Phil Harrison Talks Wii Success
NG: Some third-parties publishers have said that they’re moving some development from the PS3 to the Nintendo Wii because of the success that [Nintendo’s] having right now. Is that of any concern to you?
PH: No, and I think the smart third-party publishers know how to plan a portfolio based around the strengths and weaknesses of different systems. There’s always been a stampede effect whenever there’s something hot, whether it’s a hot technology or a hot trend. We’ve all seen in the past when there’s a successful game, there’s four or five knockoffs that are influenced by it. They’re never successful. No where near the same as the original. So if you’re asking me from a World Wide Studios point of view, I don’t make games for any other platform, so from my point of view that’s an opportunity, because it means that I can have greater market share and greater share of voice with the titles that we do make. From an overall platform point of view, I think the combination of World Wide Studios titles and the smart, strategic investment of key third parties is more than enough to stimulate demand for our systems.
NG: A lot of people have been surprised by the Wii. Have you been personally surprised by the uptake of the Nintendo Wii?
PH: Yeah, I don’t remember reading anybody’s analysis that called this route two years ago or even a year ago to 18 months ago, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. We work in an entertainment business, basically, and entertainment has elements of fashion, and it has elements of the latest cool thing. If that stimulates interest in the videogame business and causes more people to play games, causes more people to go into retail stores and buy games, causes retailers to dedicate more shelf space to the category, and causes game developers and publishers to have a better macroeconomic foundation for their business, that’s a win-win for everybody, best of all for the end consumer. It’s a virtuous cycle.
NG: And it’s really good for Nintendo.
PH: Sure.
NG: It seems that both Sony and Microsoft often look at the Nintendo Wii and say, “oh yeah, Wii’s great, its success is really good for the industry.” Those kinds of compliments don’t happen too often between Microsoft and Sony. Can you equally recognize the success that Microsoft has had?
