Wii Sports: thank you Reggie Fils-Aimé for the bundle

I advocated offering Wii Sports with the Wii so that every consumer would have access to this great content. After making this suggestion, Mr. Iwata was quiet long enough for me to notice the faint hum of the neon in his office and feel uneasy. “Reggie,” Mr. Iwata said. “Nintendo does not offer valuable content for free. We work hard to create special experiences. It’s unique software that motivates consumers to buy our hardware, and we plan to sell this game for a long time. No, we shouldn’t offer Wii Sports”.

“Mr. Iwata, I understand the value of our software. I know that these unique games have always set Nintendo apart from the competition. But we know that the Wii is a very different concept in the history of video games. It focuses on unique gameplay. The objective of the Wii is to make video games a mainstream medium. This game has the power to do that. Wii Sports can be a unifying element for all gamers on the system and be a key motivator for people to buy it and have fun right away. Also, Mr. Iwata, I know that Nintendo has a habit of offering software with its consoles. I know this from personal experience, as I had purchased my SNES in a bundle that included Super Mario World”.

It was only a first discussion on a subject that would go on for months. Even after convincing Mr. Iwata that this was the right approach, I would also have to get Mr. Miyamoto to agree – as the head of all game development. I knew I was making progress when I was shown a new game on a trip to Kyoto in July 2006.

“Reggie, we understand your point about including a strong software title with the Wii when it launches,” Mr. Miyamoto said via a translator during a meeting with Mr. Iwata and Mike Fukuda. “Please take a look at this game which we propose to use for your idea instead of Wii Sports.” The development team started showing me an early version of Wii Play.

… “Mr. Miyamoto, these minigames are fun. I can see how the development teams have refined the experiences we showed earlier at E3. And they make great use of the Wii Remote,” I said. “However, it doesn’t feel like as complete an experience as Wii Sports. I don’t think the inclusion of this title would have the same impact as the inclusion of Wii Sports. Actually, I have another idea. Maybe instead of including this with the Wii, we should take this collection of minigames and include it with a Wii Remote to encourage additional sales of this accessory”. The room was silent for at least 15 seconds. Mike Fukuda chimed in, speaking in Japanese. I looked at the faces of Mr. Iwata and Mr. Miyamoto, then I heard the English translation. “Reggie is right. Wii Sports is far more effective in achieving our goal of getting consumers to understand the Wii immediately, and this collection of minigames is not a full game that deserves full price in our market. We should think about how best to use this software to achieve our goals. Including it with the Wii Remote is unconventional, but it would put more into the hands of our consumers”.

So Mike and I were trying to agree on two different packs, and the best game designer in the world wasn’t happy. The ever-present smile and mischievous squint in My Miyamoto’s eyes were gone. “None of you understand the challenges of making games that people love to play. It’s something we constantly push ourselves to do. We don’t give away our software,” Mr. Miyamoto said.

Mr. Iwata, however, was already considering our ideas. “Mr. Miyamoto, I’m sure Mike and Reggie appreciate the effort put in by the developers. They are trying to solve a different situation from ours in Japan.” He went on to explain the market conditions we were facing [..]. He also explained how Microsoft’s Xbox 360 had just been launched in 2005 and was doing well in Western markets. Clearly, our drive to educate NCL executives about our business needs was starting to work.

We did not get an agreement at that meeting, nor at the many others that followed. But we ended up convincing Mr. Miyamoto and Mr. Iwata to agree that Wii Sports be offered for all western markets. They decided to sell Wii Sports as a separate game in Japan.