Nintendo's Wii U sales haven't been up to snuff, and some pundits and fans ask yet again: why not just become a software company, or at least make games for other platforms? Couldn't Nintendo's reputation for quality games transfer to PlayStation or Xbox too? According to president Satoru Iwata, that would only be a short-term solution.

"If I was to take responsibility for the company for just the next one or two years, and if I was not concerned about the long-term future of Nintendo at all, it might make sense for us to provide our important franchises for other platforms, and then we might be able to gain some short-term profit," Iwata told CVG. "However, I'm really responsible for the long-term future of Nintendo as well, so I would never think about providing our precious resources for other platforms at all."

Iwata said that Nintendo's uniqueness comes from its ability to integrate hardware and software. "Because we have hardware and software developers in the same building, they stimulate each other," he said. This attitude, that the hardware integration makes for better software, echoes comments from communications director Charlie Scibetta given to us at E3.

"I would say that the people's expectations about what will come next from Nintendo is becoming higher and higher," Iwata said. "So we are facing more challenges than ever--that's true. But it's nothing new for Nintendo. Nintendo is a company that has never stopped progressing, and when it comes to the fan-base, of course, we have to sustain that, but we are always trying to expand that."