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Iwata Asks: In Commemoration, Part 8 - Wii no Ma

Wii no Ma, Part 3 - "The Mii Population: Exceeding 20 Million Domestically"

by the NWR Staff - August 24, 2016, 9:43 pm EDT

Part 3 of Wii no Ma.

3. The Mii Population: Exceeding 20 Million Domestically

Iwata - Beppu-san, you mentioned that you all split into two groups - the “Calendar Faction” and the “Tea Table Faction." Just how exactly did their opinions differ?

Beppu - We were divided as to whether the main screen should be the “tea table” or the “calendar." The “calendar faction” was comprised of the four top members from Dentsu, and the “calendar faction” was just me. That “4 vs. 1” lasted for three whole months.

Iwata - Nintendo can be a nasty company, I guess (laughs). To make you handle everything alone.

Beppu - (laughs)

Iwata - Naturally I gave my opinion as well.

Beppu - So it was actually two people (laughs).

Iwata - But, of course, I’m not officially on the project…

Beppu - Ok, so one and a half (laughs). Furthermore, the “calendar faction” were very particular about the format of the calendar. For instance, by making the calendar format so that it was “going to see a movie with the family on X month Y day” and “mom’s birthday on X month Y day” you’d be able to design for every day.

Iwata - The members of Dentsu had a specific image in mind of what could be done by using the calendar.

Yukawa - Right. We felt that by using the calendar we’d be able to achieve that concept of “family - life - bonds”.

Beppu - Furthermore, with the calendar you’d know what new information would be available on which day, which would be incredibly handy for the marketing companies. Obviously I understood the appeal of that as well, but it just didn’t feel warm enough to me.

Iwata - What do you mean by “warmth”?

Beppu - My understanding is that Nintendo began making hanafuda 120 years ago, and playing cards 107 years ago. Although this can be said of the Famicom that was released 26 years ago as well, I feel that it’s the kind of company that has continued to come up with these kinds of these fun ideas specifically because they’re the kind of entertainment that can be shared in places that people come together, like the tea table. So I felt that the “tea table” is another piece of Nintendo’s identity. The world is moving more and more towards “personalization," but it’s because we’re in that kind of age in particular that I wanted to feel that “warmth” provided by the “tea table."

Yukawa - So the discussion eventually branched out to having the “tea table," and within that you’d have the “calendar” that the family schedule and what not could be written to.

Iwata - And that’s when the image for “Wii no Ma” had solidified, however vague it was.

Beppu - Right.

Tony - Yukawa-san, through that discussion wasn’t there a time when everyone at Dentsu said you had turned into a completely different person? (laughs)

Iwata - Yukawa-san, did you change? (laughs)

Yukawa - Yes I did (laughs). For instance, when I found garbage on the floor I would pick it up and throw it away. Or if an old lady was walking along unsteadily I would offer my hand to help her to walk. People should consider those kinds of things obvious actions to take, but originally I didn’t do them at all.

But, having become involved with “Wii no Ma”, I figured it was necessary to prepare myself. Once those keywords “family - life - bonds” came about, I started to think about what kind of things not in terms of “my company” or “business," but more in terms of the origin of people - what kind of things make people happy, what kind of things make people sad, and as a result I think I became more sensitive to things happening around me.

Iwata - So, it’s as if up until that point you might pretend not to have seen what was going on, but having really thought hard about it, all of a sudden your behaviour changed?

Yukawa - Right. Several people saw my new behavior…

Iwata - And you were called out, saying “Yukawa-san, you’ve changed as a person.” (laughs)

Yukawa - Yes. (laughs)

Iwata - Having changed as a person, and then started to realize the base functionality should focus around the “calendar” and “tea table," at what point then did you start to truly feel that “Wii no Ma” had the kind of value that you could put your life on the line for?

Beppu - During the process of continuing discussion another keyword arose - “recommendation." Because, when recommending something to someone, it’s got to be something really good.

Iwata - At that point your reputation is on the line.

Beppu - On the other hand, whether you’re talking about fashion, or music, or movies - if you’re picking yourself you’re always going to choose the same kinds of things… so I guess you could say there’s no escaping it.

Iwata - Inevitably you fall into your usual patterns and it’s hard to branch out. So most often you end up picking “the usual."

Beppu - Exactly. It’s safe, and you can’t go wrong that way, but….

Iwata - There’s no adventure to it, and you don’t usually find new things doing that.

Beppu - But if someone recommends a book or a restaurant that they like to you, or if you get something you otherwise wouldn’t have bought as a gift, that’s a new discovery. That’s why I think this keyword, “recommendation” is incredibly important. So when we were thinking about, “Okay, who should be giving the recommendations,” it occurred to us, “RIGHT! Nintendo has the Miis!” If it was structured where different Miis with their own individuality were to recommend really good things to you, there would be a solid response of “maybe this is something I should try."

Yukawa - Similarly to Beppu-san, I also started to see how things could come together when we decided to use the Miis. And I think it was because Beppu-san never gave up his insistence on the “tea table” over a whole three months (laughs), that we were able to arrive that idea.

Iwata - If it were just the “calendar” there’s not many ways you’d be able to take advantage of the Miis, as it were (laughs).

Yukawa - Right. Furthermore, often you get cookie-cutter emails giving you recommendations, but I’m the kind of person that hates to read them, and I just delete them as they come in. But having someone come visit you, at the comfort of your own tea table, there’s an incredible warmth there that you can’t get from those rather mechanical emails. So “Wii no Ma” started to crystallise for me when that mental image had formed.

Iwata - When you started to envision that structure where Miis would ring the bell and visit the “Wii no Ma”, you both started to feel that it could lead to something new, and that it was something work putting energy in to to make a reality.

Beppu/Yukawa - Yes.

Iwata - You know, according to Nintendo’s most recent study, it turns out that there are now more than 20 million people in Japan that have their own Mii.

Tony - 20 million!?

Suzuki - That’s amazing!

Iwata - This was found during a study performed in October 2009.

Yukawa - That’s an impressive number.

Beppu - With such a high number of Miis as a base, to have them come make recommendations or lead to some kind of communication…

Iwata - That’s why it would probably be applicable to say that the existence of the Miis was what decided “Wii no Ma”s fate.

Beppu - I truly believe that’s the case.

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