Goerge Harrison (vise president van Nintendo of America) heeft een interview afgegeven, waarin hij interessante dingen zegt over onder andere de toekomst van de GameCube en de volgende Nintendo console.
In Electronic Gaming Magazine (EGM) heeft de grote man van NoA het over de tegenvallende verkopen van de GameCube en over volgende console en handheld van Nintendo.
Wij zullen natuurlijk even kort weergeven wat er in het interview zoal gezegd werd:
Om te voorkomen dat er bijvoorbeeld weer problemen komen met de 3rd party developers, wil Nintendo nu de development kits (dev kits) zo'n anderhalf tot twee jaar voor de console aan de ontwikkelaars geven. Zodat iedereen de volgende Nintendoconsole wil, in plaats van alleen de mensen die de toppers van Nintendo zelf niet willen missen.
Opvallender zijn de uitspraken over stijl en gadgets. Zo beweert hij dat de GameCube misschien toch niet zo 'stylish' is als de PS2 of zo gebruikelijk als de Xbox. Hij noemt daarbij het voorbeeld van de GBA SP en wat dit (meer volwassen) design heeft gedaan voor de gemiddelde leeftijd van de gamer.
Daarnaast wordt overwogen of het toevoegen van een dvd-speler aan de Cube wellicht toch geen goed idee zou zijn geweest. Je zou haast denken dat Nintendo het nog door krijgt...
Nu moet George het nog even doorbellen naar Japan!
Hieronder staan wat interessante vragen met bijbehorend antwoord, maar ik zou zeker het hele artikel even lezen.
EGM: When will we see the next GameCube?
George: We haven't fixed a date yet, but we've said that we understand the importance of not being late next time, so we'll be ready with our competitors. Following the press, it looks increasingly like Sony will have difficulty making the fall of 2005. We're working to meet them in the market, but we'll see when we get there. It's important for us to have great software -- we know that launching without it won't work, but we also realize that we can't be a year late again, as we were with the GameCube.
EGM: Will you try to have more mature titles at the launch of the next system?
George: I think we're going to have a mixture. We have the right mix of publishers onboard, both in Japan and in the West, who by admission do a better job at some times of games than we do. Our internal capabilities are based around Mr. Miyamoto's expertise, and that gives us certain types of games that have been hugely successful. But we know we need to supplement that. We need to go out to publishers that do those types of games, and make sure they're involved early and have games ready to go at launch, not nine months or a year afterwards.
EGM: Which properties or franchises do you think will be the stars for your next system?
George: I doubt it would surprise anybody to say that we'll launch with some of our own in-house characters. Other than that, we'll go with the publishers that have the strongest licenses -- either existing brands like the EA Sports franchises, or great movie licenses. We're going to be looking at the strength of publishers, really, to determine who we work with and who we get involved with earliest.
EGM: Last question: What would you say to hardcore Nintendo fans who may be becoming discouraged with your consoles being second or third place over the past few years?
George: I would say don't be discouraged. I'm not gonna say that even we're happy with the results over the last couple of years, but don't get discouraged. We still have a great capacity to make breakthrough games and surprise people, so I would say to just be optimistic. If you don't already own a GameCube, you should go out and get one now, because there are a lot of great titles you can enjoy right away. As we get ready for the next system, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Hier kun je het hele interview lezen.
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