Satoru Iwata was Nintendo’s fourth President/CEO (2002-2015), previously a programmer and president at HAL Laboratory. He dramatically impacted the video game industry by shifting Nintendo’s focus from competing on graphical power towards innovative, accessible gameplay (“Blue Ocean Strategy”). This strategic pivot led to the immense success of the Nintendo DS and Wii consoles, which vastly expanded the gaming audience worldwide.
Personality
Iwata distinguished himself with his authentic “gamer at heart” identity, blending deep technical understanding with a humble, people-first leadership approach. He pioneered direct fan communication (“Iwata Asks,” “Nintendo Directs”) and prioritized employee morale, notably taking pay cuts to prevent layoffs. His leadership brand became synonymous with approachability, innovation, empathy, and making games fun and accessible for everyone.
From Nintendo’s success with the Wii, I would take a few concepts from their development experience into my own organization. From being a Nintendo company fanatic my entire life, I would almost go as far to say Nintendo introduced me to the concept of a blue-ocean strategy (competing in sections of the market that are uncontested by existing competitors by providing something new and unique). Nintendo started their blue-ocean strategy approach to gaming with the Wii but have continued it to this day with their most recent console the Nintendo Switch. They have been so successful with this strategy that when people argue over which game console to get, it is typically between Xbox and Playstation devices rather than Nintendo devices as many gamers will purchase a Nintendo Switch in addition to an Xbox or a Playstation,
Whenever I have an idea for an app that I could make that might have alternatives already available, I think about what can I do differently to make my product complement rather than just directly compete with the alternatives. I really admired Iwata’s decision to question the trends of an industry. In Nintendo’s case they questioned “Why does a console have to just compete on power, is raw computing power the only thing that makes a console successful?” Questioning common assumptions of my industry could help me become a better innovator.
Another strategy that Iwata used that I would hope to adapt into my organization is to be an expert at multiple aspects of the work that I lead. If I am the CEO of a mobile app developer company I would want to be versed in not only the business side but also the development side and the customer side. For Iwata one of his most famous quotes was “On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer” -Iwata. This allowed him to be able to actively help intervene when trouble arises during game development and connect with his target demographic (the gamers) in a more personal way. I would also focus on being empathetic just like Iwata was and aim to be liked by everyone in my organization as well as be viewed as someone people can trust and ask for help from.
For what is considered one of the most secretive companies in the world, Iwata Asks interviews where one of the few glimpses into the behind the scenes of how the magic is made at Nintendo.
The Iwata Asks interviews involved Satoru Iwata asking numerous questions to developers of games and of consoles and publishing the interviews online. These started around 2006 and continued up until his death in 2015. It was highly unusual for a CEO to personally conduct and publish such detailed and informal discussions about internal development processes. This initiative bypassed traditional media channels, allowing Iwata (a programmer himself, uniquely positioned to ask insightful questions) to connect directly with fans, humanize the developers, and share the passion and struggles behind game creation in a way that hadn’t been done before on such a scale.
The Wii was one of Nintendo’s most successful consoles of all time. Launched in 2006, it tapped into both the casual gaming market and the core gaming market and sold over 101 million units in its lifetime. But what made this unique console such a hit?
Nintendo’s struggling Home Console Business
The year was 2003, the Nintendo GameCube line had been struggling. Each Nintendo home console after the massively successful Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) had seen significant decline in sales. With new competition from Microsoft with their Xbox and the Playstation 2 absolutely dominating the market, Nintendo had to figure out how to save their sinking ship.
Setting sail on the Blue Ocean
With Iwata being recently appointed as the new company president, Iwata had stated that Nintendo had fallen quite behind on industry trends. He wanted the Nintendo’s next console the Wii (appropriately codenamed Revolution) to focus on the key aspect of creating new gameplay experiences that everyone can experience. Historically, consoles would compete on how much raw computing power they can put out as well as the graphical details they can display. But Iwata and his fellow Nintendo employees questioned this precedent and wanted to design something unique and accessible that more people can experience even if they had never played a video game before. To achieve this, the Wii took some inspiration from some existing unconventional experiences such as the dance pad used in Dance Dance Revolution as well as Nintendo’s own DS touch screen which was experiencing tremendous success with the casual audience. At the same time, the Wii needed to be competitively priced compared to its competition.
