Shigeru Miyamoto, one of the world's most esteemed game developer and designer, recently sat down with TIME and shared his thoughts on the New Nintendo Switch. The interview happened last January, on a press conversation in New York City. Miyamoto talked about the development of Switch, and of course, how the late Satoru Iwata shaped Nintendo's future.
Nintendo Switch: Iwata Was Involved In Major Decisions
As Nintendo's former CEO, the deceased Satoru Iwata is of course involved in the development of the new console. In fact, Miyamoto shares that his former colleague was indeed the head of the development team for 'Switch.'
When he was still around, Iwata put emphasis on the vision of a device that you can take anywhere. He wanted to make a system that is capable of networking and a device that can communicate with other people. He wants players to meet and make friends with each other so they could enjoy playing games together.
Miyamoto also added that because Iwata was "Tech-savvy," they often discussed how to make the technical aspects of the networking system or the servers, or what other fun things they could add to the console. Iwata knew that things are getting more advanced. So they often talk about this in the past.
Nintendo Switch: Iwata Wanted The 'Switch' To Be Cost Friendly
Not just in developing the software and hardware of the earlier stages of the 'Nintendo Switch', Iwata is also keen on the price of their new device.
Miyamoto remembers some of the meetings he attended for 'Switch." He recalls no major disagreement within these encounters, but if they did, it most probably about how to make the 'Switch' stand out. The team knew there is a cost to make the console unique. So they have to stop and think about how to deal with it. A concern they all had to work on together.
Even without Iwata, the project for the new console continues, and thus; the 'Switch' was born. Satoru Iwata died on July 2015, and was replaced by Nintendo's current President Tatsumi Kimishima. The 'Nintendo Switch' is slated to be released on March 3, 2017, at $299.99.
