Laurent Fischer: Only Geeks Want Hard Drives

Nintendo's Laurent Fischer recently commented on the Wii system memory situation once again.

The latest issue of UK gaming magazine Edge (issue 190) reveals a cheeky comment from Nintendo of Europe's managing director of marketing. When quizzed about the lack of a Wii hard-drive and limited memory onboard, he replied that only "geeks and otaku" would be people who would need one.

[Ninja_Moomin]

what a douche

[morganfell]

i seriously think that with wii sales beginning to drop in some areas we will eventually see people want a more advanced machine. and the wii hardly qualifies. someone should tell him that if a game is crap and the only thing that makes it even remotely interesting is the control scheme, then the game is still crap.

[Tomdc]

even if his statement was true (which it ain't) wat kind of dumbass would insult his customers when a proportion of them would like a new feature? hes a complete retard lol

[Statix]

Isn't it just absolutely fabulous for (hardcore) gamers that we have such massively mainstream, successful, arrogant companies such as Nintendo threatening to detract from the focus on technological advancement in the videogame industry? With Wii so successful, we may very well see Sony and Microsoft rein in the specs of their next systems in effort to drop launch prices and cater to the stupid low-cost, casual, non-gamer audience.

This is how Wii is affecting the videogame industry.

[jessupj]

I completely agree mate, it's very very scarey. But I still think the hardcore market is were the majority of the money is at so hopefully this won't happen for a while. Of course I'd like it to never happen.

[BattleAxe]

Well I must be a geek then.

[UnblessedSoul]

Agreed

[lodossrage]

Which really stinks

How do they expect people to constantly pay for VC games, then Wiiware games, and not to mention save game data without some sort of hard drive add-on?

I guess they figured since they're first in sales, they don't have to exactly cater to their customer's NEED (not want, NEED. since the hard drive is NEEDED)

But hey, being in first place makes one arrogant sometimes doesn't it?

I guarantee you if they were in second or third place, they'd be real quick to make that hard drive.

[Maverick_]

Lmao. Furthermore proof of how much of a toy the Wii is.

[e-ray]

Agreed. Now this is just my opinion, but I despise the Wii. Not even because it's been successful, I just dislike the system and most all of its games.

[ISA_Scum]

Someone should ask this guy if only geeks want good game libraries cause the Wii sure in hell doesn't provide that either.

[dribnif]

...there's a possible storage solution looming which doesn't involve a hard drive.

[San anto]

Lol dont try and spin it. Words from the noob himself, "only "geeks and otaku" would be people who would need one."

[v1c1ous]

but what do otaku have to do with anything?

i would think anime would be the last priority to put on the wii.

[lodossrage]

I think that was him trying to generalize them both into a single category. More often than not, most otaku are geek and/or gamers. They kinda go hand-in-hand.

But regardless, you're right. His comment was just wrong

[BubblesDAVERAGE]

you know xbox fans criticizes (ps) the standard HDD and yet there system does not require a HDD...I personally think all system benefits from a standard Hdd even though its starting to fell like pc gaming

[v1c1ous]

when has ANY xbox fan criticized standard HDD?

ALL xbox fans want the arcade SKU erased from history and HDD to be standard.

[dragunrising]

I hope you realize your mistake. Btw, "geeks" buy the most Virtua Console games...better cater to us.

[Godoftheweek]

I remember all of the hate that Sony got in the last couple of years. How arrogant they are, how they don't care...blah blah blah. Meanwhile I said that if Nintendo gets back on top, they will be even MORE arrogant than they were during the glory days of the NES and SNES.

I believe that the HC are slowly realizing what I have known for 2 years. Nintendo has abandoned the HC for the much more lucrative and naive/ignorant casual market. Can you blame them? There is a shat-ton of mula to be made from these mini-games for the soccermoms, grandpas and grandmas of the world.

Meanwhile, Sony is really starting to put the pedal down on their PS3 plans (cannot wait for E3) and the slap in the face that they got and somewhat deserved has made them focus even harder than they would have if the PS3 would have been a bigger success in it's 1st year.

Sony is doing the same thing that they have done with the PSX, PS2. Start with the hardcore, work your way to the midcore, and reel in the casual. Sony is still working on winning over the HC but at the same time we see that they are dipping tier feet into the mid/casual market.

Nintendo will NEVER change in my opinion. They did not change when they were in 3rd place...so why would they change now that they are back in 1st?

By the way, I do NOT consider a repackaged GameCube current generation hardware so in my mind it is the PS3 rapidly closing in on the 360 for FIRST place.

What do you guys think?