Challenges Nintendo Needed to overcome
Shifting Focus from Power to Gameplay: A major challenge was intentionally moving away from the industry trend of competing solely on graphical power and processing speed. This required a fundamental shift in design philosophy and convincing stakeholders that innovation in gameplay interaction could be more valuable.
How Nintendo overcame this: Nintendo deliberately chose not to compete directly on processing power, recognizing the escalating costs and potentially diminishing returns of that “arms race.” Instead, they focused resources on innovating the gameplay experience itself through the unique Wii Remote. They justified this by aiming for and successfully creating entirely new kinds of fun and accessible experiences that appealed to a broader audience, proving value beyond just computational capability.
Designing a New, Accessible Interface: Creating the Wii Remote involved significant hurdles. It needed to be intuitive and comfortable for everyone (including non-gamers), reliable, responsive, and suitable for various game types, breaking from complex, traditional controller designs.
How Nintendo overcame this: Through extensive iteration and prototyping, guided by the core principles of making it “Simple” and “Comfortable.” They explored many ideas before settling on the familiar remote shape. The design focused on making people want to pick it up and try it, rather than feeling intimidated.
Meeting Strict Size and Power Constraints: Iwata mandated a very small console size (like 2-3 stacked DVD cases) (the console needed to be small so it could fit near the TV as it had a sensor bar attachment needed for the controllers). This created engineering challenges in fitting components and managing heat dissipation, especially given the goal of low power consumption for the “always on” WiiConnect24 standby mode without noisy fans.
How Nintendo overcame this: The small size was a defined goal from early on, forcing engineers to find solutions. This involved using power-efficient components rather than the most powerful available and requiring close collaboration between chip designers (to minimize heat) and casing designers (for cooling). Achieving the low-power, silent operation for WiiConnect24 standby mode was a specific target that guided these engineering efforts.
The Wii Remote
The Wii Remote
The Wii Remote was what differentiated the Wii from consoles past and present. The remote resembles a TV remote that can be held in a single hand vertically, or held in both hands horizontally in a similar fashion to traditional game controllers. The Wii Remote uses an IR tracking camera as well as gyroscopes and accelerometers to track the user’s motion and allow for a point and click interface. The controller also supported numerous accessories through its expansion port on the bottom allowing for devices such as the Nunchuck and Classic controller to provide a more traditional gaming experience as well as future enhancement like the Wii MotionPlus.
“So, the conclusion I came to was that home consoles needed a new interface which anybody could use without any difficulty. It needed to be something that would allow non-gamers to play without feeling self-conscious.” -Shiguru Miyamoto.
The Wii Remote was revolutionary in its motion control technology and simplicity. The motion controls allowed anyone to pick it up and play games with minimal instruction. Games like Wii Sports demonstrated this perfectly in its sports games like Bowling, and Golf. If you want to bowl, swing your Wii remote like you are actually bowling, if you want to golf, swing the remote like a golf club (but make sure you wear the wrist strap so you don’t break your TV!).
The Games
Wii SportsWii Sports bowling
The success of every video game console hinges on the games it has to offer. Fortunately, Nintendo created tons of high quality games for people to experience on Wii that utilized the Wii’s unique hardware and couldn’t be replicated on other platforms. Games such as Wii Sports (which was a pack-in title with the console in the US thanks to Reggie Fils-Amie) and its sequel Wii Sports Resort, captured the attentions of all ages. Being able to play sports like Tennis, Baseball, Golf, Bowling, and Boxing in the confort of your living room was a completely novel experience. Games like Mario Kart Wii expanded on the already successful Mario Kart series with motion controls allowing users to steer just by tilting their Wii remote. Wii Fit utilized a unique smart scale peripheral (the Wii Balance Board) and aimed to make getting fit at home fun for all ages. Other games like Just Dance brought dance parties to the living room scoring their dance moves with just a Wii Remote. Nintendo also released some more traditional titles as well such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Super Mario Galaxy.
In addition to the new experiences on Wii, the Wii also offered support for existing GameCube games as well as downloadable classic titles from older systems via the Virtual Console service on the Wii Shop Channel. This meant that there was something for everyone to play.
