Nintendo's message for this generation — "we are for gamers" — was confusing. He added that this year, it felt to him like Nintendo was getting back to its original, family-friendly approach. He also stated that Sony and Nintendo are very much in the same group, and that Sony needs Nintendo to be successful to satisfy players who like to play with "sticks and buttons" — a comment which is no doubt aimed at the rise of smartphone and tablet gaming. IGN's Miller summed up Yoshida's sentiment perfectly with the phrase "a rising tide lifts all ships".
What do you think about Yoshida's comments? Do you think he has a point about Nintendo's marketing for Wii U being wrong in the beginning? Share your feelings by posting a comment below.
[source uk.ign.com]
Comments 81
I love Shuhei, he is super positive person. I completely agree with him. I own all Nintendo and SONY consoles (apart from PS4 obviously) and always looked at both companies as a whole for my gaming experience.
I would say that one of the Gamepads has been disected in Sony labs just to see if they can copy it... Just like the Wiimote & Move all over again
He's right - they need to catalyse the market for each other to keep going. A failing competitor in a market that doesn't grow explosively is a recipe for disaster for yourselves. He understands business, that's for sure.
And that attitude right there is why I own mainly sony and nintendo products.
It feels like we're flogging a dead horse by now,but ofcourse he is right,nintendos marketing for the wiiu has been and still is god awful
I like Yoshida a lot. He's a proper video game person, which can't be said for a lot of people high up the chain at the Xbox division. I'm also pretty sure most people in the games industry want Nintendo to succeed. They might criticise Nintendo, and Nintendo sometimes deserve that, but too many people take the criticism as 'everyone wants Nintendo to fail', when most of the time it's quite the opposite.
@MadAussieBloke I've heard the Move was in development before the Wiimote came out, Nintendo just managed to get theirs to the market first. Again, it one of those things that is not clear, but I've heard that the Move was tied to the eyetoy technology and Sony was working on something like it during the PS2 era.
Of course, that can be taken with a grain of salt.
Great mature post Damo this proves my point about Sony and Nintendo can both thrive together as a company but the fanboys from both camps isn't going change sheets because of what Shuhei Yoshida says which is true sadly but as a varity console and gamer I feel that in my opinion I hope atleast this post can change some of the the tone that NL has about Sony and give them a chance one day.
They just don't know how to harness the epic awesomeness of the GP
Both Sony and Microsoft need Nintendo to hook kids onto gaming so they can become Sony and Microsoft gamers when they grow up, Nintendo losing kids to smartphone and tablets should be a huge concern for them, it would not likely affect them this generation but if kids not play Nintendo this generation Microsoft and Sony would feel it badly the next one
@Peach64 Full on point great comment.
Being honest about it I think most people would agree that Nintendo don't really do 'mature content' well, and the Playstation hasn't caught the same lightning in a bottle Nintendo has for 'family gaming'. Hopefully there s a big enough market out there for both of them. They can both learn from each other. Plus the Japanese know how to show respect to one another.
Xbox vs Playstation however is a different story. FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!!!!
I'm rooting for both Sony and Nintendo going forward. I think both are good companies, and will be the ones that keep pushing gaming forward.
Microsoft on the other hand is a testament to what is wrong with modern gaming. The Xbox One has left me cold as a gamer. It seems like they have spent more time talking about it playing movies and being a TV guide then they have showing off games, their first party support is pathetic and basically operates on a rotating schedule of Halo, Forza, and Fable, but that's not the worst thing.
The fact that the Xbox One even had DRM, used game control, and always online features bothers me as a gamer and makes me very unwilling to support them in the future. These were not planned features or rumors, Microsoft was showing them off and only backed away when Sony mocked them during e3 this year.
I think Sony and Nintendo fanboys really need to bury the hatchet against each other. I'm not saying go out and but both a PS4 and Wii U, but I feel Nintendo and Sony understand what gamers want and go out of their way to make us happy.
Microsoft on the other hand wants to turn the Xbox into a TV set Windows Box that controls everything from how you sell your used games to how many people can watch a movie you pay for. Their first-party sucks, and it seems like the gaming is less of a focus, and more of a feature for the Xbox One alongside TV Guides and NFL Fantasy football.
As much as people love to bash Sony, I would rather them or Nintendo be the market leaders. I fear a gaming market where Microsoft is the leader of the pack.
I think both Nintendo and Sony are needed to hold Microsoft's ambitions in check and keep them under control.
There's room enough in the market for both Sony and Nintendo, and healthy rivalry is good for both companies. And really, what it comes down to is that both Nintendo and Sony are on the same side when it comes to external threats (PC gaming, tablets, etc). Nice to see a company leader have a friendly disposition towards the competition.
