Reggie confirms Iwata to drag out Revolution dripfeed at GDC

Increasingly boring cryptic show-and-tell game refuses to die

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Reggie confirms Iwata to drag out Revolution dripfeed at GDC
Just as NCL issues confirmation that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata will appear at this year's Game Developers Conference, slated for San Jose next month, a fresh interview with Reggie Fils-Aime pours cold water on the chances of us seeing anything worthwhile on the Revolution.

A press release issued overnight confirmed speculation from the past few days that the Nintendo president would be appearing again at the developer event, where last year he unveiled a fresh Zelda video, as we exclusively revealed prior to his keynote. This year's topic title is “Disrupting Development” - an ominous title for sure. The press release issued by the GDC organisers reads, in full:

NINTENDO CO., LTD PRESIDENT SATORU IWATA RETURNS TO KEYNOTE THE 2006 GAME DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE

Nintendo Head To Shed Light On The Design Opportunities Presented By Nintendo's Video Game Systems

SAN FRANCISCO February 7, 2006 - Iconic game developer and president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Satoru Iwata returns for the second consecutive year to deliver the keynote address of the 2006 Game Developers Conference (GDC). GDC, the world's largest event exclusively devoted to the art of game creation, will take place at the San Jose Convention Center Monday through Friday, March 20-24.

In his keynote, entitled "Disrupting Development," Iwata will inspire developers to take risks and mine the depths of their imaginations to create innovative games regardless of the size of teams or budgets. He will point to the Nintendo DS "brain-training" games and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to prove it is still possible to succeed at engaging new players and surprising existing players. Iwata will also share his thoughts on the role Nintendo's video game systems will play in expanding the market and widening the possibilities for developers.

"We are extremely honored to feature an experienced platform leader such as Satoru Iwata as a keynote speaker," said Jamil Moledina, director, Game Developers Conference. "As Nintendo reinvents the scope of what games can be, it is ever more crucial to share their creative and market-growing philosophies with the other leaders of the game creation industry."

Born in 1959 in the Hokkaido Prefecture of Japan, Iwata studied at and graduated from the Tokyo Institute of Technology University, where he majored in computer science. Shortly after graduating, Iwata joined HAL Laboratory, Inc. and in 1983 began coordinating the software production and development of Nintendo titles, such as the Kirby series. By 1993, he had become president of that company. In 2000, Iwata moved to Nintendo Co., Ltd. as the head of the Corporate Planning division, where he was responsible for Nintendo's global corporate planning. In 2002, he was named president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. where he continues to guide development of games with the passion of a game creator.

Satoru Iwata's keynote, "Disrupting Development," is scheduled for Thursday, March 23, from 10:30 to 11:30am.

The GDC is the largest and most important professional development event for the games industry. The conference will feature more than 300 lectures and workshops designed to provide inspiration and build skills. The annual event offers an independent forum for developers from around the world to set the agenda for the next stage of interactive tools.


Given that the Revolution is just around the corner, you'd hope that 'The Other Really Big Revolution Secret That Isn't The Controller But Might Actually Be' touted by Nintendo might well be revealed. We'll you'll be disappointed, because, according to NOA head of sales and marketing Reggie Fils-Aime, nothing more will be seen until E3.

“Come [May], we'll disclose a lot more. After, we'll disclose even more, and right about the time of the launch, we'll disclose even more... I'm talking beyond the controller, the virtual console; all the different elements we'll be sharing all the way up to launch,” the tailorless one told US mag EGM. Great.

Fils-Aime did make a few interesting comments however, not least when talking about the planned expansion of Revolution's functionality. “Again, our orientation is, how do we push the gaming experience, the interplay between the player and the game? So all of the different elements that enhance that capability's use of a camera, use of the microphone, voice activation - all of that, certainly I believe, is fair game.” Also discussed was the somewhat enthralling possibility of the DS tapping into the virtual console, enabling downloaded NES, SNES and Nintendo 64 gaming on the move. “We certainly never say never. My concern would be, how do you embed that on a DS [cartridge] in addition to the game to really make it effective? But we've said from the start that Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is meant to be the service both for the DS as well as the Revolution. So could you see a merging of that technology at some point in the future? Certainly possible.”


