Nintendo Also Announces Plans to Offer Classic Sega and TurboGrafx Games

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    SAN JOSE, Calif., March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Nintendo President Satoru Iwata
 today challenged a crowd of game developers to think differently and take a
 fresh approach to the creation of video games.  During his keynote address at
 the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif., Iwata said Nintendo will
 provide developers with the tools they need to disrupt the traditional methods
 of game creation, much as the company already has.
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     These tools include the controller for Nintendo's next home console
 (code-named Revolution), which lets users control the action on their
 television screens through the motion of the controller itself.  The
 controller lets game developers create new kinds of gaming experiences, ones
 that enhance the experience for hard-core gamers while making video games more
 accessible and less intimidating to novices.  The new forms of innovative
 software that can be created by any size developer will be made available for
 download via Revolution's Virtual Console service.
     "This new approach is like stepping onto an unexplored continent for the
 first time, with all the potential for discovery that suggests," Iwata said.
 "No one else can match the environment we're creating for expanding the game
 experience to everyone.  Our path is not linear, but dynamic."
     Iwata also announced partnerships with Sega and Hudson to offer
 downloadable access to their classic games via Revolution's Virtual Console.
 Revolution owners will be able to relive their past gaming glories from the
 Sega Genesis console by playing a "best of" selection from more than 1,000
 Genesis titles, as well as games sold for the TurboGrafx console (a system
 jointly developed by NEC and Hudson).  These games join Revolution's access to
 20 years of fan-favorite Nintendo games from the NES(R), Super NES(R) and
 Nintendo(R) 64 eras.
     Iwata also revealed for the first time that a new game called The Legend
 of Zelda(R): Phantom Hourglass would be released for Nintendo DS later this
 year.
     Iwata, a game developer himself, revealed behind-the-scenes stories about
 the development of three key initiatives.
     For the industry leading Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, internal engineers and
 developers overcame a series of hurdles to make the system seamless and
 flexible enough to allow players to choose to play wirelessly either with
 friends or against unknown opponents.  The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection reached
 1 million unique users in just 18 weeks -- nearly five times the adoption rate
 of the leading online game console network.
     He described a pivotal meeting in coming to agreement on development of
 the incredibly popular "brain games" in Japan.  A leading Japanese scientist
 attached a sci-fi-looking wired helmet to a Nintendo staffer and then visually
 demonstrated stimulation of brain activity as the staffer played prototype
 software.
     Finally, he described the hundreds of sketches, dozens of prototypes and
 company-wide collaboration that led to the final form of the unique Revolution
 controller system, which resembles a traditional TV remote control.  He called
 the related research and manufacturing costs of the new control system,
 "...our method to disrupt the market...realizing a new way to connect a player
 to his game."
 
     The worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive
 entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets
 hardware and software for its popular home and portable video game systems.
 Each year, hundreds of all-new titles for the best-selling Game Boy(R) Advance
 SP, Nintendo DS(TM) and Nintendo GameCube(TM) systems extend Nintendo's vast
 game library and continue the tradition of delivering a rich, diverse mix of
 quality video games for players of all ages.  Since the release of its first
 home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 2 billion video
 games and more than 360 million hardware units globally, creating enduring
 industry icons such as Mario(TM) and Donkey Kong(R) and launching popular
 culture franchise phenomena such as Metroid(R), Zelda(TM) and Pokemon(R).  A
 wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash.,
 serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere.
     For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at
 www.nintendo.com.
 
 

SOURCE  Nintendo