I guess this is pre- Iwata keynote. so it's already 'old'. and again, sorry if already posted.
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200503/N05.0310.1407.55454.htm
Yesterday, Game Informer Online Managing Editor Billy Berghammer got a chance to sit down one-on-one with Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo's vice president of sales and marketing, to ask him about the Revolution, theDS, and the GameCube. And, given his notoriety after last year's E3, he's got plenty to talk about.
Reggie Fils-Aime and Billy Berghammer strike a scary pose
GI: Will the Revolution be using the same partners that you used for the GameCube?
RFA: Yes, but we learned from the GameCube. And by that I mean that as you look at the space and whats required, we certainly acknowledge that in terms of driving innovation and gameplay, there are things that we believe that we need to do out of the box, that we will do out of the box, that we certainly didnt do out of the box.
GI: Are there any other hardware partners youll be working with outside of IBM and ATI?
RFA: That won't be disclosed at Iwata-sans speech. There are other partners, but we wont be disclosing them tomorrow.
GI: Were big Nintendo fans and have been for a long time. But one thing that has us concerned is that you mentioned that Iwata-san is going to comment on getting not only the casual gamer, but also the core gamer. We have to admit, weve been pretty disappointed in some of the strategies and decisions that Nintendo has made, especially in terms of promises made for the GameCube that never became a reality. What is Nintendo doing to get those core gamers, like us, back?
RFA: I cant speak to the GameCube experience. I wasnt here at the time. Frankly, when I came aboard a lot of people wanted to tell me about it and my perspective was its history. Unless its going to move us forward, I dont want to talk about history. Lets move forward in where we need to go and what we need to do. As I look to the future, what we need to do with our next systems is clearly articulate what it is were trying to do and who were going after. Second, we need to be clear that we cant do this ourselves. We can make great Mario and Zelda games, but we need to have the full support of third parties. Thirdly, we need to recognize what are our strengths and play to those. Thats the focus. Were pushing the envelope with all of our conversations with third parties. We did that with DS and were doing that with Revolution. Were going to continue to drive that aggressively. And what were going to focus on is bringing innovative gameplay to the marketplace. We think we do that better than anyone else. Thats the focus.
GI: You just mentioned that the GameCube is history. The N64 seemed to have a very fizzled end to its lifecycle. How much more are you planning to focus on the GameCube?
RFA: Were still focused on the GameCube. The fact that were launching Zelda on the GameCube is a good example. It could have been easy decision to move that over to Revolution. But, the right decision was to launch it on GameCube. And, its going to be a hit and will be a multi-million seller. Its going to be the hit of the holiday season. We have a couple other great games that well talk about at E3 that well be launching in the first quarter. Were certainly not abandoning the GameCube, and we believe that theres still a lot of opportunity left there. And, were going to be doing some things to actively support it up until the launch of Revolution, and frankly, beyond. We think it has a role to play beyond Revolution.
GI: The hits for the GameCube have been few and far between. Theres hasnt been that many releases and many people undoubtedly dusted off their GameCubes for Resident Evil 4. Why is there a lack of GameCube, DS, and GBA software?
RFA: Lets focus on the GameCube. I think that if the consumer put away their GameCube for some time and missed out on some pretty darn good titles like Pikmin 2 and the latest installment of Paper Mario, thats a shame. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes was an excellent game. I think it may have been caught up in the hooplah of some other competitors titles, but its a fantastic game. The graphics, the gameplay, its all great. Certainly, Resident Evil 4 is a huge, huge hit, and were thrilled, between us and Capcom, that was so. There will be a number of new titles coming to the GameCube. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is huge fun. We hear the comment from people as to where are the hits?, and were working hard to make sure that they come at a very strong and measured pace. The same is true for the DS. We were initially criticized for not launching with WarioWare, but we had insight into our own development calendar and knew that we needed to hold on to that game until February. And, its done quite well for us. We have a couple of games releasing in March, too, that will do OK. Theyll be against a younger part of the demographic. And then we have Need For Speed: Underground 2 that will help go after the core gamers. So part of what were charged with doing is releasing these games at a measured pace to keep the business flowing. But, I would love to have twice the number of titles that we have.
GI: Iwata-san is going to be talking about taking the Nintendo DS online. We have GameCube broadband adapters and frankly, it hasnt been used for anything. And, Nintendos stance on the GameCube online was that the company never saw it as being profitable. Will we ever see the GameCube go online or is that never going to happen? And, why do you feel DS is the right console to go online?
RFA: First off, we believe that the DS can create a fantastic online experience. Thats why we committed the developments tools for that to happen, and thats why we went down the path to creating the infrastructure to bring that to life. I think that what you see with DS that you didnt see with GameCube is that youre seeing the full resources of Nintendo go after that proposition to bring it to life. We didnt do that with the GameCube. What was there? One or two games that came out? Thats whats different. What I think is driving this is the recognition that weve always been about having a sense of community and we didnt deliver that broader sense of community with the GameCube. And, I think theres an acknowledgement that that was a mistake. Were making sure that were not going to have that mistake again with the DS, and as youll see, well also be making some announcements about Revolution. We are taking wireless Internet capability very seriously.
