Video: The "Completely Insane" Policies Of Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi

This disappoints me greatly, I wonder if this is the reason why more games won't be ported to the system, or made more of or like Metroid Prime 4 made at a snails pace, there's a difference between spending the extra time to make a game right and spending three years on it, while first hinting, then teaser only to find out it wont be out till 2 years after the trailer, it's an ass thing to do to the people who make you your money

No jab at Peter Molyneaux? 0/10

The guy was a business man and love to live in the past. Had videogames not bring in the money he would had just throw in the towel as well but lucky for him there's guys like Gunpei Yokoi, Satoru Iwata, and Shigeru Miyamoto who came in and completely evolve the gaming industry with their genius ideas.

You know what's insane? Not releasing Mother 3 in English.

“....falling far behind it’s more powerful rivals...Showing that Yamauchi didn’t always have the Midas touch”
Is he from an alternate universe, a fanboy, or confusing the Wii with the Wii U? I’m pretty sure the Wii outsold both of it’s rivals...

Insanety hasn't stoped. Terrible Save-Back Ups, lot's of SJW translators butchering localizations and Nintendo doesn't care, censorship in the west cuz "we can't handle it", the team functinality of the switch and missing bluetooth, ect.

All points that prove insanety.

@jhewitt3476 Huh? You know this guy hasn’t been president of the company for 16 years, right?

@HobbitGamer actually no, guess I missed that part, I don't really keep track of the internal politics of a company i don't have stocks in, just what they're making and when it's coming to me

@Dan_Dan in regards to blutooth what sucks is not that it doesn't have blutooth....it actually does, what's asinine is, they blocked access to only the controllers, WTH ??? the system has so many capabilities, but then they lock them out or forbid them from being used, I mean why in the heck would they not allow YouTube, Netflix and other streaming media services on this system ??? it's more capable than the Wii and 3DS, yet they had, but not on this one, people want more, by Nintendo not giving its customers what they want/need, the few things that are keeping this system an equal competitor to the other two systems is getting shakey I purchased it BECAUSE what they said it has the abilities to do two years ago, but bringing only half to the plate is really disturbing and insulting

Yamauchi sent his son in law Arakawa to setup Nintendo of America in New York... the company at the time (1980) consisted of only 6 people. LOL

@jhewitt3476 Are they actively blocking it? They allowed Hulu with no problems.

Arguably, his predictions about MS have been pretty accurate. MS has had one successful console, and this is coming from an Xbox One owner.

Either way, he cracked me up. His remarks on just about everything were completely outrageous, and he was brash.

@Mrtoad I know, I can't figure it out, people want more than just one, but Nintendo is just not doing it and refusing to say why

@Dan_Dan What?

@jhewitt3476 My only guess is that Nintendo paid for Netflix and YouTube on previous consoles and aren’t reaching out/not willing to pay the price for Netflix/YouTube to appear.

@Mrtoad
not an unrealistic posit, too bad because it would actually increase sales and totally offset any extra cost, I could do without YouTube, but I have Netflix at work and it has too many shows that I love to be denied.

@jhewitt3476 Your comment makes absolutely no sense at all.

The Donald Trump of gaming presidents.

@Wolfgabe I think it was pretty straight forward

@jhewitt3476 How exactly does Yamauchi have anything to do with Metroid Prime 4 considering he was long gone by the time the game was actually conceived

@Wolfgabe I belive i also explained that in a reply to someone else's almost identical comment (post #10)

@IronMan30 I feel like this generation has been a failure for everyone in the console space. Nintendo failed with the Wii U and the 3DS while being a success only sold half of the DS’s numbers. Microsoft had a bad launch and hasn’t been able to recover. Sony’s the most successful with the PS4 looking like it’ll be the only console to outsell it’s predecessor and even then they had the Vita which Sony could’ve saved, but didn’t.

@jhewitt3476 What Hobbitgamer said, Yamauchi has been long gone. The majority of his policies are no longer in effect either probably

@Wolfgabe again, I said "I must have missed that" and never implied his cray-cray policies were still in effect

I admitted my err already, drop it

@Mrtoad true, everyone had their share of failures. MS just screwed up the reveal of the X1. I knew people who thought it couldn't play used games years after the X1 launched.

@Dan_Dan

You spend more time throwing around the term "SJW" than you do proofreading your idiotic comments. Honestly.

@Mrtoad Dang.... you're right, but at the same time everyone's making a comeback.

