Today I'm reviewing a book that will be a
treasure trove for researchers,
but a bit tedious for the average reader.
It's "Nintendo Magic" by Osamu Inoue.
This book is definitely not perfect
and that's why I'm only
recommending it to certain people.
If you're looking for a book that weaves
facts and figures into a compelling narrative,
then "Nintendo Magic" is not for you.
It's choppy and repetitive,
perhaps because it got its start as a series of articles
for the magazine "Nikkei Business".
And "Nintendo Magic" is so overwhelmingly positive,
that it sometimes feels like you're
reading Nintendo propaganda.
Despite all that, "Nintendo Magic"
will always be on my bookshelf
and I'm grateful for the information
that Osamu Inoue captured in this book.
If you like to research video game history,
I think you'll feel the same way.
That's because "Nintendo Magic"
contains something pretty rare:
first-hand interviews with Nintendo's top leaders.
Hiroshi Yamauchi,
his successor Satoru Iwata,
and legendary game producer Shigeru Miyamoto,
were all interviewed for this book.
Hiroshi Yamauchi and Satoru Iwata have
died since the book's publication in 2009
which makes me even more grateful
that their insights were captured in this book.
"Nintendo Magic" was a great resource when
I worked on my episode on the life of Satoru Iwata.
The book touches on many key
moments in the company's history,
but in my opinion,
its greatest strength is in its sections about
Iwata's quest to bring gaming to a mass audience.
When he took over Nintendo in 2002,
Iwata faced a hard truth.
The gaming population was shrinking.
So when other companies locked
into a competition over who could
produce the most powerful hardware,
Nintendo shifted the paradigm.
The solution:
to make video games fun again.
And that's exactly what they did.
The Nintendo DS and Wii systems attracted
people who hadn't touched a video game in years,
if ever.
As a result, in 2008, when the rest
of the world was reeling from the
effects of a global financial crisis,
Nintendo was booming.
It's an interesting story for business
people and for Nintendo fans.
There's a lot of great information in here
about how getting more people into gaming,
rather than catering solely to existing gamers,
helped Nintendo thrive.
The book also gives you a look at
how Miyamoto comes up with his ideas.
For example, Miyamoto's own quest to lose weight,
and his commitment to daily weigh-ins,
helped inspire the Wii Fit.
The interviews with Iwata,
Miyamoto and Yamauchi are valuable,
but unfortunately they're really the
only interviews you find in this book.
Part of this is understandable.
Nintendo is notoriously tight-lipped
about how it operates,
but the fact that we're only hearing
from Nintendo's top leaders
leaves the book feeling pretty one-dimensional.
And, as I mentioned,
the book praises Nintendo so much,
you can't help but feel that you're
missing out on a much better, deeper story.
If you're looking for a book that will
keep your interest from beginning to end,
and tell a well-rounded story of
Nintendo's philosophy and history,
this probably isn't it.
But, if you need to cherry-pick some
good information about Nintendo's history,
or want quotes and insights from Nintendo's leaders,
then "Nintendo Magic" is definitely the book for you.
That's all for this episode of Gaming Historian.
Thanks for watching.
Funding for Gaming Historian is provided
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Thank you.
