January 23^rd, 2003 (12:00am) - Today, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced Nintendo would be making a new console, "in 2005 or 2006".

"We are developing a new home video game console with a plan to release the new system around the same time as rival makers do."

The announcement comes as no shock to most, as the GameCube is hitting hard times. Microsoft’s XBox system overtook the GCN in the holidays, becoming the #2 system in Europe and North America. Nintendo still holds that spot in Japan, but thanks to poor holiday sales, their hold is slipping almost everywhere else. Iwata feels the GCN’s downfall is a result of the Playstation 2’s year and a half head-start.

"The PlayStation 2 debuted one-and-a-half years ahead of the GameCube. If we had launched the GameCube at the same time as PlayStation 2, the result would have been different."

Nothing is known about the console as of yet, but we’ll report any info we get to you as soon as we get it.

My Thoughts:
Maybe Nintendo can turn it around now. I think that they kind of blew Microsoft off at first when it appeared the console was doomed, and now it’s bit them in the ass. It’s kind of like Sega all over again. Hopefully Nintendo will learn to appeal to mature games more this time around, as well as put more games out since Nintendo games are the main reason to own a GCN.