The ps4 is the best selling console of the generation to make up for the failure of the Vita.
The Nintendo Switch is the fastest selling console right now and on it's way to outsell the gamecube.
The xbox one is.... uh.. selling alright and the xbox one x is selling good too I guess.

@Mrtoad How do you measure success? Never before have video games been as popular as now. Just because the sales are spread across more platforms than in previous generations, doesn’t equal failure. Failure would have been if traditional video games and video games stopped selling, being eclipsed by the mobile market.

@TheDragonDAFan LOL

@jhewitt3476 It probably wouldn't drive any sales. People already own phones/tablets/laptops.

@Sinton
7th Gen: 490 million consoles/ portable devices sold approx. (5 consoles)
8th Gen: 250 million consoles/ portable devices sold approx. (6 consoles)
I think that 240 million went to PC or were casuals who bought only one game per console and now play Candy Crush (good riddance)

All the talk of Nintendo being run by the Yakuza in the 80's is nonsense. The Yakuza stayed away from Mr Yamauchi!

@jhewitt3476 do you always make wilfully ignorant comments?

@Mayor_Haggar yeah, many bits in this "fact hunt" smell of tabloidism, the tone included. I'm also not sure what was up with that Spaceworld bit... if the subtitles are "not translation of what is being said", why put them over the footage of the man saying something? It's a publicistic video, not an AMV. ¿:^|

Guru Larry rules.

@Dalarrun honesty we agree this time. I don't even understand why people get so hung on this SJW stuff. I mean technically wouldn't most of the world's religious people be the highest form of SJW since they literally are all or nothing on social issues?

Honestly I don't believe the internet's idea of it even exist, they're like unicorns. And wouldn't the people fighting against them also be SJW? Are we all supposed to be them? I'm even more confused now.

Also the video was nice I guess, but I'm not really sure that he can take credit for an entire company that relies mostly on creative talent starting the process.

Sorry, but he sounds like someone I would really not like to meet. It's a crying shame that Iwata's time in charge was so short.

On the long term he was kinda right about big loading times of CD-Roms. But Nintendo 64 cartridges were huge, ultra expensive and had very limited storage. It was a disaster. Also i feel that N64 despite the "64" wasn't as advanced as it should. Obviously he underestimated Sone and the competition and that costed great deal to Nintendo. Still does. If N64 was a real 64 powerhouse with cheaper and more advanced games PS1 would be a failure like vita. Gamefreak saved Nintendo

@Dan_Dan Censorship is necessary for major cultural differences, especially for games targeted at children. Children shouldn't be exposed to characters in skimpy outfits, and adults don't need that either.

@Weezy no, but apparently you do like to make "ignorant comments", I did admit to my error shortly after the first person pointed out to me that little piece of info, everyone else who didn't bother reading that admission and making further comments like yours

@jhewitt3476

How do you know about that Nintendo isn't allowing services like Netflix or YouTube? Please show me some souces.

I think you are just coming with dumb accusations here.

I am sure, that if Netflix and YouTube were interested in putting there services on Switch, we would already have them by now. Just as we already got Hulu on Switch.

Nintendo isn't blocking any streaming services at all. There was just no one who cared about releasing their service on Switch after the failure of Wii U. So Nintendo platforms wasn't on their agenda anymore.

Nintendo said something about the Switch was just for gaming to begin with, and such other marketing crap. But realistically, none of the big streaming services were interested in the Switch, and Nintendo didn't want to lose face.

But when Hulu arrived on the Switch just months after launch, without big fanfare, you just knew that Nintendo didn't tell the truth about why they didn't have any streaming services to begin with. They would have loved to have them.

Now that the Switch is selling so well, we can all hope that Netflix and YouTube is currently developing their app for the machine. But the Wii U failure was really not doing Nintendo any favor in that regard.

@-Juice- I can understand your point, but they censor the siliest things and sometimes remove features like the rub feature in FE:Fates. Even silier was the censorship of bikinis in the FE:Awakening DLC. We in the west are exposed to so much more than japan and jet we get the child treatment.

Fire Emblem isn't even a game for kids, with all the TBS.

I wouldn't be mad if it was a one time thing but it's in every damn game that has just a little glimpse of adult related content. Whats worse are the SJW localisations. Just research it for Fates, the damnable guy doing the translations was boasting on twitter how he changed everything to make males look stupid. Best part was when he edited a flirt scene between two partners into this: "Male: hnnnnnnnnhnnnnnnnnhnnnnnnnn" < not joking.

