The official Nintendo word on Wii
The massive transcript of the Nintendo Corporate Briefing makes for some heaving reading… but picking through it proves to be useful in gleaning a bit more info on the Wii and Nintendo’s view of the future of gaming… Editing it down has taken forever, but here’s the main stuff that’ll be of interest to the gamer:
Prices and Launch Date
An actual launch date still hasn’t been finalised, but Nintendo Chief Executive Satoru Iwata did confirm the target of 4th quarter 2006. He went on to say that a definite date will be set either during or before September. Iwata was a little less certain on the cost of the Wii, saying only that Nintendo aren’t reckoning to be selling the Wii at much of a loss.On game prices, Iwata was again a bit vague. Possibly hinting at a range of prices for Wii software, he argued that the cost of software, as Nintendo see it, is based not only development costs but also on the perceived value of the software. In other words, its possible Nintendo will charge more for what they regard as AAA titles and less for other games. Iwata also commented on the price slashing of games soon after release, which he regards as being unhealthy and devalues the product.
According to Business Director Shinji Hatano, developers have been flocking to Nintendo since E3, looking to write code for the console. Nintendo, says Hatano, are keen to work with developers and have been giving them hands on time either in Tokyo or at individual developer’s offices. Nintendo are also making an effort to make getting a devkit less of a financial burden by supplying them to developers at, hopefully, as a little as 200,000 Yen.
The Specs
Iwata clearly feels that there’s a balance to be struck between the gaming experience and the hardware needed to power that experience. Given this outlook Iwata said that there were technologies they could have included but several factors made the engineers choose the system as it now stands. Going back to keeping the Wii as an easy to use machine, Iwata said that piling in hi-tech stuff to go for better, higher resolution graphics would have meant the Wii would take longer to power up and be larger than it is now. Further some of these technologies would have made other features such as WiiConnect24 far harder to implement. The balance is between using workable, available technology and giving the consumer a decent experience. In essence, the average consumer doesn’t want the fastest and most detailed graphics ever seen in a console, they want a console that is easy to use and does what they want it to do, when they want it to do it.The Name
Iwata owned up to being one of the people involved in deciding on the name ‘Wii’. He said that many people have accepted the name and Nintendo are working on brining around those that still dislike it. Game Designer Shigeru Miyamoto said that many consumers are finding the Wii’s simplicity make it an attractive console to game on. The design of the Wii controller was deliberately simple so as to make games and the console itself easily accessible. The key is in keeping it simple so non-gamers don’t find it all too bewildering to use. He went on to say that Nintendo are trying to get third [arty developers to not be constrained by the usual games rules, which makes the games more intuitive and easier to use.Launch Shortages
Back to Satoru Iwata again who reiterated Nintendo’s earlier announcement that they’re looking to ship 6 million Wiis by the end of the fiscal year with 4 million or more shipped by the end of this calendar year. Iwata is aware that all over the world, the Wii will be in high demand by the early adopters and that if the Wii were freely available from launch everywhere, it could be regarded as a failure as the machine would obviously not be in demand. He did go on to say that Nintendo will be making every effort to try and prevent severe shortages for any length of time.As soon as we have more on the Wii we’ll let you know!
