Nintendo president Satoru Iwata must be tired of giving interviews, but we're grateful he has been. His latest with CNNMoney's Chris Morris has shed light on a few aspects of the upcoming Revolution console.
First off: game pricing. "I cannot imagine any first party title could be priced for more than $50," Iwata says. It's not quite a promise, and it of course only applies to Nintendo titles, but it's good to hear nonetheless.
Morris also asked Iwata about the potentially cramped 512MB of Flash on the Revolution and how it might impact digital distribution now that Nintendo has announced it's jumping on that train with not just the Virtual Console but brand-new titles as well. Iwata replied that not only would users be able to add storage with the system's SD slot, but users would be able to add storage via the USB ports as well.
It's important to note that even if Nintendo lets you save downloaded games to your own USB memory stick or hard drive, it doesn't follow that you'll be able to play (for example) retro titles on your PC emulator. Nintendo, always cautious of copyright infringement, will no doubt use solid DRM technology to lock away the downloads when stored on external media so they cannot be used on any system other than your own.
Perhaps a bit more interesting (or worrisome, depending on your point of view) is that Iwata drew attention to Nintendo's ability to "set some limitations as to the time period a piece of downloaded content can be played" as a possibility here. One could see time-limited demos that are automatically erased, or perhaps games that are paid for on a basis similar to rental.
Iwata was also asked about the concept of advertising in games, and told Morris it confuses him somewhat. "We do not deny the possibility that Nintendo will be doing something like this in the future," he explained. "Personally, though, I don't really think it's going to be a significant source of revenue to our industry."
Revolution, still in need of an official name which should be revealed at the E3 2006 show along with lots of other information about the console, currently launches sometime this year — most likely November.