@dres reports from Nintendo, Netflix and Google originally over the past year, not my assumptions, information changes, but Nintendo does have a history of being militaristic in the past when they don't get their way (maybe that was the policies of our long gone nut ball friend mentioned in the thread title true), but by all parties, negotiations have gone poorly for this system so far, they keep trying admittedly on both sides, but Nintendo usually demands a little extra and sometimes companies get tired of extortion, I know forcing people to do system updates to be able to get digital games or even be allowed to play new cart games is reprehensible

I too hope Nintendo stops it with the "our way or the highway" strategy and actually invites them In too

@Dalarrun Ofc my grammer suffers, english is my newest language and fourth in the list. If one could put all my tought clean and perfect in to text, i'd be happy too.

Also, what i sayd about SJW butchering localications is a fact one can easy check.

@Dan_Dan I get tired of Nintendo's antics sometimes too, but in the case of the Switch, I don't think they are putting any hammers down this time, ever played Xenoblade Chronicles 2, there's so much bare ass and 10% covered breasts in that game, I expect one of the blades special weapon to be a brass pole and a boombox that plays "Pour Some Sugar On Me !!!" LOL, as for language....I know for a fact L.A. Noire holds back NOTHING, full frontal, and they drop the "F" & "S" bombs so often, it's obvious the game was made by Rockstar, even in one interrogation scene, your character asks Valdez "Do You Like To "F" Boys ???" (not censored, uses the actual word), so I think it's the individual game makers censoring their own content mio amico

@dres Because a Netflix rep said shortly after the launch of the Switch, that they practically had the Netflix app ready for the Switch, but were waiting for the go ahead from Nintendo.

The Switch also has a hidden web browser, but is also locked away.

One and half year later and the Switch UI and functionality is exactly the same as it was at launch!

I have no idea what's going on at Nintendo, but they are way to comfortable riding the sales success of the Switch and have completely forgotten about their actual customers who bought the darn thing and want feature improvements!

Better more customizable UI
Themes
Netflix, YouTube, Web browser
Opening up Bluetooth for wireless headset support
Integrated voice chat
Etc, etc.

The release of a barebones Nintendo Online is just adding more insult to their customers who aren't being heard!

Clickbait article; Yamauchi's policies were 95% insane, not "completely insane".

Did I do it right?

@Jeronan

"Because a Netflix rep said shortly after the launch of the Switch, that they practically had the Netflix app ready for the Switch, but were waiting for the go ahead from Nintendo."

That has not been confirmed. This was just rumors. Later Netflix said they currently did not have any plans to release their service on Switch, and no app was in development. So what is the truth here?

Fact is. Nintendo is not blocking any streaming services on Switch. Because we already have Hulu. Netflix and YouTube could just do the same, but I do not think they are really interested in the moment.

If you look at logical, it would be really stupid business wise from Netflix and YouTube to have developed an app for Switch before launch. Because they way Wii U failed, and all the uncertainty around Nintendos new console.

Unless Nintendo would have paid for the development of the apps, witch they didn't, it would be much more rational to wait one or two years to see if the Switch was going to be a success.

@dres Hulu is NA only, while Netflix and YouTube are global.

So it's not hard to think, that someone in the Nintendo NA office ( maybe Reggie himself is a big Hulu fan) lobbied to get it on the NA e-shop.

The Switch is one of the easiest systems to port the app to, thanks to the NVidia hardware. So it won't take much effort.
It's a no-brainer for Netflix and YouTube to release an app on the Switch, but it's blocked by Nintendo HQ in Japan.

Just like the web browser being hidden and locked away.

Fact is, the whole Switch UI (or whole OS for that matter) has been stagnant since launch, has only received stability updates and that is just baffling!
You can expect that from the 3DS nowadays, since that console is practically a decade old. Not from a brand-new system like the Switch, where customers have been screaming (read begging Nintendo) for new features since launch.

@Jeronan Why did Nintendo HQ allow Nico Nico (Pretty much Japanese YouTube) onto the Switch?

@Jeronan

"Fact is, it's a no-brainer for Netflix and YouTube to release an app on the Switch, but it's blocked by Nintendo HQ in Japan"

That is no fact that it is blocked by Nintendo Japan. That is your assumption!

And yes. The Switch should be a interesting platform for Netflix and YouTube by now. But it wasn't at launch.

@Mrtoad Beats me, just like the Hulu app on the NA store.