Response from the competition
Both Sony and Microsoft recognized Nintendo’s genius approach to capturing the casual market and attempted to respond to the Wii’s unique appeal for the casual market with creating their own motion controllers for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 respectively. In Microsoft’s case the Xbox Kinect was a camera peripheral for the Xbox 360 that allowed a user to play games using just their body movement. In Playstation’s case the Playstation Move controller was released which directly mimicked the Wii Remote’s capabilities. However, these accessories struggled to catch on the same way due to the Wii’s capabilities being part of an integrated system rather than an add on, the cost of these technologies (on top of the Xbox 360 and PS3 being expensive consoles), lack of developers willing to support these technologies, and the fact that these systems were targeted towards the core gamer demographic rather than the casual market like the Wii.
Impact
The accessibility of the Wii and its games such as Wii Sports led the Wii being popular not just amongst children but parents, retirement homes, hospitals, and more. The Wii tapped into the casual market in a way never seen before in a video game system. The Wii popularized the idea of motion controls for games and Nintendo (as well as other publishers) have continued to put out games that support this simple control scheme up to the present day. It also brought Nintendo back into the spotlight of the gaming industry.
Even though the Wii was a massive success, it experienced a sharp decline in sales in its later years. Specifically, the Wii utilized significantly outdated technology from a processing, display, networking, and graphics perspective which caused third party developers creating games that appeal to the core gamer demographic to abandon the Wii and focus on other platforms. Furthermore, the advent of smartphone gaming through the App Store and Google Play greatly appealed to the casual market the Wii once championed. Going forward Nintendo would have to refocus on capturing the core gaming market as well as providing gaming experiences that can rival those on smartphones. (Unfortunately, it would take them a massive and costly misstep to realize this with the failure of the Wii U).
Iwata’s famous “directly to you” gesture.The Nintendo GameCube
Joining Nintendo & Initial Role (2000-2002)
Following his success in turning HAL Laboratory around, Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi offered Satoru Iwata a position within Nintendo’s leadership. In 2000, Iwata became the Head of the Corporate Planning Division and joining the Board of Directors. In this crucial role during the GameCube era, his main objective was to analyze and streamline Nintendo’s game development pipelines, aiming to reduce costs and shorten production times without sacrificing the quality and unique charm Nintendo games were known for. Even in this strategic position, Iwata’s passion for hands-on development persisted, notably assisting HAL and Masahiro Sakurai with debugging Super Smash Bros. Melee to ensure its readiness for the GameCube launch.
Becoming President & Setting a New Vision (2002)
Recognizing Iwata’s capabilities, Hiroshi Yamauchi appointed him as his successor in May 2002, making Iwata Nintendo’s fourth president and the first outside the Yamauchi family lineage. Taking charge during a challenging period where competitors were heavily focused on graphical power and the “core gamer” market, Iwata set a distinctly different course for Nintendo. He championed a “Blue Ocean” strategy, creating a vision focused on innovation in gameplay and creating accessible, fun experiences designed to appeal to everyone – families, casual players, and even those who have never played a video game in their lives.
The Nintendo WiiThe Nintendo DS
The DS and Wii Era: Vision Realized (2004-2009)
Iwata’s strategic led to tremendous success with the development and launch of the Nintendo DS in 2004 and the Wii in 2006. The DS, with its touch screen and unique software library, became the best-selling handheld console of all time. The Wii, centered around intuitive motion controls, and broke down barriers for non-gamers and became a global phenomenon, exemplified by the bundled Wii Sports (thanks to Reggie Fils-Amie). These successes dramatically expanded the video game market and led Nintendo to achieve record financial performance during this period.
The Nintendo 3DSThe Nintendo Wii U
Later Challenges & Continued Innovation (c. 2010-2014)
The phenomenal success of the DS and Wii proved difficult to replicate consistently. The launch of the Nintendo 3DS faced initial headwinds, prompting Iwata to make difficult decisions like significant price cuts. Subsequently, the Wii U console struggled to gain traction in the market, facing challenges with consumer understanding and third-party support. Despite these setbacks, Iwata continued to innovate, particularly in communication. He pioneered the “Iwata Asks” interviews, offering deep dives into game development, and the “Nintendo Direct” video streams, establishing a new model for companies to connect directly with their fanbase.
Iwata looking at bananas during a Nintendo E3 event.
