14 DAY TRIAL // Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has revealed his own views on what the upcoming Nintendo Wii U home console can achieve, including breaking down the barrier currently existing between so-called core and casual gamers.
Nintendo presented the Wii U at the E3 2011 conference back in June, showcasing to the world just how it thinks a current-generation, high-definition and extremely powerful console should look like, together with its own take on an innovative controller.
Now, as the company is hard at work getting the Wii U ready for its release next year, Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata, talked about his feelings concerning the new console, and how it can put his corporation on par with the devices of Sony or Microsoft.
“This is something that has been pointed out by developers outside of the company. Including HD support, there had been times up to now where you could do things on other companies' hardware, but was difficult to do on Wii,“ said Iwata. “With Wii U, I also wanted to alleviate those restrictions as much as possible.”
What's more, Iwata believes the Wii U can tear down the misconception of so-called hardcore gamers, who believe that Nintendo platforms, like the Wii or DS, are for casual gamers, who don't take their hobby too seriously.
“That core vs. casual debate seems like something that can never see a resolution, but with Wii U, I have a feeling that it all may change. I even feel that the barrier that separated the two genres was only something psychological, just an impression that people had about them. "
"For example, The Legend of Zelda games were something geared towards the toughest audience, and it has been so from the beginning. So it's not like at Nintendo we don't have it in us. But there are quite a number of people who assume that Nintendo is the equivalent of being casual,” Iwata lamented.
While the Wii U is going to appeal to hardcore gamers, through its HD capabilities, improved online support and other features, the Nintendo boss also believes that things like the innovative controller can make serious gamers out of people who haven't been exposed to such experiences.
“If we are able to break those psychological barriers with Wii U, I feel like we will be able to take our goal of expanding the gaming population even further. It would even be possible to expand our customer base and bring in more people, and out of those new people, there will be those who will find certain controls or elements of deeper gameplay intriguing, and eventually will become passionate game fans. That was the way the history of video games has been, and I want to keep the tradition going so it doesn't fade away.”
The Nintendo Wii U is scheduled to appear in the first half of 2012.