All seem to point to personal interests within the respective Nintendo offices.

In many interviews around launch Nintendo reps made it very clear they want the Switch to be a pure gaming system and that that was the reason why they locked the browser away and made it inaccessible for users.
Nintendo clearly said they were not interested to offer multimedia capabilities, since plenty other systems and devices on the market already offer those features.
Probably due to horrible failure with the WiiU still on their minds and that they wanted to be very clear now in what the Nintendo Switch is.

This was a clear marketing statement by Nintendo Japan from the get go, which was very disappointing and also clearly showing that Nintendo is still woefully behind the times of what customers want and refusing to acknowledge that the WiiU failure had nothing to do with it having a web browser, youtube and Netflix!

The fact that Hulu is available on the NA store and Nico Nico on the Japanese store is highly contradicting Nintendo's own strong marketing message with the Switch, in which they were very dismissive against customer's requests for Netflix, YouTube and a web browser. :-/

@Jeronan

"Fact is, the whole Switch UI (or whole OS for that matter) has been stagnant since launch, has only received stability updates and that is just baffling!"

That is not baffling. Nintendo has obviously leaned from past mistakes, and following new software design guidelines. And they say performance and snappiness over bloated and slow features. Less is sometimes more.

And while some people like you have been screaming and complaining for more "nice to have" features. I think the large silent majority of users have been very pleased with the minimalistic UI and fantastic performance of the OS. But the "complainers" are usually the loudest on the Internet.

@dres What are you talking about? The last issue or crash I had with the Switch was like more than 10 months ago.

Adding 3DS like Themes to the Switch isn't going to break the console OS!
The feature is practically there already and just limited now between a black or white background.
They can make a ton of money on custom themes, but more importantly! Actually make MyNintendo then finally have something for the Nintendo Switch!

You are very dismissive and ignorant around this, as I have had tons of points expiring in My.Nintendo since the Switch launch, because up to this day there is nothing to spend Platinum points on for the Nintendo Switch.
And how they value the gold points in the Switch e-Shop is even more insulting to Switch owners, compared to the gold point value on the 3DS and WiiU!

18 months since the Switch launch and My.Nintendo is still 3DS/WiiU only and that is just a total farce!

@Dan_Dan source? I can't find it.

If true, that's horrible.

@Jeronan

Logic says, that they had to say all this, because no streaming service were interested in Switch at launch. Witch makes sense, after the Wii U failure.

If I was Nintendo marketing, I would have said the same thing. "It is us who do not want them". "We are only interested in making a pure Game Console". That sound much better that saying that no one is planning to realease anything on their new console.

The fact that few months later a streaming service was released on Switch in US and Japan, tells us that they are interested in streaming services after all.

@jhewitt3476 at least with animal crossing they didnt even hint anything til it was around a year or so from release this time.

Yamauchi's comments about people not being interested in cutting edge technologies may certainly appear out of touch, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that it's precisely because of this philosophy that I've always generally preferred Nintendo over other big developers. The focus has always been about creating well crafted games and fun experiences.

It is odd though that someone at the helm of one of the most successful video game companies of all time apparently had zero personal interest in them. Although I thought I'd heard that was also the case with the last interim president.

Oh, and am I the only one who found his comments on jrpg players hilarious? The man was ruthless.

@TheDragonDAFan Yeah, what gives Larry?

@SEGATA_DREAMCAST this is personal preference, but any mention of a game more than a year or any teasers more than 9 months before a release is just an "A-Hole" thing to do

@dres Yeah, I Ignored that user from jump street. I love the Switch UI, it’s so fast and drives the point home of being able to seamlessly pick up wherever you left off no matter the play method. Some folks complaining about lack of features must not have minded the slow speed of moving through the WiiU interface.
I’m betting that Nintendo also has numbers on how many users actually take advantage of video apps on the systems of theirs that have them.

@Mrtoad 3DS will finish up on 75 to 80m units for its lifetime... Not as much as the DS but considering smart phones and that number is still a solid haul, about the same as the PSP and GBA, i wouldn't exactly call the 3DS unsuccessful.

Lets be real now, Sony would have killed to have the Vita sell half as well as the 3DS.

I don't like JRPG's either but dang that's rough...and those other ones? I wish I never watched this. The more you know about someone, the worse they are.

