5. Led to a Peculiar Fate

Iwata - I’m going to really switch gears here, but just how did you, Suzuki-san, originally being at Fuji TV, end up joining Wii no Ma co, ltd?

Suzuki - Yukawa-san and I joined Dentsu and Fuji TV, at the same time - so I’ve actually known him since then. And then in about the fall of 2008 we had met just as I was considering quitting, at which point Yukawa-san confidentially let me in on this project…

Yukawa - (Puts his finger up to his lips) Shh!

Everyone - (laughs)

Suzuki - That was still at a point that I wasn’t supposed to have heard anything (laughs). And then in just half a year it was decided that I’d be coming here. It was all rather quick.

Iwata - First hearing about it from Yukawa-san (laughs). What did you find interesting about it?

Suzuki - Originally I had no interest in games and never really played them. And then when filming one particular drama this incredibly popular actor had brought a Wii to the set - on release day (laughs).

Iwata - (laughs). Being release day, I suppose it was “Wii Sports” (※5) ?

※5 “Wii Sports”＝Sports game released on the same day as the Wii console in December 2006. Includes five different games - “Tennis," “Golf," “Bowling," “Baseball" and “Boxing."

Suzuki - Right. When I played it for myself I found it incredibly entertaining. That actor even brought his own monitor in his car, so we were playing on set - and as soon as I yelled “Cut!” everyone would make a mad dash to the car to play it (laughs).

Everyone - (laughs)

Iwata - For us, that’s the highest compliment someone could pay. I’m sure it was rough for filming, however (laughs).

Suzuki - It was rough (laughs). I had seen the ads for the Wii, but wasn’t sure just exactly what it was. I knew nothing about it.

Iwata - And so you see that no matter how loud we ring the bells or beat the drums, it just doesn’t get across to people that don’t think the product is for them… One example I’m always giving is, as a man, if I see an ad for women’s cosmetics, even if the actress in the ad leaves an impression on me, I simply don’t have the capacity to remember who made that product or what the brand name was. I bet that something similar had occurred with Suzuki-san.

Suzuki - Quite possibly. But I was incredibly surprised when I tried it for myself. At that point I developed that base that "There’s something special about the Wii."

Iwata - So if that actor had never brought their Wii to the set, perhaps you never would have indicated any interest in Yukawa-san’s proposal.

Suzuki - Right. It may have just ended with, “Nope, not interested.”

Iwata - There really is such a thing as fate.

Suzuki - There really is fate, or at least timing. Then, in that state I happened to meet with Yukawa-san, and we started discussing, “Where do TV advertisements go from here?” Lately there’s more and more people who just record programs and skip the commercials, so we discussed things like paid advertisements and how those advertisements would have to be something that people would want to pay for. It was at that point that Yukawa-san mentioned, “Actually, there’s a little something I want to talk with you about…”

Everyone - (laughs)

Iwata - And that’s when you heard about this? (laughs) What did you think when you heard about this from Yukawa-san?

Suzuki - TV has always been, like, the “king of video,” the kind of media that’s always been right in front of you, supposedly having this kind of power, like, “Just sit there as I show you” - in fact, it needed to have that kind of power. But the idea I had heard from Yukawa-san was completely different from that placement.

Iwata - It’s not quite, “Just sit there as a show you,” is it? (laughs).

Suzuki - The Concierge Mii (※6) rings the doorbell and enters the room, asking “Would you like to watch this?” and if you don’t want to you can answer with “no,” prompting him to respond with “Oh, I see,” and then he leaves (laughs). Yukawa-san explained that and I thought, “Now that is interesting.”

Iwata - (laughs)

※6 Concierge Mii＝ A celebrity or otherwise famous person’s Mii, who visits the customer’s “Wii no Ma” and introduces recommended programming.

Suzuki - Furthermore, I thought it was interesting that if you liked one of the videos you watched, you could recommend them to friends.

Iwata - When watching TV, if you see a program you enjoy and want to recommend it to someone, it’s not easy for them to get a chance to see it after the broadcast has ended (laughs).

Suzuki - Right! (laughs) But you can watch recommended video in “Wii no Ma” whenever you like, and that can lead to a kind of “recommendation cycle” - enjoying and recommending video to others. I thought that it was quite an interesting system. Furthermore, by downloading the video to DSi you’re able to watch them in the park, or on the train. So even if it’s a similar job in the sense that it’s involving video, its placement is completely different from TV, so I thought that it would be a new and interesting challenge - taking on something that may look similar, but is actually completely different.

Iwata - I see. Let’s hear from Tony, then.

Tony - Sure.

Iwata - How did you enter NoA?

Tony - When I had my first interview I was asked, “What do you want to do?” and right off the bat I answered with, “I want to deliver video digitally with the Wii.”

Iwata - Wow, no kidding. I had heard of you before you joined, but had no idea that was the case.

Tony - I originally worked at the music channel, MTV, and had always worked trying to expand the Japanese market. Although the thing about the Japanese broadcasting market is (glances at Yukawa-san and Suzuki-san), I probably shouldn’t be saying this in front of people like these, but, it’s incredibly closed…

Everyone - (laughs)

Tony - It’s a world that’s incredibly resistant to new comers (laughs). So I started to look for ways that could provide a back door to get ad business like these two. So I tried cell phones and digital distribution to PC, but it didn’t go very well. Having those experiences, I felt that “Wii is my last chance.”

Iwata - Why did you feel that way?

Tony - Because the Wii is connected to the TV. It’s also connected to the internet. In other words, because it’s a device that could output any kind of information on the TV, I figured video distribution could easily be done if we just tried it. Then I had also heard about how we’d also be able to get customer feedback.

Iwata - Since the Wii is connected to the customer, and this also goes for Club Nintendo and the “Everyone’s Nintendo Channel,” but by understanding the customer we’d be able to get lots of hints for how we can make things that catch on even more with customers, so you figured it would be great from both standpoints.

Tony - Right. So we’d be able to get all kinds of hints from customers, even in regards to video distribution. So I figured my only choice was to join Nintendo.

Iwata - I see.

Tony - And I actually have a curious story relating to fate as well.

Iwata - How so?

Tony - One year ago I came to Japan on a business trip, and I was on location for editing a promotional video with Yukawa-san. I think it was about 2 a.m… And without giving it much thought I asked Yukawa-san where he went to college, and he said, “Keio University.” I had a female friend from Keio, so I asked Yukawa-san if he knew her.

Yukawa - And I did know her quite well, so I said, “Yes, I know her - she’s tall right?”

Tony - Having heard that I got pretty excited, answering, “That’s my wife!”

Iwata - Wow. An acquaintance of Yukawa-san from his college years ended up being Tony’s wife. It really is a small world we live in.