Megadrive1988
Veteran
http://www.egmmag.com/article2/0,4364,1364679,00.asp
here are the more important parts:
here are the more important parts:
EGM: What will you do for the next system, then, in terms of third-party support? What would you do differently in the future?
George: Certainly we have to get [third parties] development kits on a timely basis. They need their kits a year and half or two years in advance to really make a quality game that'll be ready to go at launch.
EGM: Will the increased install base matter much to you in terms of enticing more third parties, or getting revenue?
George: It was important for the third parties. The price drop has already accelerated consumer sales, but it's still important to demonstrate that in 2004 and beyond, we will have a viable installed base that the third parties can capitalize on. We have to convince them that it's important to bring their titles over.
Every publisher, including ourselves, will have to start shipping resources over to prepare for the next consoles at some point. But, in the meantime, we've got to keep a flow of software coming to the GameCube. So it's a really important balance, but one that's not going to happen by itself. We have to increase the installed base for the GameCube, and we have to go out and make sure we're working closely with the independent publishers.
EGM: Do you feel that Nintendo's conservative approach to online gaming may put you at a disadvantage when the next generation of systems come along?
George: If we look at the situation as it stands today, we've got about 30 million systems sold between the PS2, Xbox and GameCube, and about a million and a half people have actually bought an online service -- about a million for Sony and half a million for Xbox. So that's about five percent of the hardware install base that spent the money to get involved. Most of those people have yet to spend any money on a monthly or annual basis for a subscription.
This holiday season and the following year will be very telling for online gaming, because consumers' free one-year subscriptions will run out and they'll have to decide -- do I spend, or not? That, or our competitors will have to decide whether to continue giving it away for free. So I don't think that we're missing anything by not being involved. I will say, though, that it certainly has played out the way we thought it would in this generation. The hype may have been more important than the actual substance.
But having said that, we know that consumers continue to be interested in online gaming, and we know that it has to be a component of our next system. We're thinking about how we can fit it in, what kind of partners we would need, and so on.
EGM: What does Nintendo need to do to not only get more market share with the current systems, but to make the GameCube 2 as popular as the PlayStation 1 was?
George: I think that, clearly, the improvement in graphics and presentation by the systems is reaching diminishing returns. We've talked about this before, but the reason for a consumer to buy the next generation of hardware, for many of the competitors, is not going to be because the graphics are prettier. It'll ultimately come back to what is a unique gaming experience. Again, with the introduction of Pokemon to the Game Boy, we took that business from selling 3.5 million hardware units a year to 9 million or more. So, it's that ability to generate unique gameplay that stimulates the whole market, and there's going to be a real surge on that. If there's any kind of letup in the competitor's hardware sales this year, it's really due to a lack of breakthrough software. It's something that's hard to do on a continual basis, but you really have to do it, because the market runs off new, unique ideas.
EGM: What are some of the ideas that Nintendo will introduce for the next generation, besides getting into the online market?
George: We're looking into all kinds of features. In terms of the hardware itself, we haven't made any final decisions on most of them. I'm not even involved in the making of those decisions, other than to provide for a consumer insight we can gain from here in Western markets. I don't expect anything to be revealed publicly in 2004 about the specifics of the system.
We've looked at the combination of things that have taken place in this current generation. We understand that the DVD player had some impact on the PS2 -- certainly not as much when we had a $100 price difference, but certainly when that dropped to $50 over the last year. That's not something we would have guessed or anticipated, because we thought "Gee, we want people to play video games on our hardware, not watch movies." But in terms of making a choice on which hardware to buy, I think backward compatibility and the DVD player had some impact on the PS2. The issue now is to figure out what the best features are for the hardware, and what the right price point that'll still make it a mass-market product at launch is.
EGM: Is Nintendo more open to the idea that the next GameCube won't necessarily be a gaming-only machine? Are you looking at features like connecting the system to your PC or integrating it with other parts of your household?
