Interviews with Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime are popping up all over the web, and we're bringing some of the juiciest tidbits to you.
With Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata, making his speech at GDC today, Nintendo interviews have been appearing all over the web. Two particular talks with NOA VP Reggie Fils-Aime from 1Up.com and IGN caught our attention.
Update: Two more interviews, from Penny Arcade and Game Informer Online, are summarized below. Click here to skip down to the newer stuff.
Update 2: GameSpot has also put up their interview with Fils-Aime. For the highlights of that one, click here and move straight to it.
From 1UP
When asked what Iwata had planned in his speech, Reggie confirms wireless Internet play for DS this year and admits mistakes made with GameCube.
...yeah we're going to talk about DS, we're gonna talk about wireless Internet gaming. We're gonna talk about that we're committed to it, that we're bringing it to life this year.
And we're also putting out there, for ours fans, the fact that there's some things we could have done better on previous systems. The whole Internet gaming piece, we missed the boat on GameCube. We won't miss the boat in the future.
He also addresses concerns the press have had over recent Iwata comments that suggested third parties may not be as interested in the Revolution:
I know Mr. Iwata well enough and I know that he's got very strong relationship with third-party publishers, I have to believe that that was a lost in translation moment....I think what he meant to say that is because we're pushing the envelope on innovation, it is a tougher proposition for licensees to support our systems. I think that's what the intent was, versus how it's been perceived here in the Western press.
Then there's a lot of talk about sexiness and Reggie bets a drink that Revolution will be sexy:
We're pushing the envelope in making sure all of our products look sexy. SP is a sexy device. DS is a sexy device! I will grant you that GameCube was not a sexy device. (laughs) But you know what? We're smart people, we learn from our mistakes. I will bet you a drink at the bar of your choice, that Revolution will be a very sexy device.
There's plenty more great info where that came from, so don't be shy to check out 1UP's full interview.
From IGN
Reggie holds a non-commital stance on which platform Mario 128 will be released on:
We're going to answer that question at E3. You know, we at Nintendo are probably waffling back and forth on what's the best thing to do....In terms of how we're going to show Mario 128, though, it's likely that we'll show it in video form more than playable.
Reggie doesn't flinch in the face of Xbox 2's specs:
we believe a stronger CPU and a great graphics card is just the price of entry. For us, it's all about driving innovation. It's all about driving an intuitive system.
He also slips in that Revolution will have a wireless capability of some kind:
In terms of Revolution and its wireless capability, stay tuned -- more to come.
it's very important for your community out there to understand that we see the potential for Internet play for all of our platforms to be a huge opportunity and something that we're going to be driving very aggressively.
Be sure to check out the full IGN interview as well for further details.
From Penny Arcade
The crazy kooks at Penny Arcade threw a lot of "angry" jokes at Reggie but still managed to loosen some hot info from his meaty grip.
Reggie promises that upcoming games will better realize the potential of the DS:
The Touch Kirby game will be a vastly superior experience than anything we've done to date just because the developers have had more time to create content.
Reggie explains why it has taken Nintendo so long to get into the online sector:
I think from a Nintendo perspective we've wanted to do and what we're going to do is create that experience where anyone can participate, it's free to play, they're strong development tools for the developer, and the game experience is truly rich and inviting. I think until we're at that point where we can deliver all of those elements that it's not something we're going to do just halfway.
We're going to put our full development efforts behind [wireless online] across all our key franchises, and we're creating the tools for the developer to do it as well.
One of the most surprising revelations is that Nintendo (and other companies!) are interested in making more games for the DK bongos:
We're looking at other things, and I'm happy to say here at GDC a number of developers have asked about development kits for that use...
As for the biggest upcoming DS titles:
...we think Metroid Prime Hunters is going to be the hit of the 3rd quarter and Mario Kart is going to be the hit of the 4th quarter.
Check out the rest of the Reggie-view at Penny Arcade.
From Game Informer Online
The GIO crew had some tough questions about Nintendo and especially about GameCube. Here's now Reggie took the heat:
We’re still focused on the GameCube. The fact that we’re 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.
On why there's been no Smash Bros. sequel or DS analog stick:
I’d 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.
Regarding the Revolution controller:
Whatever we do, we’re going to make it simple for the developer to create for. We have to. So, that’s our responsibility. What we can’t do is limit our imagination and innovation just because our competitors aren’t going in that direction.
And as for whether Revolution might launch in 2005...
No.
Be sure to hit up Game Informer Online for the rest of the interview.
From GameSpot
Reggie on the non-game games for the DS:
We showed off Nintendogs that uses voice activation to control your virtual puppy and it took the crowd by storm. We also showed a very unique "game" called Electroplankton that also took the group by storm. I'm not sure that Electroplankton will make it to this country as a game, but I can envision a touchscreen-and-voice-driven hip hop or rap music game that utilizes all that same technology and pushes Nintendo DS out there and really drives it in the forefront, in terms of what the technology is capable of doing.
Talking about the DS's potential:
In my view we've only scratched the surface. We probably, as a worldwide development community, have only touched about the first 30 percent of what Nintendo DS can do.
On the Play-Yan media player:
The Play-yan is a really neat idea. What we're looking to do is see how we make it applicable for our consumer out of the box. What I mean by that is, to have the Play-yan, to have an SD card, maybe have one or two free music downloads that are built into a package is really what we're trying to conceptualize because we think that's right for this American marketplace.
A GameCube Zelda Special Edition?
We want them to leave feeling that "Wow, Zelda is going to be as huge hit and I want it now. And I'm going to go to my local retailer and put a deposit for the super premium edition of the game," which we'll make available.
You might want to go over to GameSpot to read the rest of the interview, including Reggie's comments on the Xbox keynote.
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Unless they change the plan of course... But Mario Kart still likes likely. Since Reggie says Q4 is when the online will bust out and Kart is Q4... 
