E3: Iwata - Being No. 1 In Console Market Not Important

A pair of interviews conducted at this week's E3 Expo in Los Angeles have Nintendo president Satoru Iwata in a reflective mood regarding his company's Wii launch later this year, indicating that, unlike Microsoft and Sony's more combative attitude, he isn't concerned with being the top next-gen console in terms of sales. He commented, in an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "For our part, our goal isn't to have a certain percentage of the market or to be a certain number... Of course, we'd like to be No. 1, but we ourselves look at the results of what we've done, and we think the important thing is whether we've increased the number of people playing games and whether we've succeeded in breaking down the barriers to people playing in their homes." In addition, Iwata gave a basic indication of when the pricing for the Wii (rumored this week by various media outlet to be set at around $249) will officially be announced, suggesting that "...the Wii will come out in the fourth quarter, so I expect to talk about it around summer." In a separate interview with the Associated Press, Iwata further commented on how he felt Nintendo's tactics differentiated themselves from the competition, suggesting: "The approach to make more gorgeous-looking graphics ... to have the horsepower, to have much faster processing - they don't do anything to ask nongamers to play with a video game." In his final AP comments, Iwata explained Nintendo's philosophy in almost holistic terms, showing why the company is such a stark contrast to Sony and Microsoft at this week's show: "Nintendo's mission is to try to make people happy, to try to make people smile."