[dragunrising]

I agree with your opinion concerning Nintendo and being arrogant. It is debatable how soon or if the PS3 will surpass the 360 however. The way I see the console wars (and always have) is that price is the most important factor to consider. Look at the PS2 for evidence that price and game selection sell consoles. If you were a first time gamer who wanted a gaming console I would personally recommend the PS2. Why? It is cheap, and has hundreds of games of every genre. To stay competitive the 360 needs a drastic price drop. If the price is competitive you won't see the PS3 surpass the 360 globally until Microsoft pulls the plug on the 360; to make way for their next gen console (which I feel they won't do this time on account the 360 makes money now). Playstation has always appealed to the mainstream/casual audience than Xbox has so I maybe wrong. Anyways, its only my opinion.

[titntin]

Theres no question -Nintendo has always been, and will always be the most arrogant and controlling of the three manufactures.

I applaud their machine and have always loved to play their games. Their invention and IP's are rightly seen as some of the very best in the industry.

But dealing with them at a corporate level is hell. Just working on one of their titles sees you tied up of in tons of NDA's that mean I still can't show art assets on a CV that I developed on a successful Cube game thats years old, despite the fact I created all the art work. Look at the history of the prices and 'minimum runs' they enforced on third parties who wanted to publish games on their systems in the past. Ask any Rare employee what it was like working under Nintendo - the different dev teams were not even allowed in each others areas and could not talk about what projects they were working on in the canteen!
Nintendo's attitude is legendary throughout the development community, so its no surprise to me to see these kind of remarks...

[Fernando Rocker]

"By the way, I do NOT consider a repackaged GameCube current generation hardware so in my mind it is the PS3 rapidly closing in on the 360 for FIRST place."

This is the only gaming website where I keep reading the same denial. Just because you guys live in this bubble, it doesn't mean that the Wii is not competing with the 360 and PS3. Please, go outside this site, and read comments from other communitys.

Even if the Wii is not as powerful as the Ps3 or 360, is still a very complex machine. Have you seen the size of the Wii? Is about the size of 3 DVD boxes. And inside of that shell, you need an optical drive (suction system, like the PS3), USB ports, SD card reader, Bluetooth chipset, integrated WiFi, 4 ports for Gamecube controllers, 2 ports for memory cards, the fan, on board memory, the GPU and the CPU. All this in that small space.

Just look the past comments, even on THIS SITE from 06 to mid 07.

At first, everyone considered the Wii in the same league as the 360 and PS3, you can read all the past comments, at the end of 2006 and until mid 2007. But now that the Wii surpass the PS3 2:1, you suddenly dont consider the Wii in the league.

Ah, but last year, when the PS3 outsold the Wii two weeks in Japan, everyone was saying that the Wii was fading away, and that the PS3 was crushing the Wii. Remember that?

[N4g_null]

It's too bad Laurent Fischer makes no real decisions about what happens with nintendo. He's just being an ass on his on here. Nintendo is more than likely to enable the flash card to be read directly yet he really isn't part of that process. Hell most people that own Wii are not even online. Also I have to ask who is this guy again? He may work for nintendo but tell me why he matters?

When Iwata says it then I'll believe it. I mean this fool had to be drunk nintendo id kept afloat by otaku and geeks. Man after Ubisoft and this guy what is the UK trying to do to nintendo? He may be getting tired of all the questions yet he is really showing he is not ready to do his own friggin job. He will be meeting up with a boss character from japan soon let us pray his wii mote skills are l337.

Lots of Wii hate here! I mean really paying for internet or paying for blu ray most hard core don't even have TVs bigger than 27inches let along HDtv talk about arrogant. I mean really there are worst thing happening than some guy saying people who want HD are otaku or geeks. I mean hell why are you guys in denial? You are fanboys right?
It took the Wii to make gaming cool to your girl friend and your family LOL... bottom line gaming is not like having girls hanging all over you. Out siders are not dieing to be a gamer like us LOL. You have to be obsessed with it to be real hardcore. Hardcore gamer is not cool to normal people you do know that right?

[Godoftheweek]

I used to work for Funcoland, Babbages and Gamestop as a Manager and later a DM. Time after time Nintendo would stonewall us on GBC availability when we asked for more product. Then all of a sudden when a Pokemon game came out...surprise, we would get tons of GBC hardware. I cannot imagine how frustrating it was for you to have to deal with this level of arrogance on a daily basis.

During E3 or when I would speak to reps, Nintendo's reps NEVER gave me a straight answer to a question, while Sony and Microsoft were much more open in discussing things with you.

