The reason Iwata refused to accept the technology, despite being impressed by the demo created by 3DV Systems, was because he didn't believe they could release the peripheral at a mass-market price and couldn't see it as an add-on peripheral for Wii.
"3DV showed off a camera that detected motion in 3D, and had voice recognition - but Iwata-San was unconvinced he could sell it at a Nintendo price point. He also had some worries around latency during gameplay", CVG's insider at Nintendo explained.
Microsoft revealed Project Natal at E3 2009, showing off demos that showcased facial and vocal recognition as well as body movement in a 3D space. When Shigeru Miyamoto was asked about the technology, he said that "This type of motion-sensing camera technology has been around for quite a while. [We've] ultimately made the decision not to take advantage of what they can do", referring to the technology seen in Sony Computer Entertainment's EyeToy peripheral.
I think this is old news in the sense that I think something like this was mentioned in one of the "Iwata Asks" thingies.Whats new about this is that it tells us why Iwata turned it down.
Iwata is a wise man. Yamauchi led Nintendo to ruin during the N64 and GC years, but Iwata has really turned things around. I'm not saying Yamauchi sucks or anything, because he was the one who made Nintendo a success in the first place. I just think that in his old age he lost touch with reality a bit and so it was time to hand the operation over to someone younger.
With Iwata, Nintendo has been in good hands.
I don't think it was a coincidence that Square Soft didn't start making games for Nintendo systems until after Satoru Iwata took over.
I don't think it was a coincidence that Square Soft didn't start making games for Nintendo systems until after Satoru Iwata took over.
I don't think it was a coincidence that Square Soft didn't start making games for Nintendo systems until after Satoru Iwata took over.
You mean Square-Enix.