“Nintendo’s president shrugged off the just unveiled iPad tablet computer from Apple as delivering ‘no surprises,’ and displayed as little enthusiasm for 3-D technology and high-definition upgrades for games. ‘It was a bigger iPod Touch,’ Satoru Iwata said of the much anticipated device shown Wednesday by Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs,” Yuri Kageyama.
MacDailyNews Take: The iPad FUD talking points memo begins with “It’s just a bigger iPod touch.”
Kageyama reports, “He made no pretense to hide he was totally unimpressed with the iPad. ‘There were no surprises for me,’ said Iwata.”
“Apple says the iPad is a new kind of mobile device that is more intimate than a laptop but is packed with more functions than a mobile phone,” Kageyama reports.
Kageyama reports, “On Thursday, Nintendo reported April-December profit fell 9 percent as solid year-end sales failed to make up for the weak results for the earlier part of the fiscal year, a rising yen and a price cut for the Wii.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We expected more from Nintendo’s president. Like manners and some imagination, to name just two. Of course, seeing Apple’s A4 SoC, a faster, more efficient processor than NIntendo (or anyone else) can buy off the shelf along with DS/DSi sales evaporating before your very eyes can take its toll, we suppose.
You know what’s so great about Nintendo’s DSi? You can set up your WiFi at Nintendo’s system level with, say, a WEP security password and then run a game and, for some incomprehensible reason (to an Apple product user at least), be asked to set up WiFi again, this time within the game itself which, oh by the way, doesn’t work with a WEP password. Then you get to reset your WiFi base station and try all versions of WPA passwords which also don’t work, so you resort to opening up your WiFi to the world, so that your daughter can download a heavily-pixellated rhinestone-studded denim skirt. Then you get to reactivate your WiFi’s WEP password with the anticipation of doing this rigamarole all over again approximately 30 times per day for the next two weeks until your daughter realizes that that her hand-me-down, no-longer-activated, two-and-a-half-year-old original iPhone with the cooler, better-looking games that cost 1/6th the price or less (many of them free) is way, way more fun. Then you get to eBay the DSi at a loss to the next sucker and get on with your life. Thanks for spending so much time thinking out the user experience, Nintendo.
Now STFU and take your medicine like a man, Satoru. And, oh, by the way, nice stylus. (smirk)
Nintendo’s president is exhibiting some of the classic signs that accompany the recognition of harsh reality: Denial, disbelief, and self-delusion.
Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it. – Jane Wagner
Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces. – Sigmund Freud
Yea the iPod touch is a failure with record sales!!!!!!! Oh what a failure!
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“We expected more from Nintendo’s president. Like manners and some imagination, to name just two.”
This was a fantastic way to start out the commentary, IMHO. The rest of the response is dead on, as well. Great take MDN.
You can smell the fear.
To the lion it is either sex or food.
Eat up, Apple.
The DS is one forth the price of the iPad. It is a one trick pony with several titles. It does not compete with the Touch, or the iPad so why even bring it up, MDN.
Why do people seem to get so offended here – when others don’t oogle over a new Apple product?
I’m sorry to say his opinion is in the majority! Had Apple added a webcam so loved ones could connect face to face, then “intamacy” could be claimed! I’m still getting one regardless! It’s growing on me!
@ ragarcia
“…but what does annoy me is to not be able to browse the web while still listening to my baseball game stream from my MLB application.”
That MLB app is so cool it makes me wish I liked Baseball.
and displayed as little enthusiasm for 3-D technology….
WRONG!! WRONG!! WRONG!! Check out the enthusiasm Hollywood has. Avitar,(which really is not my kind of picture), is making MORE than Titanic. THIS year Sony plans 3dtv, 3d playstation, and 3d blu-ray movies. If I can shoot and edit in 3d, than it’s a bet. I’m gett’n it.And Sony is not the only one. Panasonic 3d plasma is on it’s way.