It's also important to have a 3rd guy around. Sony and Microsoft's head-on battle should be praised by all gamers. Console wars lead to innovation and companies looking to satisfy niche audiences that don't normally get attention. Whether you're a Sony guy (or gal) or a Microsoft guy, you should be happy that the other guy exists, because he's pushing your preferred company to make better products.
Vive la rivalité~
@Falco They did the DualShock4 supposed to have a screen in front and was tested but Sony 1st Party and 3rd Party veto the prototype which they didn't like the idea of having similer touch screen like a phone sadly so they scrapped the idea.
Nice guy and clever. I like him really.
But Nintendo's problem is not that they have or had the wrong message, their problem is that the casual crowd (the one without kids) has moved on to tablets and phones and might never come back until they have kids. Gamers will be split between PC, XOne, PS4 and WiiU. Nintendo can attract gamers by releasing top notch games involving their famous intellectual properties icons. Let's see how Christmas works for Nintendo, before doing further projections. I am confident.
@Caryslan I completely agree here. However, Sony has been known to be cut throat as well. I believe MS is a bit more, but that's speculation on my part. I get all consoles. I do believe that Nintendo is phenomenal and is the gaming all-father.
Remember Sony and Nintendo was going to come together at one point. So Sony respected Nintendo way before some of these new gamers were even thought of. This is a testament to respect for Nintendo. I really don't want ANY console to fail. We would lose innovation in our consoles and be subjected to ridiculous prices that doesn't match the worth of the platform. It's all good though.
I still see a few here that still wants to bash Sony although you just got a heartfelt respect from a "rival". There is really no comp between the Xbox and PS4. They are too similar. The competition will be between the Steambox, Wii U, and PS4. Let the games begin.
I watched the interview last night, and I gotta admit I barely understood Yoshida, heh. It was a combination of his accent with a noticeable lower microphone volume when compared to Greg.
Either way, I fully agree with his comments that Sony and Nintendo can benefit from each other's success. I'm not a huge fan of the "western" direction most games on Sony and Microsoft consoles usually take, but they definitely beat the shallowness of mobile gaming any day. Long live consoles.
What a top bloke, who wants a future of just smartphone and tablet games.
I see you Pony boys trying to make a friend. Just wish I could fit them little PS pads into my hands and use one that does`nt sound like a baby`s rattle.
I often wonder what would've happened if Sony and Nintendo would've kept that partnership for a SNES CD drive way back when. To me, that split will always be the turning point in modern console gaming.
He's great account to follow on Twitter as well. Funny guy.
Something smells...fishy. Just jk. It's really great to see that Mr.Yoshida is enjoying the Wii U, and he's right about Nintendo returning to their original and family-freindly gameplay.
@Savino 1991, the SNES-CD, and Phillip's CD-i say hi
And when your PS4 comes out and raises those tides so hide it capsizes the little boats that try to make games at an affordable price, you'll be floating in the same 'no third party support' waters.
I've never have or will bash Sony! Microscratch and Applepie are the EVIL EMIPRE and I will rebel!!!
How is this even new to people? Sony and Nintendo have been friends since NES days when Sony published games exclusively to NES and SNES under the name Sony ImageSoft. They have been buddies with each other ever since. You got no ground to love one but bash the other.
@Lithium While I also think that engaging in fanboy rage sessions about huge companies is a silly waste of time, you are wrong about Sony and Nintendo always being "buddies".
I can see that as both are Japanese companies, so they won't trash talk each other. But I appreciate all the same.
I watched this part of the interview and Greg was trying to get him to say "oh yeah Wii U sucks" but it didn't happen. Great guy and i respect him for saying what he did. If only others were like that...
@aaronsullivan Maybe not always but 99% of the time. The only time I recall any of them not being quite so friendly are old Official PlayStation Magazine ads. I remember seeing adverts of Cloud from FF7 cutting through N64 cartridges. Apart from that people from both companys have claimed to own multiple consoles from the other side. Sony made the SNES sound chip and wished Nintendo good luck with their Wii U launch and what not. Some higher ups have also claimed to be friends with the staff from the others. They're as friendly as rival companies can ever get in my eyes.
@Savino You could just rub the fact that Nintendo still makes consoles in the faces of your Sega-loving friends. Just sayin'...
Sony knows that if you buy a PS4 and a Wii U you won't have any money left for an Xbox.
Also possible Japanese companies just get along and show mutual respect for one another. .
A bit off point, but..
..I still think a real PC is the better investment next to my Wii U.
@Bliquid
I stated "who wants a future of just smartphone and tablet games". He is saying that Pony needs Nintendo to satisfy that market not that Nintendo and smartphone/tablets are the same thing. How is that the opposite?
I follow him on Miiverse.
