Nintendo is making games and 'not art' for Wii U, says Iwata

Nintendo needs to make games, not art, if it hopes to bring consumers to the Wii U, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told Toyo Keizai Online.

Following a difficult year for Wii U, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is emphasizing how the company's philosophy for success remains unchanged: Better software will revive the system. According to the Nintendo boss, to bring customers to the platform the company needs to focus on creating games that resonate with the audience - not attempt to transform games into art.

"Nintendo developers are extremely insatiable when it comes to whether what they make resonates with customers or not. They'll do anything to achieve it." Iwata said. "Both Miyamoto [Shigeru] and I repeatedly say, ‘It's not like we are making pieces of art, the point is to make a product that resonates with and is accepted by customers.'

"Creating is like an expression of egoism," Iwata went on to say. "People with a strong energy to create something have a ‘this is the strength I believe is right' sort of confidence to start from. Their standpoint is that ‘this is the right thing to do, so this must be what's good for the customer, as well.' But the final goal of a product is to resonate with and be accepted by people. You can't just force your way through. By saying ‘the point is to be accepted', I mean, if you go to a customer with your idea and you realize they don't understand it, it's more important that they do, and you should shift your idea."

Nintendo released its Q1 financial results earlier this week, revealing the Wii U sold only 160,000 units worldwide between April and June.