Revolution will see "extensive" third party support - Nintendo

April 24th, 2006, 16:40 Posted By: wraggster

Discussing the impending launch of the Revolution console, Nintendo of America's SVP marketing and corporate communications, George Harrison, stressed the importance of third party publisher support.

In a recent interview with US magazine Game Informer, Harrison talked about the lessons learned from GameCube, noting that a lack of broader support outside of the company's own titles was detrimental to the machine's success, and it's a mistake Nintendo aims to rectify with its next generation console.

"One of the lessons we tried to learn from GameCube was that we kept things too close. And so as we got ready to launch, we had some of our own great games but third parties were kind of behind the eight ball in terms of being able to have games ready," Harrison stated.

In terms of early support for the Revolution, which launches this year alongside Sony's PS3, third party software ought to be available in abundance, Harrison confirming "We've got more than 1,000 developer kits including the controller kits, out, so there should be plenty there."

Whilst Harrison refused to be drawn on the still-unconfirmed pricing strategy for the new machine, the company ethos of introducing "disruptive devices" into the market was echoed in the interview, as Harrison reflected on the current generation and mused on what's really important for generating success.

"I think that, oddly enough, when people talk about horsepower, sheer graphical processing and things, the system that had the least impressive technical specs, the PlayStation 2, became the huge winner in the last generation," Harrison commented.

"That told us that it wasn't always just about horsepower. One of the things that we did learn, and one of the reasons that we're here today is that you have to get third party involvement early and they have to be able to get access early."

Nintendo plans to unveil further details on the Revolution console, its online and digital content support, and a number of first party software titles at the forthcoming E3 expo in May. As the convention draws closer, and the launch of the console approaches, third party developers are also starting to voice their support, and a number of launch titles are expected to be announced, if not displayed at the show in May.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=16286

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