Shigeru Miyamoto has stated he isn’t actively participating in the development of Nintendo NX.
Instead of helping to design the new hardware system, like with Wii, Miyamoto said he’s more focused on game development, specifically Star Fox Zero, instead of making decisions on the technical aspects of NX.
Speaking with Fortune during E3 2015, he said he’s content with just “observing and looking at the hardware” instead of being heavily involved in its creation.
Miyamoto was also asked about why Nintendo’s Wii U has struggled so much. The platform has sold around 9.5 million units so far, which makes it Nintendo’s slowest selling console in its history (even slower than Gamecube). For comparison purposes, Sony’s PS4 managed to sell as many units in roughly nine months as Wii U did in two and a half years. Miyamoto believes the biggest problem wasn’t necessarily a lack of AAA titles for Wii U, but that Nintendo could never properly explain the concept behind the system.
“I feel like people never really understood the concept behind Wii U and what we were trying to do,” he said. “I think the assumption is we were trying to create a game machine and a tablet and really what we were trying to do was create a game system that gave you tablet-like functionality for controlling that system and give you two screens that would allow different people in the living room to play in different ways. …. Unfortunately, because tablets, at the time, were adding more and more functionality and becoming more and more prominent, this system and this approach didn’t mesh well with the period in which we released it.”
The site also spoke with Shinya Takahashi who oversees Nintendo’s Software Planning & Development Division alongside Miyamoto. According to Takahashi, the company hopes to “catch the attention of a large number of players again”, which it failed to do with the release of Wii U.
“We’re constantly thinking about this idea from the perspective of the players and the needs of the players in terms of what can we can do with our ability and our technology to capture that excitement and passion,” he said.
Wii U is the slowest selling Nintendo system to be released. During the interview, Miyamoto reiterated the slow sales were partially due to the fact “people didn’t understand the system.”
His comment reflects those offered by president Satoru Iwata as a possible reason for the drop in Nintendo stock prices back in 2011. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime felt differently though, stating Wii U’s struggling sales had more to do with the lack of steady game releases.
Nintendo has yet to announce any details pertaining to NX, other than the fact it’s in development.
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