Satoru Iwata talks to Yoshinori Ono about Super Street Fighter IV: 3D, passionate fans and the importance of not using the term "Europe".

Nintendo's President Satoru Iwata continues his 'Iwata Asks' series by speaking to Capcom's Yoshinori Ono, famous for his work on the Street Fighter series and his lively personality. As is usual the interview begins by asking Mr. Ono about his history with video games and how he came to be working in the position he is in now, which can be read here.

It took a long time for Street Fighter IV to be released following the initial release of Street Fighter III in arcades back in 1997. Yoshinori Ono claims that this is because he was hesitant to create another game because he thought it was only the die-hard fans who wanted it and it would not be successful enough amongst the general public.

Mr. Ono states that he finds it important to always go back to the roots of a game series when making a new version to really understand what the game is about and where it came from. He also notes that they should consider the "class reunion" aspect - allowing former players to begin playing the series again.

A notion of community is one of the most important aspects of Super Street Fighter IV according to Yoshinori Ono and he discusses how the improved network functionality of the 3DS has helped to ensure that Super Street Fighter IV: 3D continues this focus. The parallels between New Super Mario Bros. Wii's 'Super Guide' and Super Street Fighter IV: 3D's ability to use the touch screen to perform a special attack are discussed. Mr. Ono insists that gamers do not need to use the touch screen and it was Capcom's way of getting more people used to playing the game.

Yoshinori Ono also tells Mr. Iwata that he has campaigned within Capcom to not think of Europe as one homogeneous group, stressing the importance of considering each individual country and their differences when discussing marketing and release strategies.

The rest of the interview contains questions about Yoshinori Ono's career, his opinion on the industry and what he thought of the 3DS when he first had a go. He also concludes the interview by asking Satoru Iwata to autograph Balloon Fight, a title that Mr. Iwata was lead programmer for. You can read the full interview on Nintendo's website.