In 2000, Iwata became the head of Nintendo's corporate planning division. He was also put on the board of directors. Over the next two years, he wanted to game development cheaper and shorter while making sure the quality was still good. During his first two years at Nintendo, the company saw profit increase 20 and 41 percent. Iwata's work helped do this. When Yamauchi, the company's president since 1949, retired on May 24, 2002, Iwata became Nintendo's fourth president. He was the first Nintendo president that was not in the Yamauchi family through blood or marriage. Yamauchi asked Iwata for one things: "that Nintendo have new ideas and create hardware that shows that ideal. And make software that has the same standard." Nintendo was a company that wanted individualism, with a policy created by Yamauchi to create new development positions when needed. However, this prevent good collaboration between departments.