Oh crap! You mean I can’t listen to Pandora while I surf the web? That’s it game over for Apple. That’s got to be the number one feature that every person on the planet must have.
“seeing Apple’s A4 SoC, a faster, more efficient processor than NIntendo (or anyone else) can buy off the shelf along with DS/DSi sales evaporating before your very eyes can take its toll, we suppose.”
Strange comment seeing 2009 was the biggest year for the DS. The Iphone and Ipod touch are having no effect on Nintendo.
The A4 comment is strange too seeing there’s rumours of Nintendo using Tegra 2 for their next DS. Tegra 2 is an dual core ARM based SoC with NVIDIA graphics ands guess what, it’s “off the shelf”.
Another example of the amazing ignorance of MDN for anything not Apple.
BTW Blizzard if you`re reading this, Starcraft Touch!
*hint* that`s a license to print money.
Loved the quotes!
C1: “I keep hearing complaints about the lack of multi-tasking, but to date I’ve only heard one scenario:
I Can’t Listen To Pandora…”
How about the one I read recently: Reading a textbook on the iPad and want to take notes… or reading textbook, want to look up something on web or in dictionary, etc.
Sure notes could be built into the iBook app, but so far it’s not.
So there’s a very valid use for multi tasking.
@ twilightmoon
Agreed, and you raise a valid scenario. I’m not sure that it would be that hard to just quite one app and launch another, but we’ll see. I have a feeling, as you say, there will be a notes function in the book app.
“Quit”, not quiet. >.<
Patience, young ipad-awan.
I’ve just put one of those angry jackals from Avatar on the grill. Who’s hungry?
Just a bigger iPod touch? But with GPS and magnetometer and microphone? And 3G connectivity at a somewhat reasonable price and no contract? Which means that it is actually a bigger iPhone without the cell phone and contract…
Well, that’s just what I have been asking for since the iPhone came out. And that’s why it will sell in big numbers. Apple’s manufacturers will not be able to make them fast enough.
Not impressive? On the contrary, it is yet another impressive leap of electronics design and integration from a company that is synonymous with innovation. And its starting price is low enough to make all of the Wintel netbook manufacturers and proprietary handheld game makers sweat bullets. There goes your $20-$30 per game, dudes…Slept any since last Thursday?? I doubt it.
Hmm.. I was going to say you have an amazing ignorance for anything not Nintendo, but you seem to have a pretty big ignorance for Nintendo, too.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704402404574527572534809890.html
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/01/wii-sales-nintendo-profits-down-year-over-year.ars
What was that again about 2009 being the biggest year ever for the DS and the iPhone/iPod Touch having no effect?
Unfortunately, MDN, DS sales aren’t “evaporating”. Not even close. So, you simply made up that part. Which is pretty lame.
this entire generation of consoles suck
the ps2 , gamecube and dreamcast were miles better
the new ones are either underpowered toys – wii , unreliable noisy junk – 360 , or souped up dvd players with no games – ps3
C’mon people…do you seriously think Nintendo’s top guy is going to say…Wow, what a great product. It is sooo much superior to anything we have produced. Gosh our designers are so inferior to Apple’s.
Of course he has to crap on it, you would too given the same position. Ballmer does it all the time. Its their job. The beauty of it is…the more the negativity from these guys, the better the product must be!
Oh…and I am usually not a player of games on the computer but every time I see that pic of the iPad and the driving game, I’m thinkin………hmmmmmmm!
@Buster
You’re right. If the iPad were being ignored, then there might be reason to worry. The fact that it is still the talk of the technophiles means that it has chops.
Not that Apple seems to worry too much what other people think, anyway. Apple dances to its own tune. Apple has continued working on less popular devices and, in contrast, completely reworked highly popular models (e.g., iPod mini) when people said that it was a mistake to do so. It’s good to be the king…
I keep hearing complaints about no multitasking. iPhone does multitask. It only does it with Apple’s apps. Apple’s main concern is good user experience. Apple can insure that their apps don’t waist cpu and battery resources.