George: Well, clearly we're not an electronics company like Sony. Sony has the motivation to add as many component features to their system as possible. Our motivation is to figure out what features could be added to the game machine that would help enhance the game-playing experience. We're already toying with video-playback in the Game Boy arena. Still, we're not trying to become an all-in-one electronic appliance. We're trying to figure out the best machine we can launch to be competitive.
EGM: Do you think the design of the GameCube itself next to it hurt it in the beginning compared to the PS2?
George: I think it didn't look as sophisticated. I think that caused people to maybe pre-judge it, especially since other systems may look a little more like electronic appliances. But there's no doubt in anyone's mind that the GameCube has a very sophisticated chipset. It has great potential and capabilities, and it's driven many great games. And yet, the console that's succeeding the most in this generation is the PlayStation 2, which arguably has the weakest chipset of all three systems. So I think we learned that it's not always about the most sophisticated technology; it's about what you do with it, and it's also about presentation. Consumers want to feel good.
We've seen, as an example, the great success of Game Boy Advance SP, which looked a little more sophisticated than the GBA in addition to having a lighted screen and rechargeable battery. That had a great effect on our ability to sell that product to people over 18.
EGM: Will making your products look more appealing to the older crowd be a major theme for the next generation of?
George: Well, I don't think it's about appealing to an older crowd, but I think it's certainly trying to figure out what consumer tastes are. And I think one of the things that Mr. Iwata's trying to figure out is how the next system should look like, and how should we go out and research or test that. But I think that we're still kind of far away from that. The first thing is to get the chipset designed the way we want it; the casing can come after that.
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: Do you want to meet the competition, or beat them?
George: I don't think there's really an advantage to beating them. We look at the history of companies trying to beat the market, and we see systems like the Dreamcast or Saturn that not only didn't have enough good software, but also didn't have enough product to meet the retailers' needs. They ended up in constant battle with their own retailer partners,
EGM: Is Microsoft also a concern when determining a release date?
George: I think so. They haven't revealed a lot about their plans, but they have certainly indicated that they're committed to this industry, in spite of what they've invested and how much they have lost on the Xbox itself. The Xbox is part of a larger corporate strategy for them, so we have to take them very seriously.
EGM: No matter how Nintendo or Sony spins it, gamers will likely end up comparing the PSP to the Game Boy Advance next year. How does Nintendo plan to tackle this competition?
George: We have to take it seriously. We've had handheld competitors all along, really, since the Game Boy was launched in 1989, and the Game Gear from Sega made a legitimate run at the business for a while. But we've generally succeeded thanks to a couple of things. First, we made sure that we take advantage of our big library of games, and games that could be updated; second, we've obviously introduced the SP, which is more sophisticated-looking and has the lighted screen and the rechargable battery. Home consoles are generally developed on a sequential basis -- finish one, start the next one, be ready in three or four years -- but with the Game Boy, we're always experimenting. We worked on lighted screens and other options for several years before we launched the SP. Many more things are in the works now, too, so we're fully prepared to compete.
EGM: So do you think there will be a new iteration of the GBA technology before we see Nintendo's "real" next-generation handheld?
George: Well, I can't really comment on that, but you're going to see some innovations before the PSP even arrives. The wireless adapter that'll be coming with the next Pokemon -- it's called Red/Green in Japan, but it'll be Red/Blue over here -- allows for using a Motorola wireless unit to feature stress-free multiplayer action, the sort of thing that was tethered by a cable before. We've seen people make some initiatives on video in the Game Boy; that probably won't make this holiday, but we're pretty confident it will come in 2004. So we're already working on a lot of things that are being passed around as potential features for the PSP. We think we're more than prepared to compete.
EGM: So you're gonna compete more on the level of improving the SP to the point where it's competitive with the PSP, rather than trying to undermine it by introducing a new system?
George: Well, we're going to add on things as we feel like they make sense. However, as for when the next handheld system is going to come, I can't say anything about that right now.
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.