Something filtering into conversations amongst industry types right now is a distinct muttering of unease regarding the Nintendo Revolution information dripfeed. “Keeping a secret worked once, and it was a fairly big, if widely guessed secret,” one publishing exec commented to SPOnG today. “Though anything else Nintendo might build up like [the controller] might not really pay off like it did before. Throwing in a mic and camera isn't the same as announcing a new controller type. It might just see the game-buying public turned off. Nintendo needs to stop playing Mystic Meg, show us its console and some games.”

And the problems don't end there for the Revolution. Various Nintendo executives have stated that the company plans of rehashing its once-successful guessing game right up until the machine launches. Current expectations see the PlayStation 3 and Revolution shipping within weeks of each other. Sony is planning to put to market what it will bill as the most powerful, most exciting and sexiest games machine of all time. The PlayStation 3 – already a mythical creation and absolutely sure to sell out in every territory into which it is released. Nintendo is going to launch with a console it admits is not about raw power, a console designed to be played by everyone's parents (perhaps in an embarrassing way when drunk on Snowballs at Christmas) , a console that is the exact opposite, in terms of lifestyle brand positioning, to the Sony Machine. And, according to Nintendo's information roll-out plan, potential adopters of Revolution won't fully know what they're being asked to buy until weeks before they buy it.

As our publishing source, who's company has publicly confirmed Revolution support, concluded, “Everyone is bored of this now and [publishers] are worried. Nintendo needs to make concrete what the Revolution is. They need to give it its proper name, explain exactly how it works and show some damn impressive games or it will be buried at launch.”

SPOnG's opinion? The publishing source is right. Nintendo does need to reassess its current PR plan for Revolution. What has worked once, won't necessarily work again. Perhaps the reason this subject stirs up so much passion, here in the SPOnG office and across the industry, is that everyone wants the Revolution to be a success. It promises to wheel in a new era of games that are actually fun to play and accessible to everyone. Let's just hope that Nintendo's assumption that gamers will still be interested as they bury themselves in Xbox 360 and place pre-orders for PlayStation 3 will be based more on content and less on shaky complacency.


Comments

Showing the 20 most recent comments. Read all 21.
ann0uk 8 Feb 2006 12:54
2/21
Sony is planning to put to market what it will bill as the most powerful, most exciting and sexiest games machine of all time


Most powerful, yes, most exciting, maybe, and the sexiest? sorry but nothing beats the look of the Revolution.
I find Nintendo's silence rather annoying, I am scouring websites just like this for any information I can get and everytime getting frustrated at how tight lipped Nintendo are being.
If it however it is true that Nintendo wants to keep other companies from copying its ideas then I understand, because it has been done before and Nintendo never get the credit for it.
Nintendo Revolution will be launched before PS3 for sure, Sony are just pissed that Nintendo will try to steal their thunder.
ben1210 8 Feb 2006 13:28
3/21
Ah, spong has a little paddy and spits his dummy out because nintendo have'nt given him anything to write about for a while.
chill out brother, look what mr Iwata has achieved since he took over the top job, he rescued the gamecube from a very shakey start, went on to producing the worlds fastest selling console, the DS, sold millions and millions of games, masterminded the hugely popular wi-fi connection, sold games to girls in the millions and started to advertise in SAGA......
and then theres the revolution.

Basically, Satoru Iwata has you and the videogame industry by its balls.
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ben1210 8 Feb 2006 13:31
4/21
"Something filtering into conversations amongst industry types right now"

LOL
Dreadknux 8 Feb 2006 14:03
5/21
ben1210 wrote:
Ah, spong has a little paddy and spits his dummy out because nintendo have'nt given him anything to write about for a while.
chill out brother, look what mr Iwata has achieved since he took over the top job, he rescued the gamecube from a very shakey start, went on to producing the worlds fastest selling console, the DS, sold millions and millions of games, masterminded the hugely popular wi-fi connection, sold games to girls in the millions and started to advertise in SAGA......
and then theres the revolution.

Basically, Satoru Iwata has you and the videogame industry by its balls.


