[thatmariolover]

Originally Posted by Reggie

I think we would have been embarrassed to do what our competitors are currently doing [motion controls]... So, all I can tell you is that we will innovate. We will provide something new. Something that the consumer and the industry will look at and say, 'Wow, I didn't see that coming.'

Originally Posted by Laurent Fischer (Nintendo EU)

Only geeks and otaku [want more storage].

Originally Posted by Iwata

As far as the Wii is concerned, we have not found a significant reason to make it HD-compatible at this time.

Originally Posted by Reggie at GDC

As for when digital will overtake packaged goods, our view is that is well into the future.

Originally Posted by Game Informer Interview

GI: As far as Virtual Console pricing how it breaks down in Europe, Japan, and here, it seems most expensive in the U.S. when you check exchange rates…

Kaplan: Do you drink lattes?

GI: Yeah.

Kaplan: How much do you spend on lattes?

GI: I spend a lot.

Kaplan: There you go. This is something that lasts forever.

Originally Posted by Iwata in Japan Spotlight

Customers do not want online games.

These quips used to be funny, but they just underscore the arrogance that seems to have become core to Nintendo as a company of late. And I'm sure there are quite a few I've missed (feel free to add them).

Nintendo snubs every company to release a product that does something theirs doesn't (and the feature(s) is/are dismissed as superfluous). They categorize their markets as hardcore and mainstream - which as far as I can tell is code for informed and uninformed - and then market to the mainstream because there's more revenue. Granted, if can sell your product that's great. Just not to the extent of alienating the same people who got you where you are. If you look at their press releases during the N64 and Cube generations, Nintendo was a bit more reserved. They (retrospectively) talked about the failures of the company and how the Cube (and then eventually the Wii) would be better. But they've taken the wrong idea and focused solely on sales instead of making a quality product. They’ve focused on a unique function (motion control) to the exclusion of every other good idea that the other major manufacturers implemented in their products. When called on it, they offer an anecdote, make a sweeping generalization of what people don't want, or dissemble to the point that you don't know what they said.

Let’s look at a few evolutionary advancements in gaming over the last 10 years that Nintendo has ignored.

Online Gaming:
Thanks to Xbox Live (for the most part), online gaming is huge. It's now grown to the point it can be broken down into four main parts: Avatar, Multiplayer, Achievements, and Downloadable Content. What has Nintendo done for online gaming? Wii Friend Codes, meaning you're a number instead of a name. You can have a Mii (avatar), but you can't find your friends Mii, you have to enter their friends code after contacting them in a more traditional method. Achievements? Nada. Downloadable Content? Without mass storage that's pretty tough.

The move to HD:
Yes, yes, it might be coming. The Wii HD. Too bad Nintendo was so slow to add this. You know, considering how dated the tech is in the Wii (and subsequently how cheap it is), they could have at least sprung for a little more video memory for HD output. Honestly, emulating the Wii is getting to the point that it will be the better option for HD gaming before long.

Mass storage:
The ability to use SD cards is laughable, and came after years of protest. During which time Nintendo simply wrote off mass storage as something nobody would want except 'geeks and otaku' (http://bit.ly/a75k0p). Nintendo considers themselves so accepted by the mainstream that they can insult the very people (Geeks and Otaku) that have been padding their wallet for the last 20 years? I don't think so. Mass storage is perfectly possible on the Wii as demonstrated by the excellent homebrew scene.

Nintendo's history demonstrates that they want nothing to do with an idea if it's been done by a competitor in the last five years - so they lag behind in every aspect but the one they focused on for their current product. This time around, motion controllers. Next up, 3D on the DS – how much do you want to bet they’ll forget something critical while they tout the 3D screens and charge out of the nose for it while using second rate tech to power it. If Nintendo doesn't start reacting to their market as well as try to anticipate it, their future history will be unfortunately cyclical.