Iwata takes 50% pay cut and takes "responsibility" for 3DS

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has announced that he's to take a fifty per cent pay cut in order to help ameliorate the financial problems currently affecting the publisher.

Iwata announced the news in a press conference which took place in Tokyo this morning, reports Kotaku. Nintendo made the comments public almost immediately and have promised a full transcript of the Q&A.

Announcing the cut, Iwata said he took responsibility for the 3DS and its poor sales and was willing to make a fiscal sacrifice.

"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," Iwata told attendees.

Attending the event was Tokyo-based Macquarie Securities analyst Dave Gibson. Reporting back to press afterwards, Gibson claimed that Nintendo had acknowledged a missed opportunity in its refusal to make an early price cut for the Gamecube, and wanted to avoid the same mistake, but admitted that the reduced price would mean that Nintendo no longer made money on 3DS sales.

That will undoubtedly change as the economies of scale make the 3DS easier and cheaper, but the decision to sell hardware at a loss is a significant move for Nintendo, which ordinarily ensures that profit is made on each individual unit sale.