President Satoru Iwata says being first next-gen console with Wii U "not important at all," stresses pricing will be major factor at launch, not looking to compete on graphics with Xbox 720, PS4.
Nintendo will be the first out of the next generation console gate this holiday season with the Wii U, but the company doesn't care about being first, it cares about impacting the world.
"Being first in the next generation race is not important at all," Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told Gamasutra in an interview published today. "One of the reasons we believe this is the time for Nintendo to launch the Wii U is it's going to be important for the world."
Iwata defended his claim, saying second screens like an iPad or smartphone in the living room have become commonplace today, and the Wii U--specifically itsGamePad--will be an attractive opportunity for consumers.
Elsewhere in the interview, Iwata spoke to a question many gamers have about the Wii U: how much will it cost? Iwata did not provide an answer, but said Nintendo has learned from the launch of the 3DS, which got off to a slow start before Nintendo cut the system's price by a healthy margin.
"The pricing of Wii U is going to be one of the most important elements when it is going to be launched," Iwata said. "The environment is different. Wii U is going to be launching in a different environment than when the Wii was launched. Also, the involvement surrounding [mobile and social] businesses is different than several years ago."
Lastly, Iwata addressed next generation console competition from Microsoft and Sony. He said Nintendo does not care about attempting to match those consoles' power, and is instead focusing on differentiating the Wii U from these still unannounced systems.
"We have not changed our strategy. In other words, we just do not care what kind of 'more beef' console Microsoft and Sony might produce in 2013," he said. "Our focus is on how we can make our new console different than [others]."
GameSpot