July 30th, 2011

Satoru Iwata takes a 50% pay cut

50 Comments

Nintendo is not doing well financially. They’re not going to keel over and die anytime soon, but their share price has taken a dive and the 3DS is not the raging success many expected it to be. In light of this, Satoru Iwata, the President of Nintendo of Japan has said that:

For cuts in fixed salaries, I’m taking a fifty percent cut, other representative directors are taking a 30 percent cut, and other execs are taking a 20 percent cut.

And that’s a wonderful gesture by the higher-ups at Nintendo. Let’s hope the recent price drop starts bringing the results they’ve been gunning for.

  • koops

    Thats preety bad news , but hopefully 3DS will make a comeback once christmas time roles around it needs too

  • rulerofyourface

    Satoru Iwata is such a loyal man to the company, to cut his OWN salary in half. I respect him even more than I did earlier.

    • http://3dsblog jester

      he did it for the 3DS and that gives him respect.

  • Ozoned

    :-(

  • CrimsonalCore

    I respect that man more than I could ever respect another companties. Satoru Iwata is the top-notch person that would ever taken more than my respect. :3

  • http://www.youtube.com/flyinglevel Nick Knack

    NOOOOOOO!!!! How is he supposet to buy the products he sells now? He can’t fund his own salary if he cuts his pay. lol

  • http://3dsblog jester

    50% cut just for the 3DS… thats real generous of Iwata because he cares about his fans.

  • nintendoftw

    This proves Nintendo doesn’t care about money like Sony and Microsoft there so greedy. Considering when psn was down for an entire month you know what they rewarded are wait a month of their crappy service where you basically get discounts and they dont even care that are credit card information is in the air. I had to cancel my credit card because they never said our information was safe. For now on I just use my ps3 to watch blu rays.

    • Aaron

      ^ this

    • MOZAKI

      nintendo isn’t greedy?
      making a 110$ product sell it for 250$???
      crappy service…
      everyone told me that 3ds online was crappiest thing ever

  • Tayo

    If he’s not a truly devoted game developer then I don’t know what is. I have much respect for Nintendo. They have a lot of heart in their games and they actually care about their fans. I think it’s shameful that people accuse them of being money hoarders. Just because they make a lot money does not make them greedy. It’s what they deserve. Iwata-san, you may have lost 50% in your salary, but the respect of your fans has just gone up by 200%.

    • http://3dsblog jester

      whoever says they’re greedy is retarded.Does a 50% pay cut make someone greedy? NO, only the complete opposite…. generous!

  • http://3dsblog jester

    Nintendo is like your favorite uncle that always gives you money for ice cream!

    Sony is your drunk, greedy uncle who no one likes.

    Microsoft is the uncle that is rich and cool but can be strict.

    • SparktehFox

      And he forgets your name often too…

    • Jio

      how is sony greedy?

    • Soeroah

      @Jio

      Trying to jump through hoops to get customers from other developers to buy from them, using the same concepts that have been proven successful, and then acting like they are innovators.

      Mabye it’s not fair of me, but I can’t stand Tretton after hearing him simultaneously try to advertise the PS Vita while personally attacking potential buyers by calling 3DS owners “(not) self-respecting”.

      He’s making Sony look like the douche at school who wears sunglasses and acts tough, but runs away when a bee lands on his jacket.

    • http://3dsblog jester

      what do mean by that last paragraph.

    • NubKits

      If nintendo was really that uncle they would have given us more than 2 good games by now.

    • http://3dsblog jester

      @ nubkits
      dont you have any games for the 3DS? Just wait till the holidays for games.

  • https://sites.google.com/site/hybrilynx/ David Hoyle

    wow i always thought companies only make like $30 or something per handheld system. and like $10 per ds game. wow i have alot to learn. becuz something like 20-30 dollars profit per item, times the millions sold is like 20-30 million dollars. besides there not really going to loose anything until the price cut date. so when the price is cut they dont need to pay for ads or anything that much, since pretty much everybody knows about the 3ds now.

    • DevonMaxwell

      theyve already lost money and are still loosing money

    • EpicLight

      In my oppinion, that’s the thing. the 3DS isn’t advertized that much. Most of my friends havn’t even heard of the 3DS, yet they are gamers, and I’m like “what?” Anyways, Let’s hope the 3DS gets more recognized once the price drop goes down

  • Austin

    I’m glad he’s doing it. It’s a nice step up so many, many smaller people in the company. This gained much respect for him from me. I think it will pay off in the end.

  • http://www.ispithotfire.com Michael

    Another thing to note is that Japanese executives never make the same type of compensation that you see in the US, it’s considerably lower, so taking a pay cut like that is truly honorable.

    This would also never be seen in the US. Execs would just get fired with a multi-million dollar package.

  • Apa Aja

    Just remove region lock and sales would drastically up. No need for price cut or free old games.

