Nintendo's 74th annual general meeting (AGM) for shareholders took place today in Japan and we can confirm that Satoru Iwata has retained his position as Nintendo's president. Iwata of course was not present at today's meeting due to his recovery from recent surgery.
We are yet to learn what this year's investor approval rating for Iwata is. Last year we reported his score drop from 90.60 percent last year to 77.26 percent. We can only assume that following Nintendo's perceived triumph at this year's E3 that the powers that be have confidence in his leadership for the foreseeable future.
With the recent news that Mario Kart 8 has sold two million copies and Wii U hardware sales are up too it would appear that the good ship Nintendo is hopefully going to return to profitability in the not too distant future.
[source nintendo.co.jp]
Comments 57
I'm glad he's still on board!
Good news is good news i hope Nintendo continues to deliver and wish Iwata-san a speedy recovery
Good for us and him as well!
That's bananas!
No, it's OK, I know my own way out...
Take that Iwata haters! May he longingly stare at all the bananas in the world.
This news make my weekend. Good job, Satoru!
They've obviously seen the man's epic fighting skills!
Are those bananas really huge or is Iwata so small?
Good
@Vriess I'm pretty sure Iwata is small
I know some people were hoping for a new President, however, I just don't feel that way. I always felt Iwata deserved another shot. He clearly has a couple more plays left in him, so it's fair to let those become a reality. Let's see if it helps Nintendo's fortunes.
I'm glad to hear this. He's made a lot of mistakes, but he's still a games person. We don't know who they'd replace him with, and while it COULD be someone that would do a better job, they could also appoint someone that makes the main focus mobile gaming.
I read it as Iwata Resigns Supreme
"Reigns supreme"? Clickbait much? He didn't 'reign supreme', he's just not fired, sheesh, wait until we actually get his acceptance percentage before writing this article of 99% filler.
@outburst That fight made my year.
Glad to hear. We all know he has screwed up royally with the Wii U, but let the guy learn from his mistakes so he can improve. Iwata isn't perfect but he could be worse.
Glad he's feeling a little better now....
Nice job Iwata, and the Nintendo team. This is much deserved.
I thought this said resigns that shocked me for a sec. Anyways, they all will undastand. Iwata will make them undastand death if they don't undastand him.
@outburst I could never even believe anyone could honestly doubt this good man. True, he was less shareholder-friendly than most other company presidents, but WHY would consumers say that's a bad thing? For once in our life, we AND the people working for the company in the 'low ranks' got the security and treats, while the top-men trimmed their income. Working the production line in a factory myself, that's something out of a fairy tale to me...
I love Iwata, I think he is an amazing president who brought in Nintendo's largest successes with the DS & Wii. He refuses to fire any developers in his company to cut costs as he knows a developer who works in fear of losing his job isn't going to develop as well as a happy developer. He's the only multinational corporation CEO in the world (I know of) who is willing to have fun in front of the world stage. I think we as gamers underestimate how lucky we are to have a company willing to have their CEO get in front of a camera, holding bananas or fighting a COO in his company. Such a cool guy! It's amazing! Long live Iwata!!!
If he adds button mapping to the 3ds VC, color options for the GB games, and GBA support I'll worship at his alter and buy a Wii U in appreciation.
Funny how little coverage by comparison there was of Sony's AGM (Which by all accounts their CEO couldn't even control).
I was reading the questions (saw this on a different site with shareholder questions) and this one questioner was a total dork. Here's the Question and answer:
Q9: I don’t know about games, and don’t care about game-related questions, but your shareholders haven’t said anything about the stock price dropping. What kind of a shareholder meeting is this? Tell me about the business administration. (audience applause)
A9: Thank you for your pointed opinion. Shareholder meetings are for us to communicate with shareholders. It’s important for shareholders to know what we as a company are doing, and what kind of entertainment we are providing.
Money hungry much?
The sinking ship isn't Nintendo, it's Sony. Just look at those ridiculous prices for their PlayStation Now streaming service, I ain't gonna pay that much for that amount of time when I could just buy that same game for cheaper:
I hope Iwata-san make a quick recovery too.
@baba_944 These kind of people only look for short term profits, if one day they ever took majority control of the company they would burn it to ground in a matter of months. They are the same that want Nintendo to make Android/iOS games. One thing I like about the Iwata administration, it that he listens more to his costumers than to the shareholders. With him, Nintendo is all about games. Want to maximize the profit, make the best game possible. Not many big businesses do that.
I think you mean BANNANAs as usual. I'm sorry I couldn't resist.
Mmm... Oh well.
