Satoru Iwata Archive

Nintendo Network will feature personal accounts on the Wii U

One of the great many criticisms that have been levied against the Wii, DS, and 3DS is the complete lack of online user accounts. This meant that all of a game’s records and multiplayer data (not to mention digital purchases) were tied to the console – family members sharing one system would be forced to […]

The Wii U might have full, downloadable retail games

Downloadable retail games have been gaining popularity in recent years, with services like Steam, Xbox Live, and PlayStation Network offering the ability to get your hands on a new title without ever leaving your home. According to Iwata, such a distribution channel has already been implemented in the 3DS and will also be part of […]

The Wii U controller features Near Field Communication technology

Lots of news came out of Nintendo’s investor relations meeting today, one of which was the inclusion of “Near Field Communication” technology (NFC for short) in the Wii U’s controller. NFC is a technology that facilitates communication between electronic devices when they are physically near one another. Travel cards, credit cards, and even some cell […]

The Wii U will launch in time for the holidays

Nintendo held their quarterly investor relations meeting this morning, during which Iwata revealed that the Wii U would launch worldwide just in time for the so-called holiday rush – the weeks leading up to Christmas during which potential consumers are most likely to lay down the cash for big-ticket electronics. This isn’t a major change […]

The next Zelda game won’t take five years to produce

In the latest Skyward Sword-related Iwata Asks segment, our favorite President of Nintendo talked with Eiji Aonuma, the game’s producer; and Hidemaro Fujibayashi, its director. During the segment, Iwata pointed out that five years is a long time to develop a game and that it would be nice if they could do it in three. […]

The Wii was never intended to be a “casual” console

The Wii is notorious for its wide appeal to non-traditional gamers, which has skewed its public perception to that of a casual console. However, at the last investors’ Q&A session, Iwata revealed that this perception was the result of a “misunderstanding” and a widespread misconception that “no or few core users [play] Nintendo platforms.” [We] […]

Wii U’s final form to be shown at E3 2012

Nintendo just held their last investor relations meeting, in which Iwata revealed that he’s planning to have the Wii U shown in its “final format” at E3 2012. What we can take away from this is that they’re still actively developing the console and making changes to it… that, or Nintendo have something they’re hiding […]

Dragon Quest X is coming to the Wii U, save data will be transferable

Square Enix just held a press conference dedicated to Dragon Quest, and it was announced there that Dragon Quest X, which we only knew was coming to the Wii, would also make an appearance on the Wii U, confirming previous speculation we had heard about such a port. The games will be functionally identical, but […]

Miyamoto hints at full body tracking for Wii Fit U

In addition to practically confirming that a Wii Fit game is coming to the Wii U, Miyamoto hinted very strongly in a recent Iwata Asks interview that the controller’s camera would be capable of Kinect-style full-body tracking. Miyamoto: I can’t really talk about it in detail, but we’re working on new ways to do training […]

Iwata Asks: An interview with Miyamoto about the Wii U

Nintendo have published an Iwata Asks interview they conducted with Miyamoto focusing on the Wii U. If you’re in the loop with the blog, you probably won’t find any major surprises in there. However, it’s a good piece of reading that provides a great recap on the design philosophy behind the Wii U – “deeper […]