Iwata: Nintendo out of original ideas

Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata has declared that Nintendo has used up all the ideas it had for the Wii when it was first envisioned, and that Wii Music represents the last fresh idea on the Wii's menu.

"Wii Music completes what Miyamoto wrote in his proposal when he came up with the idea for the Wii," Iwata told the Wall Street Journal. "He was saying that he needs to think up more ideas now."

"Most of the ideas for accessories that we had initially come up with are out now. We might think up some more, and we might make them if we do, but we don't have any plans to release a whole lot more."

I said last year that beyond Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Brothers Brawl that there didn't seem to be a lot more in Nintendo's bag of goodies. Wii Music was announced a year ago, and now that it's out, it seems to be at the vanguard of a very shallow 2008 release schedule. At least we know that the Mario and Zelda teams are at work, and that Pikmin 3 is on the horizon, though you'd hardly call those signs of originality. Hopefully Miyamoto's creative well hasn't run too dry, but Wii Music makes me fear for his brain sometimes.