Iwata says lifespan of consoles is “too inflexible”

At Nintendo’s recent Third Quarter Financial Results Conference, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata insinuated that the traditional, almost-unwritten rule concerning how a console cycle will last around four or five years is needlessly restrictive.

Lately, I cannot say I’m making video games on the frontline of development, but as a person who used to develop software, the availability of new hardware means that we possess a new weapon. We long for a new weapon whenever we cry that we cannot fight anymore with the current weapons. But today’s situation is such that we are not desperate for any new weapons at all.

Whenever we are working on so-called next generation hardware, we are always thinking in terms of the future. We need to forecast what the future will be like with the expected evolution of new technologies which are available at any given time, and try to identify the so-called “sweet spot” of technology over the next few years.

We have produced a number of hardware prototypes which did not in the end reach the market place. We are always preparing for new hardware so that we can launch whenever we determine we should do so. However, scheduling for a rather fixed launch date 4 years from today, regardless of future changes in the industry and the market, appears to be too inflexible an approach to us.

We are always studying and working on what the new hardware must become in the future, but we are also monitoring changes in circumstances in order to act flexibly. Also, since Nintendo’s hardware engineers and software creators are always communicating closely, only when both teams agree that it is time to challenge the market with new hardware that we will launch it. So, it is not a correct observation that we are having any trouble deciding on the launch timing of the next hardware.

Some could argue that Nintendo doesn’t want to play the traditional game because it’s been out muscled by Sony and Microsoft.  But, given that observing the leaps from one console generation to the next are increasingly like watching the Law of Diminishing Returns take physical form and jackhammer you through the skull, there’s probably a bit of wisdom to his statements.

Read [Aussie-Nintendo] Also Read [1UP]