Post by: WindyMan on January 18, 2006, 05:15:55 PM
Japanese newspaper Sankei Shinbun had a chance to interview Nintendo president Satoru Iwata about his company's plans for the future. Chief among those plans is the Revolution console, and Iwata had some useful things to say on that subject.
The most important thing to come out of the interview is that Revolution will most likely launch before Thanksgiving in North America. According to Iwata, Nintendo has "no plans to miss out" on the holiday sales rush, for risk of losing retail support. There was no mention if a Japanese launch would come before or after this time period.
In addition to the more concrete launch date, Iwata also mentioned that a "nearly finished version" of the Revolution hardware will be shown off at E3. At last year's pre-E3 press conference, Nintendo showed off a prototype Revolution unit and promised that the finished product would be even smaller than what was there.
E3 2006 is now less than four months away.
Post by: King of Twitch on January 18, 2006, 05:42:23 PM
Post by: Robageejammin on January 18, 2006, 05:42:27 PM
Post by: JonLeung on January 18, 2006, 05:53:20 PM
We're a part of North America too, you know!
Post by: IceCold on January 18, 2006, 06:00:36 PM
It would sell out its first shipment. Then the next one comes just in time for the holiday, and it will still be a hot item. This is all, of course, assuming that the games will be polished and ready by then, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Post by: Smash_Brother on January 18, 2006, 07:06:25 PM
When's the PS3 due out? March? I don't like the idea of Nintendo being last to the table. I've already seen some knock-offs of the rev controller. If the competition has all the way until Nov of this year, it would be quite possible to develop controllers similar to the rev's and do as much damage as they can before Nintendo even enters the market.
I hope I'm just paranoid...
-SB
Post by: joeposh on January 18, 2006, 07:13:09 PM
Post by: Guitar Smasher on January 18, 2006, 07:25:14 PM
There's always room for improvement. As long as it doesn't require adjustment from the developers.
Post by: akidnamededdy on January 18, 2006, 07:54:02 PM
And if the PS3 comes out in March, I'll eat a bus.
Post by: Nephilim on January 19, 2006, 01:15:23 AM
Post by: Mario on January 19, 2006, 01:44:03 AM
Post by: Smash_Brother on January 19, 2006, 06:09:01 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: DeadlyD
Sony are going to be saying there date in just a week or two, im sure Nintendo will announce around or soon after
That's a good point.
The PS3 was expected to launch in march, but I too would be surprised if it did. I remember hearing that Halo 3 was going to launch right in the face of the PS3 and the MS exec said it would be in march. Then again, I don't pretend to keep track of the PS3...
However, for those who think patents protect Nintendo, think again...
There's usually always a way to wiggle around patents.
-SB
Post by: WuTangTurtle on January 19, 2006, 09:14:09 AM
I don't think so.....
Post by: KDR_11k on January 19, 2006, 09:20:07 AM
Post by: Pryopizm on January 19, 2006, 09:23:33 AM
Post by: Smash_Brother on January 19, 2006, 09:47:10 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
It has SOME motion sensing technology but probably not exactly the same as the Rev controller.
From what I've been told, it has the motion sensing but it isn't very good.
But that's not even the POINT. The point is that this picture came from around a month ago, and we know a semi-finished Rev will be on display at E3. The crappy knock-offs are here NOW, but the odds that a vastly better knock-off will be available by the time the Rev has launched can't be ignored.
Granted, the support being offered by Nintendo for the controller is what will truly make the concept a winner, but I wouldn't put it past sony or ms to want to be able to say, "Yeah, we've got that, too." when it comes to the controller technology.
Regardless, Nintendo had better be offering 3-5 system sellers at the time of launch. A Mario title, a SSB title, and a Metroid title would be ideal, but something to cover the platforming, fighting and adventure genres would be a solid launch base to start with, along with a FPS which uses the controller to its full abilities.
Yeah, I know: this is far too much to expect, but this would be an ideal launch for the Rev.
