Reggie Fils-Aime, formerly President and CEO of Nintendo America (NOA)New book “Disrupting the Game”I can talk regarding why I was the one who bundled “Wii Sports” with the North American version of Wii, and why Shigesato Itoi’s RPG “MOTHER3” was not released in the United States. I am revealing the behind-the-scenes situation.
Although Mr. Reggie promoted the pack-in of “Wii Sports” (software included in the main body), it seems that he was opposed by Mr. Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo at that time, and Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario. The following is the inside story revealed in the book.
Mr. Iwata said, “Reggie, Nintendo does not provide valuable content for free. We are striving to create a special experience. The motivation for buying hardware is unique software and long-term sales. You can expect it. You shouldn’t include “Wii Sports”. “
Reggie said he understands the value of Nintendo’s software, but said, “The goal of Wii is to expand the game from the current niche to the mass market.” Wii Sports “has the power to do so.” He said he did. And when Super Nintendo was released in North America, he mentioned that it was a set with “Super Mario World”.
However, even following persuading Mr. Iwata, we still have to convince the game developer, Mr. Miyamoto. Mr. Miyamoto said, “I understand your claim that Reggie will attach powerful software when the Wii is released,” but instead proposed to include “Wii for the first time” (mini game collection). ..
However, Mr. Reggie pointed out that “Wii for the first time” is not as interesting as “Wii Sports”, and said that it is better to bundle it with the Wii remote controller.
Then, Mr. Miyamoto admitted that “Reggie is correct. This mini-game collection is not a complete game that can request a full price.” However, the usual smile disappeared and he answered, “You do not understand the difficulty of making software that people love …. We will not let go of the software (do not provide it for free).” It is.
However, at that time, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was doing well, and in the end, it was said that “Wii Sports is bundled with the main body in Europe and the United States, and software is sold separately in Japan”. For that reason, “Wii Sports” is said to have sold nearly 83 million worldwide (including the one included in the main unit).
Also, in the new book, “MOTHER2” (local title is “EarthBound”) did not sell well in North America, so it is difficult to spend the cost of localization for “MOTHER3”, so I considered “only download sales of the Japanese version as it is”. , What didn’t happen. In addition, there is an interesting behind-the-scenes story, such as the fact that it was Mr. Reggie who put the sword in the North American version of “Adult DS Training to Train the Brain”.If you are interested, only EnglishKindle EditionYou may buy.
Source:Nintendo Everything
