July 20th, 2005 (9:30pm) - The latest issue of Nintendo Power features an interview with Sega of America President Simon Jeffrey and in this interview Jeffrey speaks on a number of Nintendo related issues including the GameCube’s successor, the Nintendo Revolution, and the similarities between Nintendo and Sega.
"The Nintendo fan, I think, is very similar to the Sega fan of old. And I think Sega and Nintendo have similar software philosophies," said Jeffrey, "A product like Sonic is very family-oriented. It’s all about entertainment rather than trying to be controversial or anything like that. It’s pure, good old-fashioned entertainment."
Many GameCube fans have played F-Zero GX and I myself can tell that it is quite possibly the best futuristic racer ever created and it was the result of collaboration between Nintendo and Sega. Of course, Nintendo fans are sure to look forward to another collaboration between the two companies and while they may not be anything planned, Jeffrey does speak out against collaborating with Nintendo again in the future.
Now, for what you all been waiting for, Jeffrey did happen to mention a few things about the Revolution. When asked if it is a possibility of seeing Sega properties such as Panzer Dragoon and Shinobi on the console, Jeffrey said that it’s something the company is currently thinking about.
"I think we’re really looking at which of our classic IPs are appropriate for different platforms," said Jeffrey, "We’re very interested in Revolution at the moment. We obviously haven’t made any announcements, but we, like other people, are talking with Nintendo about what Revolution will be, about potential opportunities on Revolution."
As the Revolution is a mystery to fans, it is also a mystery to higher ups in Sega North American division as well. Supposedly, according to Jeffrey, the company knows no more about the console than we do. Jeffrey also added that it would be an interesting idea to be able to download classic Sega games on the Revolution, however, the company has no such plans. Additionally, Nintendo has only stated that games will available for download for past Nintendo consoles only. So, that rules the possibility of downloading classic Master System, Genesis, and Saturn games; that is unless the two companies enter an agreement to do so.
Speaking on increasing development costs for current generation and next generation software, Jeffrey brings up the possibility of Nintendo seeing increased third-party developer support for the Revolution, due to its focus on providing developers with tools to create games cheaply. However, he also said that console’s unique design may do the opposite as well. Multiplatform-centric game developers may be turned away from the console if developing games for the platform would mean significantly altering the game just for play on the Revolution.
"I think it depends how Nintendo rolls out its third-party relations," said Jeffrey, "We’re very excited about the prospects of Revolution, because, like we were talking about earlier, the Nintendo platforms have been great for Sonic and the classic franchises. We think Revolution can absolutely be the same... If Nintendo does choose a different model than Sony and Microsoft, then it might be very difficult for some third parties to adopt this three-pronged, multi-platform approach."
To read the entire interview, pick up the latest issue of Nintendo Power.
