Unearthed interview with Satoru Iwata shows how the DS informed 20 years of Nintendo: "When it comes to entertainment, I think we know the best"

gamesradar.com:

Late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata oversaw the launch of the DS and Wii, helping to usher in the company's modern era. In a recently unearthed 2004 interview, Iwata explained the philosophy that led to the creation of those two systems, and with the benefit of hindsight, it's clear that this all informed the last 20 years of Nintendo.

The interview was originally conducted for a New York Times article by longtime gaming journalist Stephen Totilo, but that story only ended up using two quotes from the full discussion with Iwata. Now, 20 years later, Totilo has finally transcribed some larger bits from the interview for his Game File newsletter, unearthing some fascinating insights from Iwata.

In 2004, the DS was set to go up against the PSP, a far more graphically advanced piece of handheld gaming technology. Ahead of the launch of both systems, the PSP seemed to be the clear favorite in the impending console war, but in this interview, Iwata downplayed the importance of graphical advancements.

"We have come to understand that we are reaching limits in this direction," Iwata said. "When Nintendo leads [it] has been a world-leading entertainment company, and when it comes to entertainment, I think we know the best. We have some final destiny in entertainment, and that is [that] whatever gorgeous or wonderful thing we may be able to come up with, in the future, people are going to get tired of it."

Iwata said that the company "believes that we definitely need a paradigm shift in this industry." That paradigm shift included new control schemes to help expand the gaming audience - something Nintendo was about to do with the DS, and would then double down on with the (then unannounced) Wii.

Hiroshi Yamauchi, Iwata's