Nintendo: Nothing we've done can be considered a success

So you've rebooted the games industry after the great video game crash of '83. You've dominated the '80s and '90s. Your mascot has become more well-known than Disney's. You own the handheld market and a few years ago you released one of the most insanely popuar consoles in history. You're successful, right? Apparently not.

You see according to President Satoru Iwata, success is not a permitted claim at Nintendo. And his reasons for that are good.

"I always and strictly tell Nintendo employees never to use the term 'success' to describe our own performance. If we call a result of any of our efforts a 'success'… we might apply it as the standard for success for future projects as well, and we could wind up not trying to do better than that or not making something which is very different in nature."

It's a very refreshing and healthy thing to hear in this showboating industry of bloated promises and inter-company smack-talk. Hard to imagine such an attitude coming from a company other than Nintendo too.

Cheers, IGN.

David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.