Iwata on third-party publisher relations: Nintendo does not 'follow or imitate'

November 6th, 2013, 01:12 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has commented on the Wii U's lack of third-party support, claiming the company does not wish to "follow or imitate" its competition.
During a recent earnings Q&A, Iwata responded to queries regarding the Wii U's third-party support, and why Nintendo is trailing behind other platforms.
"In terms of how we view our relationship with third-party publishers, I think it is natural that there is a difference between publishers who have the software development resources like Nintendo's to build a software lineup of their own and publishers who do not," Iwata said.
"Since former President Yamauchi passed away, I have been considering what he taught us in the end, and his words that the worst thing we can do in entertainment is to follow what others are doing spoke directly to my heart.
"Following and imitating others is the kind of reasoning that Nintendo tries to avoid the most, and while we certainly do not have a negative attitude toward strengthening our ties with third-party publishers, employing the same methodology as the other manufacturers would only lead to the most simplistic competitive approaches, such as price wars or money-giving that would never end.
"We would like to take a unique approach of our own and build sustainable relationships with our third-party publishers."
Iwata also addressed the looming release of Sony and Microsoft's next-gen consoles. He said more competition will only strengthen the industry as a whole and thus Nintendo's outlook.
"Though there are some who take the view that intensified competition means overseas competition will be tough for Nintendo, no matter how Nintendo does domestically, I do not necessarily see it that way," Iwata said.
"This year, what Nintendo is promoting is, conversely, to stand out in the game industry for individuality. I believe we have become a unique value."
During the same investors call Iwata said Nintendo has no plans toabandon 3D, despite the release last month of a new Nintendo 2DS model.
Nintendo revealed last month that 3DS sales for the first half of the financial year totalled 3.89 million worldwide, compared to 5.06 million in the same period last year.
Overall, Nintendo has made $2 billion in sales since April this year, with a $6.1 million net profit.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...ow-or-imitate/

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