The Console Wars: Q&A: Nintendo Vice President George Harrison | Xbox 360, Playstation 3 PS3, Revolution

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Q&A: Nintendo Vice President George Harrison

Image Source: gamespot.com

Q&A: Nintendo Vice President George Harrison - GameCube News at GameSpot

"NOA's marketing and communications chief talks about the Revolution, Game Boy Micro, and the future of gaming.

At this year's E3, both Microsoft and Sony showed off their new consoles, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with much fanfare and flashy tech demos. Not so in Nintendo's case. While it did show off a prototype of its Revolution console, it preferred to keep its cards close to its chest. The company did not show any next-generation gameplay, nor did it reveal the unit's controller, where the real "Revolution" reportedly lies.

But as far as Nintendo senior vice president of marketing and communications George Harrison is concerned, that's just fine. Like fellow speakers president Satoru Iwata and vice president of sales and marketing Reggie Fils-Aime, he believes Nintendo's long-standing history of innovative gameplay and its ever-popular franchises will trump anything rolled out by its rivals. He also hinted that the Revolution will be more powerful than expected, and that Nintendo is making an effort to make it the easiest next-generation console to develop for.

The Revolution also marks a reversal of sorts for Nintendo. It includes DVD playback functionality, giving the console the multimedia functionality that Nintendo railed against when it rolled out the games-only GameCube. It will also have a major online component, with built-in Wi-Fi and an Xbox Live-like multiplayer. But it will also have a distinctively Nintendan touch, allowing users to download every NES, SNES, and N64 game and play it on the Revolution's built-in emulators.

Despite analysts giving it the bronze medal of the big three E3, Nintendo talked tough at its E3 conference, proudly showing of the new Zelda and the iPod mini-sized Game Boy Micro. But with Microsoft and Sony hogging all the press, how does Nintendo intend to regain the headlines--and stave off a two-pronged assault in the next generation of gaming?"

This interview is a few days old. I wanted to post it just because Nintendo hasn't given us much news to go on lately.

¶ D.Vader // 6/02/2005 07:44:00 PM // PermaLink