Nintendo's Revolution for Everyone

Iwata on the horn again, telling how his company's innovation will expand gaming's appeal.

Nintendo has made it clear since it started talking about its next-gen console that Revolution is not going to go head-to-head with Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. In a recent interview with US TV channel G4, as reported by IGN, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata conceded as much, saying that the company was committed to levelling the playing field to bring in non-gamers.

Iwata said that part of the reason for the radical departure that is the Revolution controller is to prompt those who wouldn't pick up a normal controller to give gaming a go (or in the case of ex-gamers, another go):

"In order to invite them to the world of gaming we have to dispatch the message, 'This is something relevant for you. This is interesting for you. So why don't you touch it? If you touch it, we are sure that you're going to love it.'"

Iwata has made it clear that Nintendo is not interested in simply carrying on with the current trend in games, which is to rehash the same experiences while relying on extra hardware horsepower to wow gamers.

Nintendo's unveiling of the Revolution controller at the Tokyo Game Show earlier this month got a lot of people asking whether this was a good move for the company. While PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are, to a certain extent, guaranteed a certain amount of success, Nintendo's future is murkier.

But Iwata believes that Revolution will co-exist with its competitors' machines:

"Revolution can give players an experience that is quite different from the experience given by Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. We are trying to make Revolution so that it makes sense for [customers] to buy both."

Nintendo has been given hope for its strategy by the reception of the DS. During his Tokyo Game Show keynote, Iwata presented data that showed how the DS was expanding the market, bringing in men and women of all ages - at least in Japan.

Iwata believes that the Revolution will do likewise and, eventually, allow it to appeal to even more people than the standard successors from Sony and Microsoft:

"In the end, Revolution is going to be held and appreciated by so many people more than the people who love to play with the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games