The Revolution will be globalized

TOKYO--Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that the company is aiming for a simultaneous worldwide release of its next-generation gaming console, the Revolution. Iwata also confirmed that the system will be coming out after March in 2006.

Talking about the Revolution in an interview with Nikkei Business, Iwata stated, "I can only say that it's coming out during 2006, but it will be after the current fiscal year. We hope to make it a simultaneous worldwide release as much as it's possible."

Since the current fiscal year for Nintendo ends on March 31, 2006, it means the Revolution, as predicted by analysts, will likely be released somewhere between April 1 and December 31, 2006.

When asked by Nikkei Business if he has any specific sales figure targeted for the Revolution, Iwata stated that he hopes the console will sell at least more than the GameCube, which has shipped 18.76 million units as of June.

"It [the Revolution] would be a complete failure if we didn't sell more units than the Nintendo GameCube," said Iwata.

The system's controller, which was revealed in September, was the focus of much of the console's buzz. Surprisingly, Iwata revealed to Nikkei that Nintendo's former president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, was not involved in any way with the creation of the Revolution's controller.

Iwata told Nikkei Business that the Revolution's controller uses several different types of technology, though he did not go into specifics. However, he did note that the controller can be used with any kind of monitor, even digital projectors.