Reggie Says Miyamoto gave him a “death stare” when he suggested Wii Sports as a pack-in

Former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has recalled the story of when he met with the legendary Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto when they were discussing the launch of the iconic Wii system. As he has previously said, he wanted to ensure that Wii Sports was included as a pack-in title as it showed off the system perfectly. He says that he told Mr. Miyamoto this and received a “death stare” from him and was told ‘we don’t give away content for free.’ Thankfully he was able to change Miyamoto’s mind and the rest is history.

“I’m in a small meeting with Mr. Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto… and we are talking about how to best launch the system (Wii) and I said I really think we should pack in Wii Sports. I kid you not. The look that Mr. Miyamoto gave me… Mr. Miyamoto gives me this death stare. Then he says Reggie-san, ‘we don’t give away content for free’. This is were my historical experience with the companies content came in. I instantly retorted, ‘But Mr. Miyamoto, when I bought my SNES, Super Mario came free with that system. So it has been done, but strategically and with thought as a way to drive the business forward.'”

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