Nintendo DS Lite is coming to North America as soon as Nintendo is confident it can supply enough units. Fils-Aime explains, "We need to make sure that we have enough product in hand for us to launch effectively here in North America and as soon as we feel we are in that position we'll announce it."
In regards to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo's goal is to get every Nintendo DS user to try the service at least once. The next Wi-Fi compatible games, Metroid Prime: Hunters and Tetris DS, will arrive in North America on March 20. Fils-Aime responded to criticism in terms of how the current Wi-Fi Connection system is setup saying, "...in terms of having to have new friend codes for every game, quite frankly, what that does is put control in the hands of the gamer. So there are some people that I want to let into my house with Animal Crossing and others that I don't, and that friend code set up allows me to manage that title by title. We think that's the appropriate way to go."
Nintendo Revolution development is progressing well, claims Fils-Aime. The company has shipped over a thousand controller development kits to third-party developers worldwide. "The response to the controller has been fantastic," he explains. "Developers are truly embracing the innovation. They're embracing the approach and quite frankly, they're embracing our vision; our vision of creating games that are as sophisticated as the core gamer wants it to be but could also be as straightforward and as accessible as brand new gamers. And that vision, that strategy is what Nintendo is all about. We want to create a system with Revolution that appeals to all types of gamers versus going down a path that, frankly, is a bit exclusionary."
Be sure to check out the rest of the interview for comments on the next Game Boy, Revolution's virtual console and the company's E3 plans.