Nintendo addresses how Iwata's passing impacted Switch development

In another excerpt from Toyo Keizai Online's interview with Nintendo's Shinya Takahashi and Yoshiaki Koizumi, we learn how the passing of Satoru Iwata impacted the development of the Switch.

TKO: In past developments of Nintendo hardware, there were 3 people who managed them: The late president Mr. Satoru Iwata, The father of Mario Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto, and Mr. Genyo Takeda who had been managing hardware for many years. For the development this time [for Switch], did you also have a focus on 3 people?

Takahashi: There are 3 people in the final decision making of the development: Me, Koizumi, and the leader of the Technology Development team Kou Shiota. Even in the past it didn’t mean that the trio of Iwata, Miyamoto, and Takeda developed without hearing opinions from anybody else, as we also got involved properly in the development. In that sense, this development structure does not change from before.

However, this time we have the stance of “We’ll think together with you if needed, but in the end you’ll need to think by yourselves,” so we’re overlooking them as counsellors. I think we’re overlooking them with chagrined faces is a fact though (laughs).

Koizumi: Actually, at the end of every counsel we’d say “Well, it’s okay if you all decide on it” (laughs)

TKO: Mr. Iwata passed away in 2015, and people were worrying that it would also affect the Switch’s development.

Takahashi: That was already an abrupt topic. Anyway we only had the mind to properly do our jobs. But as we have talked about just before, we were the ones who had to make the final decision making, so the development itself didn’t have any major shifts.