Analyse Asia 50: A tribute to Satoru Iwata & Nintendo’s future with Serkan Toto

Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, joined us to give a tribute to Satoru Iwata, CEO of Nintendo who has just passed away at the age of 50. We discussed his legacy in Nintendo and the contributions that he has made to the company and also to the console gaming world as a whole. We also discussed the future of Nintendo covering from the potential successors to the CEO role to their recent first quarter earnings in Q1 2015 where they made their first profit in years. With a bullish view from Serkan, we also discussed the implications to DeNA and Gree and the upcoming roadmap for Nintendo’s games to come online in mobile. Last but not least, Serkan also give his perspective on LINE’s recent falling revenues that arised from the gaming aspect of their business.

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Here are the interesting notes and links to the discussion (with timestamps included):

• Serkan Toto: (@serkantoto, LinkedIn, personal site), CEO of Kantan Games
• Tribute to Satoru Iwata, CEO of Nintendo [0:50]
  
  • A short discussion on his biography: he’s the person to be appointed as CEO of Nintendo outside Yamauchi family, which founded the company in 1889 as a manufacturer of playing cards. He has a development background starting in the days in HAL Laboratory. His claim to fame: Kirby’s Dream Land. (Reference: NY Times). [1:29]
  • Famous Satoru quote: “On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer.“
  • What are his contributions to the console gaming and Nintendo? (Telegraph, WSJ) [2:40]
  • What do you think in your opinion, are his legacies in the gaming world? Wii and Nintendo 3DS. [3:20]
  • Nintendo’s “Iwata Asks” [5:50]
  • What is the impact of his death to Nintendo? [7:04]
  • Who are the potential successors to the CEO role? [8:50]
• Nintendo Q1 2015 earnings and their future in the gaming world.
  • With the CEO succession in the mix, what will happen to the DeNA deal? [11:20]
  • Nintendo’s first quarter 2015 earnings: Nintendo has published its first quarter earnings for the three months ending June 30th, revealing net sales of ¥90 billion ($727 million) and operating profit of ¥1.1 billion ($9.3 million). What are the factors that lead to this interesting quarter?
  • The financial quarter impact to Gree & DeNA due to Nintendo and what will happen to them in the next 2 quarters. Serkan comments the lack of understanding in Nintendo by financial analysts. [12:40]
  • Moving forward, has the roadmap to moving to mobile gaming platform changed? Is Nintendo also sticking to its current set of titles despite delaying “Legend of Zelda”? [18:49]
  • Fortune attributes the recent profitability to the game Splatoon. Is Nintendo testing any new business models with this new game? [19:55]
• Short LINE Conversation:
  • LINE’s falling revenues
  • Will that affect their IPO? [22:09]