There’s usually not much entertainment value to be found in the dollars and cents of a corporate financial call, but the Q&A during Nintendo’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders is usually an exception.
The dialogue between the consolemaker’s executive team and shareholders is oftentimes bizarre, and the questions are never what you’d expect. In one infamous exchange from a few years ago, a shareholder used their time to say “I do not understand video games” and then scolded the executives for talking too much about “childish topics.”
This year’s Q&A (the company’s 81st overall) was no exception, but one shareholder was able to ask the executives, including legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto, about their favorite games.
Shareholder Question: People holding important positions at Nintendo should at least like games, even if they don’t have the skills to create games. In order to get to know each director candidate as a person, I’d like to know about their favorite games.
Though the first part of the question is almost comically hostile, Nintendo’s executive team was certainly willing to play along. But keep your expectations in check, as their answers weren’t too terribly exciting.
Some focused on a few of Nintendo’s newer titles…
Shuntaro Furukawa – President
Super Mario Bros. was released when I was in junior high school, so I was right in the middle of the Famicom (NES) generation. Even today, in my private time, I play various games, both from Nintendo and from other companies.I play most of our own first-party titles, but recently I’ve been playing a lot of the Hanafuda card game in Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics.
Ko Shiota – Senior Executive Officer
Like Mr. Furukawa, I was part of the Famicom generation and grew up with the NES and SNES. I’m in charge of hardware now, but I’ve tinkered with hardware and been interested in how things work ever since. That probably explains why I gravitate to games like our recent product Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, which I play with my kids.
While others reached back to highlight a few of Nintendo’s early adventures (some of which were never released outside of Japan)…
Shinya Takahashi – Senior Managing Executive Officer
I’m in charge of all our first-party software, so it’s hard to choose one game over another. But the first game I was involved with when I joined Nintendo was Yuyuki for the Family Computer Disk System. It’s a lesser-known adventure game, but it left an impression on me as the first title I was involved with.Satoru Shibata – Senior Executive Officer
I like adventure games, and I just recently cleared Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir and Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind for Nintendo Switch. Back in the day, I really loved playing Shin Onigashima for the Family Computer Disk System. I’m in charge of the Licensing Division, which serves as a contact point for software publishers, and they also have many adventure games that I enjoy.
Miyamoto was the only one to venture outside Nintendo’s catalog, singling out experiences with Pac-Man and Tetris during the early part of his career, but he also talked excitedly about his current obsession with Pokemon Go…
Shigeru Miyamoto
I basically tend to play the games I created myself, so I haven’t been influenced much by the games of other companies. That said, the first game that influenced me when I started the job of game development was Pac-Man, and from a design perspective, I think Tetris is wonderful. I’m currently hooked on Pokemon Go. This game, which I’m playing with my wife, is a dream come true of playing a game with my whole family. I’ve been enjoying Pokemon Go with my wife and neighborhood friends for some two years now. The average person playing Pokemon Go in Japan is probably around 60 years old. (laughs)
The entire Q&A from the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders is available through Nintendo’s Investor Relations page, and it is always worth a read.