  • http://nintendo3ds.wikia.com J. Severe

    Whew. As long as my Moto-Man doesn’t get a pay cut, I’m fine…

    • Andy

      Knowing Miyamoto, he probably offered to take a 60% cut. He’s a very humble man considering half the gaming world sees him as god-on-earth.

  • DevonMaxwell

    i feel so bad for them it makes me sad :(

  • Maande

    What a guy… Let’s salute him, Guys.
    Does this automatically mean that Miyamoto is included in that 30%?

    • Shinko

      I think Shiggy will take a pay-cut as well. He already leads a pretty simple life despite having millions.I mean the man rides his bike each day to work out of enjoyment.
      I feel bad for Nintendo after all this, Earthquakes, bad economy, douchy competition. Lets face it, most people aren’t buying as many games anymore, I used to buy one or two a month. Now I’ve cut back to one every three months due to everything that’s happening.
      and now I feel compelled to buy like 5 3DS and hand them out to friends and family.

  • butterbiscuitt

    I feel sorry for the people who work at Nintendo. :(

  • Sillstaw

    If only American executives had that kind of humility.

  • zxride64

    This is a man i want to hang out with. The man is better than a lot of CEO’s who would rather see their employees suffer instead of sacrificing their own pay. I wish i could shake his hand. I think the 3ds will get better sells this winter as it will be Christmas time so they will advertise more and a lot of quality games will be out by then.

  • NubKits

    If they had made more good games and released them soonee than what they are curently slated for, this wouldnt have happened.

  • Ozzyhalen

    This dude still makes $1,000,000, so i’m sure he will be fine, but that right there shows Nintendo actually cares about their customers, unlike Sony which overprices everything and Microsoft which trys too rob you with useless stuff and unneeded, overpriced DLC…get ready Micro/Sony Fanboys and Girls!

  • Total911

    After reading the “Nintendo 3DS game wave” in the recent issue of Nintendo Power, I’m not really terrified of Nintendo’s rates anymore. Super Mario 3D, Kid Icarus, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, etc. will sell like MAD!

  • Eh

    Oh well, goes to show how they fucked up on the pricing of the 3DS. Selling things at a 100$ profit usually isn’t the best move especially when your product will reach such a price point where children have barely any way of getting their parents to buy it for them.

    And seriously people? This is common in Japan. Unlike the West, Japanese businesses believes in “honour” which is why he is also cutting his own pay. Plus if he didn’t he’d be voted out by the stockholders.

    Instead of feeling bad for this richy Mc Rich you could try to help people who actually need your help for once.

    • Ethan

      Why do people not realise that just because the 3DS costs an estimated $110 to build, it doesn’t mean that Nintendo makes $140 dollars per console? You need to factor in packaging, shipping, and the profit for the retailer. In the end it’s more like 30-40 dollars profit per console (I think, you may correct me if I’m wrong about this).

    • Ethan

      I mean I’m unsure about the end price, I’m sure of the rest.

  • ZeldaCrazed

    Nintendo, and Iwata, is the only video game company with heart. That is the key to their succes. They care about the fans(giving us 20 free games for being loyal), games(they make all types of games and don’t make shooter after shooter like other companies…cough…microsoft… and care about their reputation(when was the last time they sued someone?) Thank God for such good companies like Nintendo.

  • hinkik

    I think it will be fine. When christmas eve comes every parent with a kid over 6 years old will buy it. When I was in Japan, every parent I asked why did you get a DS Lite now days? And he was like it’s too expensive (3DS). This price drop may be good cause then everyone who has a 3DS will of course get games.

  • Ratchetxrc

    Hope everything goes well for Nintendo. Iwata is such a generous and kind person to do that, he’s willing to do anything for the company. He is just great.

  • infernoflash

    Iwata is a boss. Respect. :)

  • Trulaw

    Mr Iwata you have just increased my respect of you. That’s what I call a leader.

  • Cory AG

    makes me a little worried..BUT like everyone here has said it just goes to show what Nintendo priories are…and where their passions lie.. Nintendo will always have a special place in my heart, I just hope more good comes out of the 3ds

  • Kendall427

    This is very sad but Nintendo maid huge mistakes with the launch of the 3ds! Hopefully they can learn from there mistakes and become a better company than ever before!

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/TheIcedude545?feature=mhee icedude545

    D:

  • Fizah

    Admirable man…

  • http://www.nerdhappens.com Brian

    I’m not sure I agree that “huge” mistakes were made with the launch of the 3DS. I think there were some mistakes, but they weren’t gigantic. I think the lack of 3DS success has really boiled down to a lack of quality new titles and pricepoint. With the device costing $100 more than their Wii console, I think most gamers expected to see a bigger line up. Many old gamers were happy to see things like re-releases of old Zelda titles, but that’s not enough to gain the tremendous following that the Wii enjoys. I think the price cut and introduction of more new titles will really help.

  • admeister

    Now, instead of taking home $650,000 a year, he takes home $325,000. I feel sorry for the poor guy, lol.