@jhewitt3476 I think announcing a game is like making a fine wine. Depending on what it is, the announcement need to create some fermentation of the game to reach peak levels of anticipation, wanting, and excitment. Too long, and the excitement dies, too short and you have no time to mentally prepare yourself, your wallet, and simply dont have enough time to get excited.

Lol, that bit about RPG players...it isnt necessarily wrong...sometimes the truth hurts

@HobbitGamer @dres Don't know if that would actually be an issue. Themes are already there, there are just only two of them. Browser is there, just locked away. And a YouTube app shouldn't be any more demanding than a video game.

More intricate themes/folders probably would have the most impact though if any.

@Dan_Dan SJW spell checkers too

@Dalarrun Wow, don't take it personally or anything.

@Dalarrun I have a policy of blocking anyone who uses 'SJW' as a non-ironic slur. Makes for a cleaner page!

Yamauchi was a typical Japanese business man and acted that way. If his team of geniuses had banded together without with, would it really have turned out a differently?

@Jeronan Switch's OS is super advanced according to hackers... It might look rudimentary but internally it's one of the most secure OS in the whole market.

On a hardware level, Switch is easily cracked though.

@Razer Oh I have nothing bad to say to the Switch OS. Don't get me wrong on that.

What just makes me a bit angry is that after more than 18 months, we still haven't gotten any new features.

Themes is the most easy feature for them to implement, since the functionality is already there in the OS.
It would give Switch owners at least something to spend their Platinum points on in My.Nintendo.

Nintendo has been promising for more than a year now that they would include the Switch in My.Nintendo, but so far it's nothing but empty promises.
It's just frustrating to see all your earned Platinum points expire and disappear, because there is nothing to spend it on.
We don't have the WiiU anymore and our 3DS consoles are just dusting away in a corner.

Even worse is that you are practically forced to spend your gold points in the Switch e-Shop, while you really don't want to because of the horrendously bad conversion rate (compared to WiiU and 3DS gold points value), but you have to before they expire!

@Jeronan oh man gold coin system is totally garbage. I've lost over a 1000 because i tend to take long periods off video games (like a year or more)... Especially when i would be out at sea. The entire system is pointless too... Need 1000+ coins to make a difference to anything and to get that many coins you need to spend alot.

Not worth it really...

This video is fill of inaccuracies and half truths. If you want to know everything dig around on the Net and you will see that Hiroshi Yamauchi was a typical Japanese business leader and his behavior was not that odd. Many of the quotes here are taken out of context and there are no citations for them. He was also a transitional president as the video game era came late in his career but he was quite astute as to the direction they should take.

In regards to the Seattle Mariners he purchased them for two reasons. They were having financial difficulties and also he believed that it would be a good PR move for the American public.

As for the statement about Microsoft his outlook on game play versus cutting edge graphics has been the company motto basically since the beginning and continues to be so.

@HobbitGamer To be fair he was still the controlling shareholder and thus controlled the board through, what 2012 or 2013? He personally signed off on the WiiU of all things, so the Switch is the first console that doesn't have his imprint on it. And depending on when Switch designs started even Switch might at least in passing bear his approval

@jhewitt3476 Well, it's not like making a game is that simple. Most AAA games will take over 3 years to make these days, from initial concept to market release.

While technically wrong in his statement that gamers didn't care about cutting edge graphics and epic stories, his underlying point that gameplay is more important than graphics was and is still accurate. After all, the Wii won that generation by outselling both the PS3 and X360.

@BulbasaurusRex graphics are important as gameplay, it can be the easiest, most comfortable and fun gameplay, but if looks dumb most likely it won't be as fun if it was exactly the same but greater graphics

and for me, in 90% of games, if you put out a game on a new system and don't take advantage of its graphic abilities, don't have the brass to try and charge the maximum pricewise (but again, all this is just me)

I had found this video to had been insulting toward this past president of Nintendo.

@jhewitt3476 Sure, graphics are also important, but it's still better to have good gameplay and mediocre graphics than good graphics and mediocre gameplay.

The Wii was underpowered and only in standard definition compared to its competition, but it outsold them due to having more games with better gameplay and not just because of the motion controls in many cases. While the motion controls certainly helped and even resulted in having the superior versions of multiplatform titles in some cases despite the graphical disadvantage, Nintendo has always had the best exclusive franchises, which is also why the 3DS creamed the Vita despite a similar graphical disadvantage.

Plus, Wii games did indeed have a $10 discount per game ($50 vs. $60) compared to PS3 and X360 games due to the technical differences in the systems' games.