Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata elaborates further on the company’s planned “Quality of Life” platform and how it’s more than a video game company.
In January Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata revealed the company will expand into different territory through a “Quality of Life” program. In an interview with Diamond.jp, Iwata clarified that Nintendo is more than a video game company.
“A lot of people around the world think Nintendo is solely a company that makes video games, and I believe more and more of our employees have started thinking this way,” Iwata said. “Some employees in charge of development find themselves in positions where all they are thinking about is how they can make the game in front of them more fun, so I don’t think it can be helped if others outside of our company see us the same way.”
Iwata reflected on mantras from Hiroshi Yamauchi, the previous president of Nintendo. “Yamauchi always said, ‘Nintendo is an entertainment company and should never be anything else,’ but he didn’t necessarily think ‘entertainment equals video games,'” Iwata said.
After thinking over Yamauchi’s words over the New Year’s holiday break, Iwata came to the conclusion that Nintendo is more than just games, but the company is committed to the idea of “fun.” The Quality of Life platform is expected to launch in the 2016 fiscal year. Iwata believes entertainment improves people’s quality of life once basic needs have been met.
“At the start of this year, I finally figured that the concept of ‘improving people’s quality of life with fun,’ with emphasis on the ‘fun,’ would be perfect for Nintendo,” he said. “And that’s why I decided to focus on this during the financial results meeting in January.”
Nintendo’s had a long history in entertainment and hasn’t been afraid to try new things. The company remains committed to making games, but more could be in store.
Source: Diamond.jp (Japanese) via CVG
