Nintendo president promises “cheap” Revolution games

According to what Satoru Iwata said to Chris Morris for his “Game Over” column on CNN Money, first-party Revolution games will not cost more than $50 – guaranteed.

Iwata already expressed his dismay over next-generation development costs at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference. He says prices over $60 even for non-AAA titles will ultimately turn customers away.

The article also notes that Nintendo’s “Virtual Console” feature might not only hold classic games, but become a full-fledged answer to the Xbox Live Market place, with new, original titles eventually being available as well. 

“If we can come up with an addictive, but simple title – such as Tetris 15 years ago – my attention should be focused on containing costs,” he said. “So, I would make it available through the Virtual Console. I think the opportunity for ourselves will be much larger than software that costs $50-$60. … Of course, there are a number of people waiting for a ‘masterpiece’ title. For those games, we’ll utilized traditional distribution channels.”

What remains unanswered is the question about Revolution’s permanent storage method, as the console will not ship with a hard drive, but with a SD card slot and 512 MB flash memory instead.

Expect this issue to be cleared up at the upcoming E3.

According to what Satoru Iwata said to Chris Morris for his “Game Over” column on CNN Money, first-party Revolution games will not cost more than $50 – guaranteed.

Iwata already expressed his dismay over next-generation development costs at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference. He says prices over $60 even for non-AAA titles will ultimately turn customers away.

The article also notes that Nintendo’s “Virtual Console” feature might not only hold classic games, but become a full-fledged answer to the Xbox Live Market place, with new, original titles eventually being available as well. 

“If we can come up with an addictive, but simple title – such as Tetris 15 years ago – my attention should be focused on containing costs,” he said. “So, I would make it available through the Virtual Console. I think the opportunity for ourselves will be much larger than software that costs $50-$60. … Of course, there are a number of people waiting for a ‘masterpiece’ title. For those games, we’ll utilized traditional distribution channels.”

What remains unanswered is the question about Revolution’s permanent storage method, as the console will not ship with a hard drive, but with a SD card slot and 512 MB flash memory instead.

Expect this issue to be cleared up at the upcoming E3.