"At first, everyone considered the Wii in the same league as the 360 and PS3, you can read all the past comments, at the end of 2006 and until mid 2007. But now that the Wii surpass the PS3 2:1, you suddenly dont consider the Wii in the league."

Please do NOT put words in my mouth. I have NEVER considered the Wii a part of this generation. It in my opinion is competing with the PS2. Using your logic the PS2 should be considered THIS generation also because it is still being sold. And do not tell me that same old song and dance that the PS2 was the weakest of last generation's consoles and it was the most popular. Yes it in some ways (not all) was less powerfull, but it was still very close in terms of power.

The Wii is NO WHERE NEAR the PS3 and 360 in terms of hardware power. THAT is why I have never considered the Wii a part of this generation of consoles.

Just look at MGS4, vs. SMG, (the pinacle of graphics on the Wii) there is NO comparison to be made. Even someone with the intelegence of Dubya himself can see how FAR BEHIND the Wii is in the power department. And the gulf will only widen more from this point on. The Wii will run out of steam by this time next year. (book it pilgrim) and the HC gamers that have stood with Nintendo will be madder than ever from being left at the curb by Nintendo for the soccermom's of the world.

[Fernando Rocker]

Weren't you banned from Joystiq for posting comments like those?

[games4fun]

your point? i think joystiq & its fans are the only ones delusional enough to act like the wii is somehow a worthwhile machine compared to the other two. Its great they squeezed in that stuff with an end result of no power that is awesome right?

Joystiq is one of the most biased nintendo websites i've seen in my life every ps3 article is lathered in a biased dislike and painted in the most exaggerated light by those "awesome" bloggers who call themselves journalists.

Argue sales numbers all you like i think its quite appropriate that a site that has the word gamers in it count the wii as an underpowered machine with ports and gimmicky controls because only a casual or a diehard fan of the specific console in question would defend it in such a manner.

EDIT:@scissor your last paragraph is the most moronic thing i've read all day, the wii made gaming cool? that is why the wii is important, as a person who likes to play games i couldnt give a sh!t what other people think your pathetic i dont need to play video games because they are the new cool thing everyone is doing its because i ... and get this... actually like to play them so why would i give a flying ^&%&?

[Godoftheweek]

"Weren't you banned from Joystiq for posting comments like those?"

No, I could have done as you have and sign up again but I choose not to. Joystiq is filled with anti-Sony bias (you are a prime example) and I see no need to post there for the time being. For everyone's information, the post that Fernando is referring to is the kind of post that would get me banned. Joystiq is EXTREMELY biased towards the PS3. Why, I don't know. Makes no sense to me.

[Godoftheweek]

"Joystiq is one of the most biased nintendo websites i've seen in my life every ps3 article is lathered in a biased dislike and painted in the most exaggerated light by those "awesome" bloggers who call themselves journalists."

Man it is refreshing to see that at least some people realize how pathetic the "journalists" at Joystiq are. They are by FAR the worst, followed by Kotaku. It all seems somewhat childish to me but at the same time it makes sense, they prefer the childlike Wii over a PS3.

[N4g_null]

It's too bad Laurent Fischer makes no real decisions about what happens with nintendo. He's just being an ass on his on here. Nintendo is more than likely to enable the flash card to be read directly yet he really isn't part of that process. Hell most people that own Wii are not even online. Also I have to ask who is this guy again? He may work for nintendo but tell me why he matters?

When Iwata says it then I'll believe it. I mean this fool had to be drunk nintendo id kept afloat by otaku and geeks. Man after Ubisoft and this guy what is the UK trying to do to nintendo? He may be getting tired of all the questions yet he is really showing he is not ready to do his own friggin job. He will be meeting up with a boss character from japan soon let us pray his wii mote skills are l337.

Lots of Wii hate here! I mean really paying for internet or paying for blu ray most hard core don't even have TVs bigger than 27inches let along HDtv talk about arrogant. I mean really there are worst thing happening than some guy saying people who want HD are otaku or geeks. I mean hell why are you guys in denial? You are fanboys right?
It took the Wii to make gaming cool to your girl friend and your family LOL... bottom line gaming is not like having girls hanging all over you. Out siders are not dieing to be a gamer like us LOL. You have to be obsessed with it to be real hardcore. Hardcore gamer is not cool to normal people you do know that right?

[jessupj]

If I could I'd give you 2 bubbles, well said.