This is great news for nintendo and iwata, i hope they keep it up.
Well good for Iwata.
The last few weeks have been good for both Iwata and Nintendo but this level of "push" or whatever you want to call it needs to be consistent for the next few months and beyond if the Wii U is going to manage any kind of turnaround imo.
Is Iwata and indeed Nintendo up to the job...
@baba_944 To be fair, shareholders are only shareholders to make money. This is true no matter what the industry.
@Peach64
That's why I don't like the fact that shareholders have any say in the running of this company whatsoever.
If it were up to shareholders Nintendo would shoveling out sh*t at a rapid rate with endless micro-transactions and ads just to make an easy buck of ignorant casuals.
Shareholders are not good for us as gamers and customers with at least some minimum standards for quality interactive gaming experiences etc.
@retro_player_22 Those prices are pretty ridiculous
Iwata, you make me proud to be a Nintendo fan.
Sea of Sony and Microsoft fans - Toads, Koopa Troopa - me:
http://www.mariomayhem.com/fun/mario_motivationals/representing_the_neighborhood_koopa_troopa.jpg
I hate shareholders period. When I start my business, there will be no stakeholders
This makes me so happy to be honest. Mr. Iwata is the coolest and most charismatic CEO in the gaming industry. Hope after this he can finally relax for a bit so he can quickly recover from his surgery! All the best, Mr. Iwata!
@retro_player_22 Wow, those prices are ridiculous! Why they can't just implement an overall price so that you can keep the game forever and that's it? :S
@baba_944 Shareholders are the ones who invested heavily in the company though. Without them the company would not have enough funds to run. This is a cruel and imperfect world, shareholders are needed. It is up to the company to balance it out. So far Nintendo is doing the best job at this.
I know companies who would fire employees, sell of buildings, sell divisions and even treat their fan base like idiots by having insane prices for their online game streaming services just to cater to their share holders!
In Reggie we trust.
Good let's keep moving in a good direction, e3 was great
I think the shareholder's role in Nintendo traditionally has been sligthly different compared to share holders in many other companies nowadays. The profits of the company has largely been kept within the company, rather than paid out to the share holders. IMO, the short-term money-hungry share holder with no connection to the core bussiness in many companies is at least partly a result of the current times.
@DestinyMan Precisely.
@WiiLovePeace the ds was not his idea just saying:)
#DonkeyKong'sBananas
@Iggly ?
@Interneto There's a banana in the picture and the headline is Business as usual. I really don't like it when I have to explain my puns.
@jariw They normally pay dividends. Depending on how well they are doing they just stopped recently. As soon as they start making a profit again they will start paying them I suspect.
Its funny about 50% of the questions in the meeting were stuff like when is Zelda U coming out.
@Oragami lol same here!
Just because Michael Pachter told you Iwata should resign doesn't make it true.
Don't fix what aint broke, Iwata must stay as CEO.
Please understand .....I have another year to continue screwing up the wii u.....and the vc service lol
@WebHead
Learn from his mistakes... What a laugh.
Seems I may be the only one thinking this. But, the guy needs to go... Nintendo need someone new, with fresh ideas.
Good on him! Congratulations Iwata! Get better soon!
@biosphere76 You're not the only one. Michael Pachter thought the same thing, but he also suspected that the XBO would reign supreme and that Nintendo should have abandoned the Wii U in favor of developing games on the PS4 and XBO. Look at how that turned out.
Haters gon hate.
@kensredemption
So your calling me a hater, because I 'personally' feel that Nintendo needs new ideas, and a new person heading the ship?
Also I have no idea who Michael Pachter is, nor do I care.
Good news. Anybody else would've long ago taken Nintendo in the mobile and third party direction idiotic investors and media dolts have been spewing for some time now.
@biosphere76 Iwata lacks fresh ideas? What?
Under his leadership, Nintendo released the Wii and DS... You know, the two consoles that changed the videogame industry?
Then, there was the 3DS - the first glasses-free 3D console.
Now, we have the Wii U.
Next, Nintendo is working on the QOL platform.
Yeah... Iwata's methodology is stale...
/sarcasm
@Kage_88
Okay then, maybe I should have said lacks sane ideas.
Wii U... Stupid name, and just confuses buyers. A game pad that NO ONE has any idea what to do with... Even Nintendo.
3DS... All that was, was Nintendo jumping on the 3D bandwagon, because it looked like 3D films and TV's were about to be mainstream etc.
All Nintendo have released since the Wii is gimmicks.
I am NOT a Nintendo hater. Just see it as it is. Sorry to hurt your feelings.
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