Miyamoto defends decision not to go down HD route

Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto has defended the company's decision not to incorporate high definition technology into the Wii - but says the console's successor will be an HD system.

Speaking at an E3 Q&A session to unveil Wii title Super Smash Bros., Miyamoto said: "If you look at the technology that's out there and the companies that Nintendo has partnerships with when creating the system, obviously if we had decided to create an HD system we could have very easily."

"But a videogame isn't just graphics. A videogame is a combination of the interface you use to interact with the game, a combination of the graphics, the sound, perhaps the network... We thought at this time going in the HD direction was leaning too much to the graphics."

Miyamoto went on to observe that the penetration rate of HDTVs is "really not that high yet," adding: "Of course I think five years down the road it would be pretty much a given that Nintendo would create an HD system, but right now the predominant television set in the world is a non-HD set."

Nintendo has continually reiterated its intention to focus on offering a console which is accessible to a broad audience, rather than one which boasts cutting-edge specifications - despite the fact that both rival systems from Microsoft and Sony will feature HD technology.

"We thought it would be better to create a system that allows you to interact with any TV set you have in your home in an entirely new, different way, and even kind of turn that into a toy for your TV that anyone can pick up, interact with and enjoy - rather than only the people who have a very high-tech, specific kind of TV set," Miyamoto said.

To read a full transcript of the Q&A session and find out about Nintendo's plans for Super Smash Bros., Mario multiplayer and online gaming, visit our sister site, Eurogamer.net.