"Nintendo has abandoned the HC for the much more lucrative and naive/ignorant casual market" - This comment made me chuckle :)

[N4g_null]

@games4fun you see all that hate you posted at me. That's your problem not mine and yeah you don't care about the Wii then why are you posting here? Why do you even have a problem with the Wii? I play games like you and yes nintendo has F'd up many time yet they have the games I want to play along with my HD stuff I want to play yes that includes PCs also. Seriously what is moronic about what I said? You are denial are you not... Or did you not comprehend what I said?

"as a person who likes to play games i couldn't give a sh!t what other people think your pathetic i dont need to play video games because they are the new cool thing everyone is doing its because i ... and get this... actually like to play them so why would i give a flying ^&%&?"

If you couldn't give a sh!t about what people think then why all the hate. Translated you don't want to hear what people think and if you are trying to say I play games because it's the new cool thing then why so much hate for the Wii. The Wii is the most uncoolest system on this site. Yet get this I love it because of the VC GAMES across multiple systems and the controller that let me play NEW GAME types. I got my graphic whore fix and I'm actually like making HD 3d graphics yet I have a Wii for the old school games also. The Wii is going to be a game designer dream for looking back at what other did. I never got tired of those games because I'm a skilled gamer from 2d to 3d FPSs. Graphics are great and all yet there are not that many gamers like me out there I know this and you should know that about your self. A true hardcore gamer comes as varied as our personalities. That why I have many system to play on.

Also too I do have a girl friend it's so much better to have some one beautiful you care about like some thing you like even if it's to play her own type of games. I like beating up family members in the games I play or watching them be amazed at what I can pull off in game. My family gamed before the Wii now every one can play. I just want more people included in my gaming experience.

I mean really if you just stated the root of your frustration we can talk about this but if you have to call me a moron then you are in denial or diverting anger from some thing else. There is no hate here I'm having fun this gen online and off. As an otaku geek or what ever you want to call me. Save the real fights for off online. You are not hurting no ones feeling ok?

-just wanted you to know that now on that note we can talk.

[jackdoe]

That is such a defensive, dare I say fanboy level, comment. I own a Wii and would personally like a hdd as it allows for caching and faster loadtimes. And in the case of a system like a Wii, it may eliminate loadtimes altogether.

[thehitman]

Only children plays with toys (cough wii)

[gtafan]

This is the new era of gaming. HDD = better gaming. This guy should go back in time.

[Elginer]

huge @sshole!!!

[Fernando Rocker]

Please, read the article from other sources.

This is not confirmed. This is just a rumor.

[Kami]

only geeks know what this means

[TheColbertinator]

I ran out of space after I bought FF:My Life as a king and I filled the rest with Zelda,Metroid 3,and Brawl.I have 14 MB left

[aaquib5]

Only morons are stupid enough to have multiple discs when they could have it all on one device.

[indysurfn]

only a moron will wait a extra 40 seconds for each little area to load just to have one disk. (see how that works) only a moron will wait a extra 40 seconds 100 times just to not change disks 3 times which only takes five seconds each of the three times. (see how it works now?)

[SKUD]

Open zone is that way -------->

[aaquib5]

I wasn't taking any shots at Microsoft. Just stating that I think its stupid to have any form of media(whether games or DVD) on discs, when you can have multiple copies on an hard drive. I've pretty much stopped renting/buying DVD's/blurays. I just get all my media content from iTunes.

[wingway]

how do they expect us to buy their crap if we ain't got room for it? give me hdd or give me death!

[Imallvol7]

It's official. Nintendo has completely lost touch touch with its original fanbase. The same fanbase that has supported them for all these years.

So since casuals wouldn't know how to work a hard drive, everyone who wants one must be a gaming geek? Wow.

[Kraken]

This guy is a total nutshell. Hard drives are for geeks? What an absurd statement.

[ruibing]

Yeah apparently it's not cool to want or need one. Well then, I am a geek and otaku.

[tojfs7931]

He feels that computers are for nerds too. He's a dweeb

[e3kehoe]

Ok..so ummm who is this guy and why should anyone care what he has to say anyway?

[Imallvol7]

Nintendo of Europe's Marketing Director

[e3kehoe]

seems to me that making statements like that isn't very good marketing.hope that means there will be a job opening soon..ha

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

he is a douche.

[San anto]

How in any way shape or form is access to a hdd geekish?
Desktops and laptops are common house hold devices which access hdd's. I just cant get my head around his statement what a tw@.

[Covenant]

"Only geeks want hard drives...?"

Um...what about those of us who want more DLC from the Virtual Console but don't want the constant hassle of switching memory cards...? Or their slooooow upload times?

Talk about out of touch.

[retro]

He's right, most of the people who buy Wiis (90%+) don't need a HDD or won't buy it anyways.

