Nintendo Conference war cry - Must read!

Nintendo emerged at this years E3 re-energised, re-focused and aggressive in its approach to the future. Making a shocking strategy u-turn, the company denounced the technology race and promising perhaps the boldest future imaginable for the industry.

Directly attacking Microsoft and Sony, a fresh and aggressive Nintendo rallied its legions of fans to what will result in the final showdown in the battle for modern videogames.

Nintendo US boss George Harrison derided the thinking of the PlayStation and Xbox teams accusing them of being “…anxious for this generation to end…” while Nintendo is “…yet to play out its hand…” Harrison hammered home Nintendo’s history of sales success when operating in the latter part previous systems’ lifecycles.

Nintendo made further controversial statements, including a re-think, or at least refocus, of its target consumer offering. “You are not the majority of gamers,” the assembled were told. “Nintendo will not run the company for hardcore gamers,” but instead focus on the mainstream, brand aware and franchise-conscious mass market, a scintillating approach.

Perhaps the most insightful part of what was a powerhouse statement of intent, especially in comparison to last-year’s E3 non-event, came from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Winding the crowd to fever-pitch, he claimed, “I can tell you that internal software development for our next home console offering is underway. I could tell you the technical specifications of our machine and you would like that wouldn’t you?” The crowd, boisterous from the beginning, went almost silent with anticipation, an unseen possible outcome that threw Iwata out of step for just a moment. Recovered, he said, “I’m not going to tell you. You know why? Because it doesn’t matter.” Iwata, now well back in his stride, allowed the gathered crowd to exchange confused looks. “Specification doesn’t matter. The time for horsepower is over!” A war cry of intent from the quiet man from Nintendo and illustrative of the gradual evolution and consolidation of thinking happening at the firm – a stabilisation and finalisation of intent for the future.

Nintendo has been skirting around what is destined to become its final stand for home console success for years. This has now changed, with the emergence of a very definite business strategy: We will only ever try to sell you games. Perhaps the odd bit of incidental common-sense augmentation – media and communication capabilities and so on, but this will never be allowed to overshadow what we do: Make good games that people want to play. Our hardware is not a Trojan Horse in any way. Sony wants to sell you Memory Sticks, its movie and music media. Microsoft wants to imbue you with the Windows-scented amniotic fluid that surrounds its console. In contrast, Nintendo just wants to sell you games.

Iwata went on to make Nintendo’s point, eloquently and brilliantly. “Our next home console will change everything. It will be completely different from everything that has predated it, in the way that the DS will be as of tomorrow.”

The following is perhaps the most important point about Nintendo you will have read to date: Nintendo’s next home console will not be a computer that will play through a television set and be controlled by joypads. It will be something else – something more.

And its unveiling now has to be the most interesting, most anticipated event on the gaming radar. The downside is that it’s going to be a long wait until next year’s E3…

Stay tuned.