-SB
Post by: razorpit on January 19, 2006, 12:04:30 PM
I don't think a Thanksgiving release will "hurt" Nintendo. If anything Nintendo has more than enough time between E3 and then to get any last minute feedback, work out the last few design bugs, start-up production, and actually have enough units to sell for the Christmas holiday season unlike Microsoft's failed 360 launch.
Post by: Strell on January 19, 2006, 12:19:54 PM
We haven't heard much anything from Sony except a bunch of marketspeak lately. No "we're coming in December for X amount, so start selling your extraneous organs now."
I think a Nov. launch is far too long away for me as a gamer, but I think it should work out for them.
Post by: Smash_Brother on January 19, 2006, 12:27:56 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: razorpitand actually have enough units to sell for the Christmas holiday season unlike Microsoft's failed 360 launch.
That's a valid point as well.
Though, I think MS right now has their next-gen "beta session" until either Sony or Nintendo launches. When that happens, they can drop the price by a ton (angering the hell out of the early adopters, but early adopters are used to that sort of treatment) and launch Halo 3 just to put a dent in any sales Sony or Nintendo would have seen. Plus, they can use this time as a trial to work the remaining bugs out of live before the real system seller hits.
I fully expect the Halo 3 release to be like a second launch for the 360: H3 is the real system seller and everyone knows this (I've finished PD0: it's meant to fill the void until a REAL FPS arrives on the system, nothing more).
Call me a pessimist, but unless the Rev launch DOES include multiple AAA titles (a minimum of 3, ideally more), I think MS currently has the upper hand. By getting into the market first, they have more time to experiment and to plan their key game releases to overshadow the launches of their competitors. I know the system isn't doing all that great right now, but it has time to pick up speed whereas the PS3 and Rev NEED to hit the ground running to keep up.
-SB
Post by: Ian Sane on January 19, 2006, 12:35:49 PM
That's more than we've seen for the Rev. So why is it believable for Nintendo to release in 2006 but not Sony?
Post by: Plugabugz on January 19, 2006, 12:40:56 PM
Late enough so the late christmas shoppers buy-in, and early enough for it to the be included in the january-sales-that-start-in-december.
Post by: KDR_11k on January 20, 2006, 04:16:36 AM
Any other wishes? World peace? Or omnipotence?
You're lucky if you have ONE system seller at launch. Lately the tendency has been towards ZERO.
Post by: Kairon on January 20, 2006, 09:30:18 AM
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Pale on January 20, 2006, 09:36:26 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
"I don't think the PS3 will be out this year. The only 'demo' we've seen that is even close to a real time build is MGS4. After that, we've seen a bunch of nice movies that Sony is trying to pass off as gameplay, but anyone with half a brain and tell they aren't."
That's more than we've seen for the Rev. So why is it believable for Nintendo to release in 2006 but not Sony?
Based on reports, certain media people have demoed the hardware out, and based on rumors, the hardware is close to being finalized. That is much more than we can say for Sony's plastic case and video.
Post by: Ian Sane on January 20, 2006, 10:43:17 AM
I'd say for launch they only need one with some really other good games supporting it. But system sellers are rare so to expect more than one at launch is pretty insane. 3-5 system sellers coming out over the entire life of the Rev would be nice though. Nintendo needs one really big game that everyone has to have and then they have to follow it up with a steady stream of really good games. You need the system seller to get the console sale but once you have that consistent quality can do the rest.
I would say they're screwed if they have no system seller. One of the Rev launch games has to be the most talked about game of the year. They'll never get people to try their new controller without it. It's not even an option to not have that.
Post by: Strell on January 20, 2006, 11:00:40 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
That's more than we've seen for the Rev. So why is it believable for Nintendo to release in 2006 but not Sony?
Because unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo only shows stuff running in real time. They don't paint up a bunch of pretty FMV and call it "1/3 the power usage!"
Also we've heard from sources actually using the controller. I haven't seen anyone talking about taking down criminals with their Sonyrang yet, in either digital or physical realms.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on January 20, 2006, 12:54:00 PM