I agree that it would be nice to plug in a USB-HDD and stuff but Nintendo simply doesn't want it, because they fear homebrew and piracy for obvious reasons (I disagree strongly personally, but that's how they think at Nintendo).

[iNickk]

I sorta agree. The people who buy wii's are casual, i'd imagine most don't even bother to hook it up to the internet.

[THWIP]

...why Nintendo sucks.

[syanara]

so this guy is saying anybody who wants extra space is a geek. this guy is a geek for saying people who want hard drives are geeks

[Perverted]

who cares if he insults the old market? and wtf does otaku have to do with anything? does that not just mean your overly interested in something? like say a movie otaku or porn otaku....

The hardcore have started turning on the Wii and Nintendo doesn't care, why should they? their getting loads of cash...

[tojfs7931]

Another one of those fake come on "articles" like the John Mayer debacle of a couple of days ago?

[xboxftw]

Yeah and we know who buys games. Doesn't matter how much hardware is bought the games make money for the company. No geek wants anything to do with the stupid fad. ITs gonna end soon. I know people who bought WII and after a month its lying collecting dust. Only old people or 10 year old enjoy shaking their arms to 10 year old graphics.

[tojfs7931]

For certain that I will never buy a wii after reading that ridiculous comment from a riduculous looking man.

[tojfs7931]

Company who is totally out of touch with the mainstream gamers. They fought having a disc based medium for YEARS and they literally lost the 64 bit generation. Now they are going to be losing the High Def and HD storage generation too.

What a completely arragont and self centered thing to say.

[Peow]

And I guess only Kids want a Wii? Right.. right..

[ChickeyCantor]

Im so pissed of by this guy =/
What nintendo is doing now, isnt USER FRIENDLY.
Its FLAWED as hell.

I bet there research whent to people who dont even know what a freaking Mb is. I like the Wii, but im not downloading stuff mainly because i dont want my Flash memory to be full.

Guys like him need to be shot in the face, over and over.

I really wonder if any company is doing a proper research....they are flawed i tell you !!!

I can bet on it, that he will apologize for it....douchebag >_<

[mepsipax]

Man, why is Ninty doing this, it seems like everything they do they put a stupid limit on, Not enough processing or graphics processing power, not enough hard drive space, bad online implementations, every time I do something with Nintendos hardware I know it's going to be limited in some stupid and arbitrary way. My theory on this analogy is this, When Nintendo has an underpowered system it sells amazing Ex. Nes wasn't as powerful as competition. Snes wasn't as powerful as competition. Wii definilty not as powerful as competition. All of these sold great. N64 more powerful than competition. Not so good. Gamecube around equal as competition not so great. But I always find that when Nintendo's console is doing bad they make the best games EX Ocarina, SM64, Pikmin, Luigis Mansion, Animal Crossing.

[bama]

But NES and SNES had amazing games!

[LinuxGuru]

Wow, what a dumbass.

[Bubble Buddy]

Only f@gs want Wii. Except for SSBB, Wii doesn't interest me at all.

[bama]

I mean when you look at it though Europe doesn't care about HDDs as much as U.S. and Japan do. Nintendo of Europe are full of sh*t though. Thats why brawl has been delayed like 7 months.

Reggie is the man, Fischer is the fired man.

[silverdragon4]

People who actually bought a wii like myself should know it does not need a hard drive because you don't use it for gaming. Its nice small compact design makes it a great coster for your drinks. You guys should try it out. Thats why i leave all my gaming for my ps3 and my wii serves as a great companion protecting my table from my cup.

[Voiceofreason]

Did any of you even follow the link? Its just a forum post quoting another posting from someone else.. Is that really a credible source? I know most of you are here only to hate regardless of the truth but some of you must see that this is a little bit shady?I'll consider this rumor just like I would if it was said about Sony or MS.For now.

[BAZZA]

So i'm a geek because i want to buy more stuff from the wii shop channel?
Fine, if you want it that way. You'll just not get my money.

[ta1snake]

F**k this guy.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Somebody's scared.

The Wii is dying out. With the "shock and awe" slowly fading, the Wii is becoming a novelty item. The 1st party titles have dwindled and the 3rd party titles just won't sell.

It's the PS3's turn.

[C_Dub]

Are very, very win. Especially considering the fact every PC comes with one, consoles are better with them, and digital media is taking off. Who knows, one day we might be downloading retail games instead of going to our favorite store and buying them on a disc.

This guy = fail.

[BrotherNick]

Haha, he's just some douche management guy, who cares. He doesn't have anything to do with the projects, only advertising. It's a bad choice of words though. I don't mind being called a nerd or otaku though.