Nintendo president: “Being first isn’t important”

According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, getting the jump on Sony and Microsoft with their next-gen release isn’t a part of Nintendo’s strategy.

“Being first in the next generation race is not important at all,” he said.

“One of the reasons we believe this is the time for Nintendo to launch the Wii U is it’s going to be important for the world.”

As many have noted before, the most important aspect of the Wii U launch is going to be the price.

“The pricing of Wii U is going to be one of the most important elements when it is going to be launched. The environment is different. Wii U is going to be launching in a different environment than when the Wii was launched. Also, the involvement surrounding [mobile and social] businesses is different than several years ago.”

Iwata isn’t worried about competition from Sony and Microsoft, because he doesn’t think they’re fighting in the same field.

“We have not changed our strategy. In other words, we just do not care what kind of ‘more beef’ console Microsoft and Sony might produce in 2013. Our focus is on how we can make our new console different than [others].”

Despite the 3DS’s major boost in sales since the price cut, the handheld is still losing money for the company. However, Iwata expects a return to black ink “in the near future”.

“Our intention is to return to profitability after just one year of losing money. I just cannot say that it’s a good thing for Nintendo at all to record an annual loss for two or more years in a row.”