Next gamecube console

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Iwata Talks GCNext

Also covers the industry, competition, and more.

 

April 12, 2004 - In a feature interview with our friends at GameSpy, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata spoke about the industry, competition, the future, and the successor to GameCube. IGNcube has compiled some of the executive's key points below:

 

*Iwata said that Nintendo's profitability has

suffered due to increased competition. "In the past, Nintendo competed with SEGA, another gaming company," he told GameSpy. "Now our competitors are Sony and Microsoft, companies that do not have games at the core of their business. I must admit, the competition is tougher than ever before; and in the short run, we have seen declining profitability."

 

*The executive noted that Nintendo's development philosophy is different from Microsoft's and Sony's. On Microsoft hardware development, he said: "I think they are simply looking toward beefed up technology for the next-generation consoles. And from the developers' and programmers' point of view, that kind of machine will be very difficult to work with." Iwata added that the successor to GameCube would, in contrast, be easier to develop for, which would attract more backers.

 

*Iwata said that Nintendo would continue to try and draw more adult players.

 

*He noted that the next-generation of consoles would be about more than beefed up technology; that consumers would be interested in new gameplay presentations.

 

*Nintendo is working on its next-generation system. Allow me to call it GCNext or GCN. The abilities of GCNext will be different from what you have seen from consoles in the past. What Nintendo is currently discussing is not about state-of-the-art technology for enhancing processing power. What I, Miyamoto and Mr. Takeda are discussing is what should be done to entertain people in a new way."

 

*Iwata conceded that technology is important, but that it would take more than just more powerful chipsets to make GCNext a success.

 

*The Nintendo president added that the company would continue to work closely with third-party developers to create software for Nintendo systems.

 

Source: GameSpy