<b>E3 2004:</b> N5 will "create a gaming revolution" - Iwata

"Our revolution is well underway" was Satoru Iwata's triumphant E3 message, as the Nintendo chief outlined the company's plan to make its next home console take gaming forward in a new and innovative direction.

"The word different defines our next home system," Iwata boasted. "Better technology is good, but technology is not enough - today's consoles already offer [near] photorealistic experiences. Simply beefing up those graphics will not for most of us make a difference."

Iwata has made similar points recently back in Japan, and used E3 as a platform for once again emphasising that merely competing on tech specs isn't a game Nintendo feels like playing. Doing things as differently as possible evidently is its raison d'etre right now.

"So what should a new machine do?" he asked. "For both game creators and game players a new machine needs to do much more.

"They must offer different playing experience - something no other machine has done before . Our vision of a new machine must be different. I want you to know that Nintendo is embarking on our next system and that system will create a gaming revolution.

But before the audience could get too excited about the prospects of a GameCube successor, he kept everyone guessing as much as possible in true enigmatic Nintendo style. "Internal development is underway," Iwata-san confirmed, "[but] when the impact of our new home machine comes our revolution will be here."

Clearly enjoying teasing the partisan crowd, he said: "I suppose I could give you a list of the technical specs - I bet you'd like that, but I won't for a simple reason - they really don't matter - the time when horsepower alone made an important difference is over," Iwata-san declared.

"From this time on we must create something more and with technical experience the same way we have with Nintendo DS.

"So let me repeat: our revolution is well underway. When you see [it] you will be excited because you will experience a gaming revolution."