Iwata on Revolution: A Risky Business

Nintendo's president fears that "third-parties may not support Nintendo" if the firm's mysterious new machine is not appealing enough - but says that only gamers can decide the future of the industry.

Nintendo's charismatic president has made fresh comments on the company's imminent Revolution console - the enigmatic machine whose key features remain a closely guarded secret, despite continuing rampant speculation.

Satoru Iwata began by reiterating a sentiment fans will be familiar with: "If the next generation platforms are going to create even more gorgeous looking games using further enhanced functionality, and if that next-gen market can still expand the games industry, I'm afraid that third-parties may not support Nintendo", he admitted to respected trade publication MCV.

"On the other hand, what we are trying to do is such a different thing, and people have come to realise that the approach we have taken with Nintendo DS can actually expand the market beyond what existing platforms can do - therefore I believe there should be more third-parties who are willing to support Nintendo's new ideas", he explained in the recently conducted interview, which was published today for the first time.

Citing a riskier games business than ever before, he offered, "Already publishers are not hesitant in disclosing their concerns over next generation gaming platforms, and development costs are rising. Publishers are afraid... of whether [next-gen] consoles can appeal to people who are not the avid game fans of today."

Iwata went on to offer a courageous, black-and-white hypothesis: "if we can receive the support of the licensees, I believe we will expand third-party support. If our ideas cannot be appealing enough, then we cannot receive third-party support." But he added that the answer will be provided not by the industry itself, but by current games fans "and also those who are not very avid gamers."

With the unveiling of Revolution - a machine Nintendo insiders tell Kikizo that fans are "thinking too hard about" when guessing what its unique feature (or features) might be - surely only a matter of weeks away, time will tell whether the gaming audience at large really wants "beefed up" consoles, or something "revolutionary" - for Iwata, only one option matters: "How [gamers] are going to react to both these [options] shall determine the future of the games industry."

Stay with Kikizo for everything on Nintendo's upcoming consoles.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com