In a recent interview with CNET News.com, NOA EVP of sales and marketing Reggie Fils-Aime laid out his New Year's resolutions for Nintendo going into 2006.
Reggie reiterates the Nintendo strategy of accessibility, claiming that a launch purchaser of Microsoft's Xbox 360 would need to put $700 into the system, games, and accessories; contrasting this with a 2006 Revolution offering at under $300. (Reggie is, of course, a salesman, so we can't infer that he's comparing apples-to-apples here; if we could, saying the $300 figure got you a comparable stack of system, games and accessories for Revolution would probably allow us to pin the Revolution's price at $150 or below.) He also predicts, perhaps not-so-boldly give the 360's known supply problems, that the Revolution launch will be bigger than the 360's in terms of units sold in the launch window.
Reggie also spoke about a resolution to "stop turning away new players". He held out recent releases Nintendogs and Animal Crossing: Wild World and their appeal outside the gaming industry's cherished young male demographic as an example of this. In his words, Nintendo wants to "bring as many new consumers into this industry as possible".
Also touched on was the specter of rising development costs and how Nintendo sees Revolution as a mitigator of those costs. "The Revolution will be more affordable for game developers to create for, and that will result in fantastically innovative content," Reggie explained.
Finally, he offered his explanation of how Nintendo intends to change the perception that the gaming console industry is "Sony and Microsoft and then Nintendo":
The fact is this: On a worldwide basis in the home console area, we are the No. 2 player. Here in the United States, if you look at today, we are the No. 3 player, so I understand where the perception comes from that we are not doing as well in the home console market as we are in the handheld business where we dominate worldwide.
Our focus for Nintendo Revolution is to provide real meaningful differentiators versus our competition, and we believe that is what will drive our success. First, focusing on a single-minded gaming device. Second, bringing real innovation to the controller in the way consumers play the game. Third, a value orientation that certainly is not present with our competitors. And fourth, leveraging the power of our library with the virtual consoles.