Nintendo exec says new format war unfair to gamers

The PS3 has Blu-Ray, the Xbox 360’s sticking to HD-DVD, and the Wii’s got… what? A Japan-only (as of now) DVD playback feature that will hit next year? It seems that despite all the ruckus about the other next-generation consoles’ format of choice, Nintendo is just going to watch quietly from the sidelines and not get into the whole format war themselves.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz at the Montreal International Game Summit last week, Pierre-Paul Trepanier, marketing director for Nintendo Canada, said that he believes it’s unfair to “force” new technologies such as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray on gamers. Perhaps this is why Nintendo hasn’t focused on which next-gen format to support.
HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray

I think forcing a decision on consumers would certainly not be part of Nintendo’s strategy, because we want to get more people into gaming and we want to make it affordable. Forcing people to adopt a technology and a model that’s proprietary and still not established is unfair to gamers.

Trepanier also said he’s not concerned that Blu-Ray will help increase PS3 sales despite the fact that PS2 sales were boosted by the console’s DVD playback feature.

“When I’m buying a gaming system,” he said, “I’m focused on the games; I want to play games, and I think that’s the primary reason why someone would buy a gaming system.”

Regarding the new Wii model with the DVD playback feature that we mentioned earlier, Trepanier said the company has not yet made a final decision on whether or not the new model will make it to North America and Europe. Since DVD players are very common in North America, Nintendo acknowledges the fact that only a small niche market would be interested in paying extra for the new DVD playback-capable Wii model.

The PS3 has Blu-Ray, the Xbox 360’s sticking to HD-DVD, and the Wii’s got… what? A Japan-only (as of now) DVD playback feature that will hit next year? It seems that despite all the ruckus about the other next-generation consoles’ format of choice, Nintendo is just going to watch quietly from the sidelines and not get into the whole format war themselves.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz at the Montreal International Game Summit last week, Pierre-Paul Trepanier, marketing director for Nintendo Canada, said that he believes it’s unfair to “force” new technologies such as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray on gamers. Perhaps this is why Nintendo hasn’t focused on which next-gen format to support.
HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray

I think forcing a decision on consumers would certainly not be part of Nintendo’s strategy, because we want to get more people into gaming and we want to make it affordable. Forcing people to adopt a technology and a model that’s proprietary and still not established is unfair to gamers.

Trepanier also said he’s not concerned that Blu-Ray will help increase PS3 sales despite the fact that PS2 sales were boosted by the console’s DVD playback feature.

“When I’m buying a gaming system,” he said, “I’m focused on the games; I want to play games, and I think that’s the primary reason why someone would buy a gaming system.”

Regarding the new Wii model with the DVD playback feature that we mentioned earlier, Trepanier said the company has not yet made a final decision on whether or not the new model will make it to North America and Europe. Since DVD players are very common in North America, Nintendo acknowledges the fact that only a small niche market would be interested in paying extra for the new DVD playback-capable Wii model.

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