I have always liked Sony and I want a PS4 but because of Nintendo I can't afford one right now. I have 2 PS2s (1st gen) and I wanted to get a PS3 however skipping on backwards compatability caused me not to buy one. It looks like they are adding a VC like service to the PS4 which should be cool.
Out of all the other non-nintendo gaming systems, sony is fine, with me. at least its not based on ripping out someone's guts and sclicing them to pieces. coughs Xbox
If Microsoft left the game industry, would we even have console wars anymore?
yes
@Gamingguy yes we would, with smartphones and tablets
I bet Iwata and Yoshida have a world class bromance going on. My current set up is PS3 and Wii U. I have no need of PS4 (yet) so will wait and get it later when more exclusives are on it. Nintendo consoles are always purchased to play Nintendo games and everything else is handled my my Playstation. I used to hate on Sony for closing down Lik-Sang but that time has come and gone. Microsoft can disappear for all I care. Their exclusives hold no interest for me and their consoles are very buggy.
@linktothepichu
The War has already started.
@Savino from the heart man, from the heart.
Aww
That's cool! Thanks to my brother asking for the original xbox for Christmas back in 2004, I've been with the xbox brand for the past two generations, and Nintendo for just the Wii generation. I currently have a Wii U and 3DS so I'm hooked to Nintendo, but xbox has always been there in my gaming life, too. I think that's going to change with this gen. It'll be Nintendo and Sony from now on. Over the years, I've realized, Microsoft really sucks.
At least he's not an a-hole like those working for Sony USA.
Standup guy and a great face for Sony
@Melkaticox Yeah, because SCEA were such A-holes when they wished Nintendo all the best with their Wii U launch. Please explain how they are A-holes, please.
I don't want any of the three companies to fail. What I want are fanboys to stop flapping their cheetoed lips.
@Savino Concerning the SNES CD, do you know WHY Nintendo broke the contract?
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/SNESCDROM
"Everything quickly fell apart when the then-president of Nintendo realized the contract's wording let Sony have full ownership and profits over the console's games. The company terminated the contract and forged a partnership with Philips — while Sony rebuilt the project from scratch,..."
Other sources that I have found say that the contract would actually allow Sony to "gain monopolizing status over Intellectual Properties distributed solely upon the CD Drive." In other words, Sony would have been able to STEAL the Game, profits of that game, and possibly the actual IPs of any game made solely in CD format for this system.
Then consider that Sony made their own system based on the same idea and it was one of the WORST consoles of all time, in a piracy-based view. sodder a little chip and copy your own games at the cost of a CD...
Sony has become better than they were, but don't just say it was Nintendo's fault for Sony taking advantage of them...
@Bliquid
The risen, haha. I`m going to steal that one off ya. Because of that I will forgive you for saying what article did you read. I really don`t care about other consoles as long as there are other consoles and the risen don`t take over.
@MadAussieBloke a spokes person for Sony, when asked about motion control in early 2007, they replied with "we feel motion gaming is a fad and gimmick that will pass, we won't be going in that direction" (paraphrasing)... 18 months later Sony announces the move.
@triforcepower73
Your Xbox done very well lasting that long, my brothers had 4 or 5 in that time.
Nintendo should start a marketing campaign with Yoshida in all the ad's.
@triforcepower73 I'm going to hold off on ps4 until next year for two reasons, the launch games are very meh to me, it will give the library time to grow and get some must haves.
Also you get to check out the steambox before making your decision.... Just reading the specs for these boxes is going to be incredible, even for the cheapest version. For roughly the same price as the xBone, you can get a system that will have at least 2x the processing power as the ps4. Most games will be 1080p/60fps. It's a big enough selling point for myself to pass on Sony (which says a lot as I did own psx,ps2 and ps3, so I was a huge Sony fan)
I'm mostly disappointed in Nextgen. Sony tried to tell us the ps4 will have 1.8 teraflops of processing power back in Feb, but with game after game announced will run at 30fps, with many failing to hit a full 1080p, I doubt it's anywhere in the neighborhood. Sony lied about the ps3's specs as well. Anything to trick people into buying into the hype seems to be their motto. Charging for multiplayer really makes it hard to buy this thing as it raises the total cost of ownership considerably. They are selling them for $400 because they believe they can make their money back on the subscription. The true cost of the console is almost a full grand if you add in the subscription for MP for several years
Without nintendo Sony wood have never gotten into the console business, they constantly rip off nintendo products...I'm happy he said what he said, the Finn i hand with my daily paying wiiu i can not get on any other console..i own wii u, i will eventually buy aps4 even naughty dog makes a game
@bezerker99
He would be great in replacing that cheesy kid in the new American Zelda advert .
