Anyway the setsumeikai had two parts, the first part was a speech from Iwata Satoru, the CEO, and the second part was a little chat session with Nintendo employees where we could ask them questions. Mr Iwata's speech was great - really inspiring. He should be a motivational speaker. XD He talked about how Nintendo makes products that are not necessary to life - games, toys. And because these things are not necessary, people will not put up with flaws or difficulties in order to use them. For example, when using a computer at first, people will put up with how hard it is because they /need/ to use the computer - to check their email, or whatever. But when it comes to games, people don't need them so if they're too hard to use they'll just give up on them and move onto something better. This is why Nintendo tries to make its games as accessible to users as possible. He talked about how many people were quitting gaming, how game controllers were getting more and more complex, and less and less accessible to people who were new to gaming. He talked about thinking outside the box, about innovation, about flexibility and adaptability. He threw in some life lessons about communication and getting along with people and making people happy. It was all very uplifting, haha.
He also mentioned that in Japan the words "senryaku" and "senjutsu" were starting to be used interchangeably, but in fact "senryaku" refers to your goal, and "senjutsu" refers to your method of getting there. He said you should stick to your goal, but be flexible with regards to your methods. He said that things people considered ridiculous or not "common sense" - like the idea of a game machine with 2 screens - can become "common sense" once they're shown to work. That most game companies target existing gamers, but Nintendo thought, why limit your market? Why not expand that market by expanding the category of gamers - enticing casual, ex- or non-gamers into the market the way the DS and Wii have with their simple and intuitive controls. He said that toys and games by nature will lose their novelty and thus they always need to be thinking of new ways to surprise and entertain people - it's like feeding a fickle and fussy king who doesn't want to eat the same dish twice, he said. But also that it's a very rewarding job to see the king eat the amazing new dish you made.
He said that when he goes overseas and people are suspicious of why he's entering their country, as soon as he tells them he's from Nintendo, their faces light up and they start asking him when their new products are coming out. He considers this a real achievement.