( I smell a fanboy... D: )

I don't see anything damning about the news story. The DS was a success with Nintendo's "secrecy" strategy because it already had a stranglehold on the handheld industry. You had Sony with its PSP but let's face it, owners of a GBA were going to be early DS adopters, so the dual screen delight had a guaranteed audience from day one. Plus you have the fact that Nintendo are in general pretty good with their handheld marketing, compared to the abymal-to-zero attempt at their home console advertising.

What will be more difficult, however, is Nintendo achieving the same success with a home console. The whole market's completely different for them there. For starters they're facing off against two large console manufacturers that are at present claiming a bigger worldwide market share than the Gamecube. And they pulled all this 'let's be secret till the very end' gubbins with the Gamecube too, I seem to remember. Did them well didn't it?

I agree that Iwata's done tons of good for the company, but you can't say he saved the Gamecube when you look at the machine's current state. Shame to say it, interest in Gamecube's gone right down the bog since Resi 4.
config 8 Feb 2006 14:11
6/21
ben1210 wrote:
Ah, spong has a little paddy and spits his dummy out because nintendo have'nt given him anything to write about for a while.
chill out brother


You're under the misapprehension that SPOnG is some sort of one-man blog. It's not.

look what mr Iwata has achieved since he took over the top job, he rescued the gamecube from a very shakey start


If by "rescued" you mean mismarketed, lost almost all publisher support and generally marginalised the GameCube to the point where few care or even know it exists, then I guess you're right.

Basically, Satoru Iwata has you and the videogame industry by its balls.


Yeah right. Sure he does.
ben1210 8 Feb 2006 15:05
7/21
Well, I was under the impression that about five years ago there was a big bru ha ha in Kyoto, because the then president Hiroshi Yamouchi was seen to be increasingly erratic making more and more mistakes- such as his insistance for the last two consoles on his watch the GBA and cube being coloured purple.
Then there was the big internal shake up with Myamoto side stepping from business decisions to purely creating games- look how well that turned out!
Also Iwata must have known as he took the top job that the cube was'nt going to win that generations console war. To me, he seems to have enlisted third party partnerships to make sure the cube would last with a skeleton release shedule of relatively high quality games.
All of Nintendo's internal teams must have been working on DS and revo games, I mean, what was the last home console EAD game.
Mr Iwatas strategy throughout his reign has been second to none, to make profit.
ben1210 8 Feb 2006 15:14
8/21
( I smell a fanboy... D: )

I smell a t**t
Dreadknux 8 Feb 2006 15:58
9/21
ben1210 wrote:
( I smell a fanboy... D: )
I smell a t**t

So do I. You might want to have a wash mate, smelling like a t**t and a fanboy's just no good.

Oh, don't you just love intellectual debate?

Besides, as I said before, nobody's saying Iwata's done a crappy job. Your ultimate Nintendo bias just read the news article and concluded that we hated the dude. He's done an incredible job for the short time he's been the Nintendo head, but you gotta admit, he's not been perfect (nobody is) and this PR strategy does sound rather dubious.
Zoyd Wheeler 8 Feb 2006 16:37
10/21
Oh come on children. Can we return to the point.

Perhaps what Nintendo should think about is organising more hands-on opportunities over the coming summer at various events (music/comedy festivals etc like they did, fairly halfheartedly it must be said, last year) and in all major games/home entertainment retail outlets, whereby potentially interested buyers can get their hands onto a Revolution and play some demo's to convince them the controller really and actually is something a lot more than a gimmick.

And I don't mean the usual standard procedure of putting demo pods in games stores/dept's a month or a fortnight before launch for us eager gamers to go and play on. I mean putting dedicated Revolution demonstrators into non-traditional gaming retail outlets, charged with showing consumers what this funny new fangled thingy actually does and how they use it. Come on Nintendo! We have a large pool of idle drama students looking for this type of work - give them jobs.