GI: Touching on third party support, we were a bit mixed on some of the EA releases for the DS. When you look at what theyre doing for Sonys PSP, you see that they have a full part of their company solely dedicated to developing for that platform. Why is there that discrepancy? Why do you think theyre going so head-on into PSP development? True, theyre still developing for the DS, but not on the same level of the PSP.
RFA: If you look at the games coming out on the PSP, in many ways theyre ports of the console experience. Theres not a lot of innovation and theres nothing really new, versus our task for the licensee in figuring out how to integrate things like two screens, a touch-screen, and voice activation into their games. Its a more challenging proposition and I think thats what drives the difference between titles from one developer to another in terms of DS versus PSP. Its not a lack of passion. I heard it first-hand myself over the last couple of days. Our developers are quite passionate about the DS. I just think that the challenge in that is creating the great content to bring that to life.
GI: EA has really stepped up as the big boss role among third parties. But, youre made some great deals with them integrating Nintendo features into their games, such as having Mario and his friends in NBA Street V3 for the GameCube. Traditionally, though, sports titles havent sold very well on the GameCube. GameCube owners like the Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Konga kinds of experiences. Why wasnt EA allowed to use more recognizable Nintendo characters in their games earlier?
RFA: First off, Id be remiss to say that for as strong as a relationship that we have with EA, we also have strong relationships with Activision, THQ, and all of the other big Western and Japanese developers. Were looking to drive that more and more and its a critical part of our corporate mission to drive that forward. With EA, they came to us with a unique opportunity to do what they did. Weve signed and announced relationships in the past that were doing similar things with THQ. We embrace the idea of utilizing our content in partnership with licensees to create a better gaming experience for our platform holders, and were going to do more of that. I think, frankly, its a great way to utilize what we have done so well in terms of building our core franchises.
GI: A lot of GameCube owners wanted online, but instead they got the focus of connectivity. A lot of games wanted an analog stick on the next Nintendo portable, and they didnt get it. And, there hasnt been a new Smash Bros. title yet, and thats the best-selling game on the GameCube. Were all for innovation and creativity, but why not give gamers what they really want?
RFA: Thats a fair question. Id love to see the next Smash Bros. come out on any platform. I hear the point, too, on the analog stick versus the D-pad on the DS, but there are some technical reasons why those things happen. But, Ill say this. I do think that part of what I bring to the company is a focus on listening to consumer and bringing them what they want. If you look at what we did on the DS, for example, launching prior to the Thanksgiving Day rush versus being second or third into the market after a Japanese launch was the right thing to do for the Western marketplace. The pricing was right and the pack-in of Metroid Prime: Hunters was the right thing to do. I think that this is one area where the Nintendo fans needs trust us in that were going to be doing more and more of whats right for the gamer. And again, I think youll see a bit of that during Iwata-sans speech.
GI: We hear your point, but it appears that the GameCube seems to be becoming another N64. To be frank, Nintendo fans like ourselves want to believe again.
RFA: And you know what, its our responsibility to give not only the Nintendo fan, but also the Microsoft and Sony fan, reason to believe that what were bringing to the market is great product. Thats my focus; believe me. When I made some tough comments at last years E3, it really was to signify that this is a new company. This a company that, in my view, is much more focused on all the gamers, both casual and core. And, its much more focused on the marketplace realities. And, its much more focused on what needs to be done to win in the marketplace. I think thats what fans want to see.
GI: How many Nintendo DS units do you think youll need to sell to feel successful?
RFA: You know what, were going to have sold, by the end of March, about 2.5 million units. Thats 2.5 million in the span of about three months and a couple weeks; thats pretty darn good. The fact that its been largely incremental and our SP business hasnt fallen off, that shows great performance. From my standpoint, I think well have a stellar year on the DS as well as a stellar year on the SP.
GI: But what about when you compare DS to SP sales numbers, as well as the launch of the SP? What happens when you release your next GBA?
RFA: Our numbers on DS are quite strong. And if you look at it on a revenue basis compared to the launch of the GBA, the DS is more and holding its own. So, we are quite pleased and were going to keep driving both the DS and the SP. This product has a lot more room to run with.
GI: There has been lots of speculation about the Revolution. One thing that seems to really be a hot topic is the consoles controller. Theres talk about issues with third party development for the Revolution because there might not be an analog stick and there may be one big touch-screen. But, thats to say that having a touch-screen would end up having a highly configurable button setup. And, weve also heard that this could cause some problems in porting titles across platforms because the PS2 and the Xbox both have a similar button layout and could result in having to use separate development teams for Revolution titles. So, it is always a good thing to be different from everyone else?
RFA: First, we Iwata-san wont be talking about the Revolution controller during his speech; that information will probably come at E3. We have always been innovative in terms of controllers, and believe that were going to continue to push that envelope for Revolution. Whatever we do, were going to make it simple for the developer to create for. We have to. So, thats our responsibility. What we cant do is limit our imagination and innovation just because our competitors arent going in that direction. What we have to do is push out, but also make it easy for developers to create great games for our platform. In my view, thats the right solution, not to pull back on our own ideas just because neither Sony or Microsoft has thought about it. But believe me, whatever we do, were going to make sure developers can make great games for it. We have to.
GI: Will the Revolution release in 2005?
RFA: No.
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200503/N05.0310.1407.55454.htm
