Nintendo: Wii Were Struggling

TCW Podcast Episode 239 - Nintendo: Wii Were Struggling Nintendo’s struggle for cultural relevance in the lead-up to the Wii was marked by the N64’s poor fit for Japanese homes and the GameCube’s failure to outsell even the fledgling Xbox globally. Internally, a power struggle unfolded as Hiroshi Yamauchi prepared to retire. Former Sharp executive Atsushi Asada was brought in and became Executive Vice President and later Chairman of the Board. Satoru Iwata, whom Yamauchi saw great potential in, was appointed president of HAL Laboratory as part of a Yamauchi-backed bailout and ultimately succeeded Yamauchi as president of Nintendo. Minoru Arakawa was passed over, removed from the board, and after his retirement, replaced at Nintendo of America by Tatsumi Kimishima, who was later placed on the board himself, giving credence to the idea that Arakawa was pushed aside in favor of Iwata. We explore how, despite not facing financial collapse, Nintendo risked losing its creative identity after two struggling consoles and Sony's rising threat to its handheld dominance. Iwata Asks Interviews: Simpsons all you can eat Court Case: TCW 153 - Nintendo Playing with Cards: TCW 154 - Nintendo Playing with Controversy: TCW 155 - Nintendo Playing with Toys: TCW 014 - Nintendo Playing with Power: TCW 128 - Nintendo in 1985: TCW 037 - Nintendo and Gumpei Yokoi: TCW 063 - Lawsuits for Nintendo: TCW 068 - SEGA vs Nintendo Round 1: TCW 069 - SEGA vs Nintendo Round 2: TCW 070 - SEGA vs Nintendo Round 3: TCW 198 - The History of Handheld Games Part 1: TCW 199 - The History of Handheld Games Part 2: TCW 200 - The History of Handheld Games Part 3: Business Card CDs: GameCube Controller: Kirby's Dreamland (NES): Shmuplations - Satoru Iwata - 1999 Developer Interview: New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month! TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com Twitter: @tcwpodcast Patreon: Alex's Video Game History Blog: Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: Copyright: Attribution:

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Nintendo: Wii Were Struggling is an episode from They Create Worlds by Alex Smith, and Jeffrey Daum.

This episode is 86:30 long.

This episode was published on Aug 1, 2025.

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