I am pretty sure that most people on here will buy one and that we are fairly to very excited about the possibilities, depending on how much of a fanboy smell we give off. But the problem is surely in convincing the millions of casual buyers, who will only buy what they know. UNLESS someone takes them by the hand, drags them to Woolworths/Dixons/HMV and says 'here do this!'.
DoctorDee 8 Feb 2006 17:01
11/21
config wrote:
Web 2.0 is a great big s**t sandwich and we're all going to have to take a bite - Richard Gaywood


I can never work out if I should be impressed that the 17th century English printmaker had heard of, and formed a remarkably concise and accurate opinion off, Web 2.0 or not.

Oh, you mean an other R Gaywood, don't you.

realvictory 8 Feb 2006 17:02
12/21
ben1210 wrote:

Also Iwata must have known as he took the top job that the cube was'nt going to win that generations console war. To me, he seems to have enlisted third party partnerships to make sure the cube would last with a skeleton release shedule of relatively high quality games.
All of Nintendo's internal teams must have been working on DS and revo games, I mean, what was the last home console EAD game.


Possibly true, although Nintendo don't release games that often anyway. But it had better be true.

Otherwise in a few years, the computer games industry is going to get even worse. Big companies s**t me off! In retrospect, I should have bought more Dreamcasts. Nowadays I have to own 3 or 4 consoles just to play Sega games! Let's hope Nintendo doesn't end up like this too. What the most amazing thing ever would be, though, is if the Revolution does mediocre, so Nintendo and Sega joined together to release a console!
OptimusP 8 Feb 2006 22:11
13/21
Someone called the hypemachine of Sony and microsoft like someone giving you a lollipop, full with nasty chemical s**t so it tastes like something sweet but in the end... it's artificial s**t anyway...
Now Nintendo's hypemachine was like someone giving you a juicy apple, it's healthy and it doesn't need artifical s**t to make it taste better, what you get is for real. This round of next-gen shows that to its full extent.
What got the gamer in you most exited? seeing that fake FF7 PS3 movie or seeing what the revolution controller could do thanks to people jumping around with it.

It's not about Nintendo's secrecy, Nintendo is secret all the time...this is not the first time! it's seeing this console that has the clear potential of tiptopping the entire gaming industry, opening the door that leads the long pathway that leads to VR-gaming and then not seeing anything at all for a long time. This is written with a clear nagging feeling of not getting any solid info while MS and Sony bombard your eyes of with everything they got. MS and Sony spoiled you!!You got tricked by the men with the lollipops hoping you will not accept a juicy healthy apple no more.

Seeing at all the comments and background noises Nintendo is prepping something, something big, hell, even Bungie lead man Jones loves to work for the Revolution, he even has ideas for a possible FPS for it! (interview with EGM that didn't get publiced because MS didn't wanted it public...logic offcourse, you don't want the maker of your biggest killer-app basically stating in a indirect way that Halo 3 would be better made on the Revolution because it has a superior way of control).

I too have a problem with this Nintendo secrecy, it's nagging indeed. But the Revolution is an atomic bomb in the making, it's over a decade of R&D finally put to work, Nintendo wants to hold on to it's aces for just a bit longer... let Sony show their cards then just trump them, stick it in everyone's face who's the real next-gen console, the Nintendo legions diserve it for once.
soanso 8 Feb 2006 22:16
14/21
Nintendo were anything but secretive with the DS.
They showed what they wer eup to pretty early on.
When was the last time Nintendo showed a new console in public in such an early prototype form

(when was the last time the realesed one in prototype form? LoL cruel but couldn't resist )

So why the hell are they even bothering hiding the Revo stuff. It's pretty obvious it's going to be nothing like either PS3 or 360. No-one can actually be arsed stealing their ideas so WHY?

I bought a DS exactly because I knew where it was going and what the plans for it were and what I was spending my money on.

For a company that I have been such a fan of for so long. why do I also hate them!!!!!!!!?
sowhathefuss 9 Feb 2006 07:31
15/21
soanso wrote:
Nintendo were anything but secretive with the DS.
They showed what they wer eup to pretty early on.
When was the last time Nintendo showed a new console in public in such an early prototype form

(when was the last time the realesed one in prototype form? LoL cruel but couldn't resist )

So why the hell are they even bothering hiding the Revo stuff. It's pretty obvious it's going to be nothing like either PS3 or 360. No-one can actually be arsed stealing their ideas so WHY?

