Has it really been four months since the Revolution controller was revealed? Even so, everyone's hungry for more details about Nintendo's plans, and though there's no word on a press conference, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has talked to Japanese newspaper Sankei Shinbun about the much debated release date.
Speculation has run the gamut from a surprise May debut to a more plausible summer release or a logical holiday timeframe. Iwata wants the machine out by Thanksgiving in North America, and says Nintendo has no plans to miss out on the crucial holiday sales.
In other words, Revolution should hit at least Japan, Canada and the United States before 2006 is out. Europe? Well, you guys are used to getting screwed at this point, anyway.
The other half of the console equation involves the price. Some criticism was leveled at Nintendo last generation for offering such a low price point that it made GameCube appear inferior to the competition, but the focus on gameplay over graphics should make that less of an issue for Revolution.
Iwata unsurprisingly won't confirm the price for the machine, but is saying they'll be picking an "affordable price" that's below 50,000 yen (about $434 USD) because people seem to be less willing to spend money on videogames these days. Whether that means we can expect GameCube-level (or lower) pricing remains to be seen.
Speculation has run the gamut from a surprise May debut to a more plausible summer release or a logical holiday timeframe. Iwata wants the machine out by Thanksgiving in North America, and says Nintendo has no plans to miss out on the crucial holiday sales.
In other words, Revolution should hit at least Japan, Canada and the United States before 2006 is out. Europe? Well, you guys are used to getting screwed at this point, anyway.
The other half of the console equation involves the price. Some criticism was leveled at Nintendo last generation for offering such a low price point that it made GameCube appear inferior to the competition, but the focus on gameplay over graphics should make that less of an issue for Revolution.
Iwata unsurprisingly won't confirm the price for the machine, but is saying they'll be picking an "affordable price" that's below 50,000 yen (about $434 USD) because people seem to be less willing to spend money on videogames these days. Whether that means we can expect GameCube-level (or lower) pricing remains to be seen.