Revolution could alienate third parties - Iwata
Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, admits third parties may find Revolution's unique design off-putting, but believes its ability to attract new players will be key to success.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has admitted that the next-generation Revolution format's unique design could alienate third party publishers, although he hopes that it will instead inspire them.
In a recent print interview, Iwata-san said that if third parties were able to continue creating gorgeous, traditional games on rival next-generation formats and continue to expand their audiences that way, they "may not support Nintendo".
However it seems that Nintendo instead expects publishers to realise that Revolution's strength lies in forging new markets. "What we are trying to do is such a different thing, and people have come to realise that the approach we have taken with Nintendo DS can actually expand the market beyond what existing platforms can do," he said.
"Therefore I believe there should be more third parties who are willing to support Nintendo's new ideas."
"Already publishers are not hesitant in disclosing their concerns over next-generation gaming platforms, and development costs are rising. Publishers are afraid... of whether [the next-gen] consoles can appeal to people who are not the avid game fans of today," he added.
Nintendo Revolution will be unveiled to some extent at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles in May.