Management Style at Nintendo
As president of Nintendo, Iwata adapted his people-centric management style to the larger corporation. He became known for his direct communication with fans and developers through Nintendo Direct and Iwata Asks. In the Nintendo Direct’s he humanized the company by including jokes, and speak directly to players bypassing other media channels. Embodying his belief that creativity suffers under fear, he famously took significant pay cuts during the financial struggles of the 3DS and Wii U eras to avoid employee layoffs, emphasizing leader accountability. He maintained his identity as a “gamer at heart,” prioritizing fun and approachability in Nintendo’s products and public persona, leaving a legacy of leadership focused on empathy, innovation, and bringing smiles to people’s faces.
The HP-65 programmable calculator. Was programmable via magnetic tape strips that could be fed into the device.
Iwata was born in 1959. His dad was a successful politician. From an early age he took an interest in computers and in gaming. When he was a teenager, he would play game-slot machines at the local train station. In 1974, he bought his first calculator the HP-65 that allowed him to program and create games for albeit very simple ones. Just like his father, Iwata demonstrated great leadership skills as he served in leadership positions while growing up. In 1978, Iwata acquired his first computer, a Commodore PET. Driven by curiosity, he dismantled it to understand its workings. That same year, he joined The Tokyo Institute of Technology where he studied Computer Science.
Before Satoru Iwata was the globally recognized face of Nintendo, guiding the company through the DS and Wii triumphs, he was a young programming prodigy working at a little gaming development studio in Tokyo Japan: HAL Laboratory (Iwata once said HAL’s name was picked as each of its letters is one step ahead of IBM).
Iwata joined HAL Laboratories as a part time programmer while he was still in school. He was the only programmer for the company at the time. He eventually started working for them full time after he graduated.
Building his relationship with Nintendo.
HAL Labs was approached by Nintendo and asked to assist with fixing the NES Pinball game that was experiencing development troubles and had fallen behind schedule. Iwata and the rest of the HAL team were able to successfully get the game back on schedule. More importantly, it demonstrated to Nintendo’s Iwata’s programming prowess.
NES Pinball
The success of Pinball led Nintendo to collaborating with HAL Laboratories on more games such as NES Golf as well as NES ports of arcade games. The NES Balloon Fight port was a notable game for Iwata as his programming of the physics was viewed as far superior to that of the original arcade game that it was based on. Super Mario Bros would later reuse this calculation scheme for the underwater levels.
Around this time, Iwata had gained the admiration of the then current president of Nintendo Hiroshi Yamauchi who put money into HAL to make them a second party developer. It was at this time that Iwata was promoted to a board member and development manager for HAL and gained the nickname the “Super Programmer”. Iwata would later collaborate with Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto (the creator of Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and other smash hits) on a racing game where he would learn that “Enginnering is not quite as important as imagination”.
In the early 1990s HAL Labs came upon financial difficulties with tremendous amounts of debt. The president of Nintendo agreed to step in and help HAL Labs on one condition, Iwata would need to become president of the company.
President of HAL
As president of HAL labs, Iwata helped push forward the company to repay their debts. He did so by focusing on creating hit titles such as Kirby’s Adventure and more. Despite his executive role, Iwata remained heavily involved in programming. He famously rescued the troubled development of EarthBound by rebuilding the games logic from scratch, assisted Game Freak with technical hurdles for Pokémon Gold and Silver (allowing them to fit the entire original game’s world and more into the space constraints of the Game Boy cartridge) and Pokémon Stadium (porting the battle system from the GB games), and aided Masahiro Sakurai in developing the original Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64.
Management style at HAL Labs
Iwata favored the hands-on management style. He leveraged his deep programming knowledge to directly intervene in troubled projects like EarthBound, while also prioritizing understanding his employees through individual meetings. Iwata fostered a collaborative, blame-free culture by calmly analyzing problems rather than assigning fault, believing effective communication was key. This pragmatic, people-focused, and technically adept approach proved crucial in rescuing HAL from near-bankruptcy and restoring its financial stability. Iwata focused on leading with empathy.
Successful Outcome
Iwata’s leadership successfully rescued HAL Laboratory from the brink of bankruptcy and repaid its debts by 1999. This achievement greatly impressed Nintendo’s leadership, leading to Hiroshi Yamauchi offering him a position at Nintendo’s head office in 2000.