@mch agreed, steambox will be a fantastic option for those who don't like to tinker and just want something to play off the comfy couch without any hassles. I can't wait to see this next year. Plus being able to use any controller you wish (Xbox, dual shock, and soon Wii U pro controller or valves new controller will be a huge advantage of poaching potential customers.... Get to play 3rd party games in a higher resolution, higher frame rate with your favorite controller you are most used to)
Nintendo and Sony need to team up. That would be scary for Microsoft
@Lithium
You need to acquaint yourself with what happened with the SNES CD Drive in the early 1990's. For a while they were anything but friends.
@MadAussieBloke im going to have to laugh so hard at you sony had motion sensor far before the wii sorry to break it to you i had the eye toy gear for ps2 and there was some for ps1 as well both are good companies dont be one of those idiots who dont know what theyre talking about
@LordGeovanni
Nintendo definitely needed out of the contract. It's amazing they found themselves in that position, given the grip they had on their 'partners' in the 80's and early 90's. What's never become clear is whether they tried to negotiate before they went behind Sony's back and got Philips involved. If the two companies had stayed friendlier, video games history could have been very different
@superrjosh Actually the playstation eye was more similar to Kinect than the Wii remote considering the Wii remote doesn't even need a sensor bar (you can use candles) or a camera. Also, Sony only started development on the Playstation move in 2001. That doesn't mean they didn't redesign it to rip-of....er....be similar to the Wii remote
I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who remembers Nintendo's messaging for the Wii U. They said it was for the gamers, yet so far it's still mostly a disappointment. I wish they had thought things through a bit more.
Let's face it all the competition watches Nintendo waits to see if it's a safe bet and it sells then release their own version, analogue sticks, trigger button, rumble, motion controls etc. Only thing Nintendo needs to take note of is region locking and online gaming.
@electrolite77 I know what happened but it doesn't make my point invalid. That's like saying just because you have a disagreement with your friend that your friendship is over.
It's not like Sony will have much competition anyway. The Xbone is called doomed before launch and Nintendo is miles and miles behind. Only Valve will be one to look out for with SteamOS.
Of course they need Nintendo to succeed. Where else would they get their gaming ideas from?
One day Sony will be Nintendo
I hope Sony bring PlayStation games to Nintendo's console soon. Yoshida himself did mention that he wish to offer PlayStation games to platforms outside the PlayStation platforms sometime in the near future, hopefully that includes Wii U & 3DS as well.
Nintendo want to cater to both Hardcore and core gamers so for that matter they want to push nintendo away by those comments. But it's all about software if Assasins creed come to many console the buyer pick the one with the features he or she wants. And I chose wii u because of wiimotes and gamepad features so it doesn't matter about the platform. When the instal base will be big enough for huge profit you will see all the games you want on Wii U and with QUALITY. That is why i'm not getting a PS4 or XB1 which give me the same experience with better graphics that my gaming computer does already.
NOW I WANT TO SEE the U competing with PC. We have touch controls so I want Age of empire on the Wii U. Or Roller Coaster Tycoon.
Although I hate Sony as a company, I must say that this was nice to hear. Bashing your compition seems infantile and serves no purpose. I will probably get the PS4 years down the road like I did with the PS3, but only for the few exclusive titles I actually want to play. Yoshida has however given some reputation points back to Sony, and maybe one day my anger with their crappy customer service will subside.
I like him. He sees a common goal and recognizes its strengths
He needs to go run Nintendo.
cant wait til friday. then i'll have my ps4 and wii u. i'll be set for the whole generation. will still probably get an x1 sometime next year though. lol
@element187
Killzone4 single player 30fps@1080p a design choice, Killzone4 multiplayer 60fps@1080p, COD Ghosts 60fps@1080P, BF4 60fps@900p, Resogun 60fps@1080p, Assassin's Creed 4 60fps@1080p, Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls 60fps@1080p, 60fps@1080p will be standard this gen. Most of these games have been made on incomplete hardware, and how the hell can you lie about your specs? i think developers & the public would somehow notice lol.
@MadAussieBloke You mean like Sony's controller for its PS4 that has a touchscreen, not to mention their handheld console that has a touchscreen or that this handheld can be used as a second screen. MS are the same - following Nintendo in almost everything, but rarely doing anything as well as Nintendo does.
@banacheck A Doom port won't run at 60 fps/1080p either! The PS4 should use magic to fix the lazy programming that doesn't make full use of its specs.
@Savino One of the rarest consoles is the very first PS1 model with SNES cartridge port. Nintendo told Sony they didn't want a CD console and wanted to stick with cartridges, so Sony decided to enter the market themselves.
This is a good thing, but I don't own any SONY consoles just because of pricing.
@MadAdam81
Touchscreen on the DS4???
Your second post is full of knowledge.
And that wise knowledge spills over into your 3rd post.
and that is coming from someone at sony and i hope it does, maybe not win but still and i hope the negatives received for ps4 and xbone change though i still think microsoft may lose this battle
Tap here to load 81 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...