Nintendo's bosses 'do not understand modern gaming' says former executive Dan Adelman

To say there's some ill feeling between Nintendo and their former executive Dan Adelman would be an understatement. After nine years running Nintendo of America's indie games program, Adelman has since been quite vocal about his former employers.

His latest interview might be his most inflammatory, with Adelman saying that Nintendo's bosses "do not understand modern gaming" and criticising the company's culture in which "no one is a decision maker".

Speaking to Dromble Adel said: "They're very traditional, and very focused on hierarchy and group decision making. Unfortunately, that creates a culture where everyone is an advisor and no one is a decision maker – but almost everyone has veto power.

"Even Mr. [Satoru] Iwata is often loathe to make a decision that will alienate one of the executives in Japan. All of this is not necessarily a bad thing, though it can be very inefficient and time consuming.

"The biggest risk is that at any step in that process, if someone flat out says no, the proposal is as good as dead. So in general, bolder ideas don't get through the process unless they originate at the top."

Adelman wasn't done there, going on to criticise the company's senior executives for not understanding the modern gaming landscape.

"The most senior executives at the company cut their teeth during NES and Super NES days and do not really understand modern gaming, so adopting things like online gaming, account systems, friends lists, as well as understanding the rise of PC gaming has been very slow," he said.

It's hard to disagree. Nintendo was slow to enter the online gaming market and has only in the last year or two made serious in-roads in this regard. Even when they have implemented online components they have been criticised for how they've done so.

The friend code system introduced with the Wii has been criticised since the beginning for being an obtuse method of connecting with friends compared to other rival consoles.

Adelman has always been open when it comes to interviews, and this got him in trouble whilst he worked with the company, who he says gagged him and asked that he stop using Twitter.

Not long after leaving he also criticised the Wii U's name, calling it "abysmal".

The full Domable interview is extensive and well worth a read. You can find it here.