I bought a DS exactly because I knew where it was going and what the plans for it were and what I was spending my money on.

For a company that I have been such a fan of for so long. why do I also hate them!!!!!!!!?


look, i know its frustrating not knowing much about the console at this time, but think about why nintendo are doing it.

firstly, they dont wanna have their ideas stolen and used by sony and microsoft because that has happened in the past and has cost nintendo dearly. it happened with the rumble pak, the analog stick, the d-pad - just to name a few.

secondly, they are doing their best to make games that are fun to play but its not good to reveal this information to the public unless they are 100% sure it works the way it should. it only leads to disappointed fans and lack of support in the long run.

thirdly, nintendo MUST be hiding a HUGE secret. if everything that makes the revolution 'revolutionary' has been shown, then they would have already had game demos and playable versions of games and launch titles on show. several nintendo executives including shigeru miyamoto himself have said there is another secret about the console we have yet to know about.

now think about the third point wisely. nintendo are not stupid. if the only few things left to reveal to the world were a camera and microphone for the rev, they would have revealed that ages ago - theres nothing new in that idea. there is more to this than meets the eye. i truly believe nintendo have something in the revolution that will change the way games are played in the same way that the rev controller does. i mean, if it wasnt a truly amazing concept they were hiding, why do the nintendo executives get extremely nervous and scared when there is even the hint that something has leaked???

all i can say is, something big is on the way and i know it will wow you in the same way the rev controller did. just let nintendo take its time. i was annoyed before the rev controller was revealed at how they dont reveal anything, but now that i look back on it, i was glad they hid it up til the point they did. it was an extremely significant change in the world of video games, and if it wasnt planned out and executed perfectly, it may not have worked.

revolution will be the greatest games machine of all time. just have faith.
config 9 Feb 2006 10:06
16/21
OptimusP wrote:
...the Revolution is an atomic bomb in the making...


OMG!!11!!!11one


MEGATON!



ben1210 9 Feb 2006 15:08
17/21
optimusP you're absolutely spot on the money,
I could'nt of worded it better myself.
Ditto 9 Feb 2006 20:48
18/21
I think that Nintendo are just buying time while they actually think of something to add to the Revolution.

They need to show real games, no gimmiks. And soon.

The Revolution is being pushed to the back of people's minds, even gamers.
danj3ris 9 Feb 2006 21:19
19/21
I'm telling you right now, if The revolution's big secret is that it can play PS3 and XBOX 360 games, I will s**te my pants with utter supreme glee as I watch the pandemonium erupt!

Now as for the real world, I have a theory that the revolution is basically the NES of today's standards, graphic-wise and fun-wise. I say this because one of the original NES packages shipped with a light gun. And here we have Nintendo releasing a new Nintendo Entertainment System, with a controller that in reality, is an ipodesque styled light-gun.

Amazingly the Revolution will also have the ability to play those original NES games. Back when games could look like crap, yet still be fun. And turn the new controller on it's side? Viola! An NES Pad.

Everyone wonders what the new secrets will be. I say look back in time to the NES days and see just what strange peripherals existed, and you'll probably end up ahead of the game. Anyone remember that floor pad that had the red and blue sets of numbers on it? Kind of reminds me of today's DDR...
Dreadknux 10 Feb 2006 08:29
20/21
danj3ris wrote:
Everyone wonders what the new secrets will be. I say look back in time to the NES days and see just what strange peripherals existed, and you'll probably end up ahead of the game.

If they dare re-release ROB then I will be a sad panda. :(
BustyKrusty 12 Feb 2006 21:01
21/21
The problem they face today i think is that most people just want more power with more mature content and more games and the question remains if they can break this, bring enough devs on bord in time(which i beleive they won't), and the fact that Revo's specs might make it difficult to port multiplayer games isn't helping either.I know it'll play good old games right outta the box but i'm putting the count on -0- as for the other 2. Think i'll consider it like a sp.feat in a movie. So if they can't manage enough new games i won't keep playing forever in hope of a better day. It's good for those that can't afford a new game every month but this aint doin much else...
I'm sure all new N games will be 2nd to none but somehow i just feel their counting too much on back catalog and definitely won't catch up MS that way.

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