Nintendo Head Unveils New Wii Details

Submitted by Benjamin Nied
Last update: 06/05/2006

Nintendo's luck just keeps changing for the better every day. After an impressive showing at this year's E3 expo, including winning the coveted "Best In Show" prize, Nintendo's head honcho Satoru Iwata has unveiled some new information about the console and its capabilities, including Nintendo DS connectivity, new Virtual Console titles, and his hope that Wii users will log their systems online at least once a day for updates and content. He also expressed his view the, while Nintendo is still in third-place overall, he feels that Wii's new controller scheme and innovation might very well catapult them back into the front line.

On the Nintendo Wii/DS connectivity, Iwata revealed that the Wii will be used to download demos and other content for the DS, much like users can do at DS Download Locations. "Let's say your Wii is connected to the Internet in a mode that allows activation on a 24-hour basis. This would allow Nintendo to send monthly promotional demos for the DS, during the night, to the Wii consoles in each household. Users would wake up each morning, find the LED lamp on their Wii flashing, and know that Nintendo has sent them something. They would then be able to download the promotional demo from their Wii's to their Nintendo DS's. This will, of course, be possible in gaming stores too, but I think users will enjoy being able to do this within their homes. The key merit here is having promotional material delivered to your home, instead of having to go collect it yourself. More and more users have concentrated periods of gaming following major releases, and stop playing for months once that is over. I hope the Wii, like the Nintendo DS, will have its power turned on every day. To lead users to do that, we need to offer something new each day. That is why we thought of a system that would allow us to change our offerings during the night. I feel that allowing the system to stay connected to the Net throughout the night is a valid application of semiconductor technology."

The Nintendo president continued by describing his hopes for new Virtual Console content, in addition to the classic games the Wii will be able to play. "When creating a packaged game to be priced at 5,000 yen, developers tend to feel the need to create a rich game. Yet it is possible to create a reasonably entertaining game in 2 months with a team of three. Offering such games for 500 yen over a network could lead to a reasonable number of people purchasing it. By offering an environment that allows this, we hope to encourage more developers to pursue basic yet enjoyable gameplay. Of course, content-rich games have their own merit, and I have no intention of discrediting them. Such games are important in their own right, and will continue to be in demand. Still - think about it - eating French cuisine or a full dinner each day would quickly lead to boredom, wouldn't it? You'll want a simple bowl of rice and soup every now and then. Our intention with the Wii is to propose an alternate approach to gaming business, as the gaming industry is currently far too single-minded."

Iwata also spoke of his belief that the Wii could very well push Nintendo to the front of the gaming world. "Nintendo once was the champion in the console market, yet is now the challenger. Challengers have a hard time getting the market to listen to them. Our intent [with DS] was to revolutionize the user interface in the portable games market, where Nintendo is the reigning champion, and follow that up with the Wii's success in the console market. We have earned support for our user interface innovation much faster than I had expected, and this should help propel the Wii forward."

SOURCE: GameDaily BIZ