14 DAY TRIAL // One of the biggest newspapers in Japan, The Asahi Shimbun, has been in a bit of a fiery discussion with Nintendo, almost since the year began, regarding an alleged statement made by Satoru Iwata, the company's president and CEO. In the article that started it all, Iwata was quoted as announcing that the next DS would feature "highly detailed graphics, and it will be necessary to have a sensor with the ability to read the movements of people playing." However, Iwata claims he never made that statement.
Addressing Kotaku, Nintendo of America told the site that Asahi Shimbun "misinterpreted" Iwata's words. Charlie Scibetta, Nintendo of America's senior director of corporate communications, told Kotaku that, "Mr. Iwata did not make any comments regarding the functions of Nintendo's future hardware systems. The answer to the reporter's question was misinterpreted." But this just fueled the situation, and the spark suddenly grew into a fire.
With Kotaku caught in the middle and used as a battlefield, Asahi Shimbun told the site that, "The article quoted Nintendo President Satoru Iwata's comment accurately." At a recent Q&A session, Iwata was approached on the new hardware subject, to which he replied that, "Naturally, we are always developing new hardware," but that he was not in a position to discuss any of the details. The question that started the present conflict was the one asked by an Asahi Shimbun reporter, who said, "The graphics for the next DS will be highly detailed and it will contain a motion sensor, right?"
Iwata answered that, "Those things are naturally being required. But do you think it would sell with just that?," with him now pointing out that the last part of his statement was left out, thus creating an ambiguous statement. Iwata's remark was made at a general level, as it's obvious that the next generation of consoles, whichever this may be, will bring new features and improvements over the old ones, since this is the entire purpose of evolution. The mystery that needs to be solved, however, is if Iwata was or was not hinting at Nintendo's future hardware or if Asahi Shimbun took it upon itself to confirm a valid speculation.
With Iwata being the last one to fire a volley in the discussion, it would be Asahi Shimbun's turn to roll the dice. Now, we just have to see how much confidence the publication has in its reporter, or if it can bring some proof that would turn the tables on Iwata, proving that, indeed, Nintendo's CEO had a slip of the tongue and revealed a bit more than he wanted.