January 19^th, 2006 (2:53pm) - Nintendo President Satoru Iwata spoke to Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun in which he said that Nintendo "has no plans to miss out on the year-end sales battle" in regards to the Nintendo Revolution’s holiday launch window. Iwata continued by saying that the company must launch the console prior to Thanksgiving in North America "otherwise [Nintendo] won’t receive support from the retail industry." Additionally, Iwata also stated that we will not see the console launch before June in any territory due to the show of the console’s final design and launch games being shown in mid-May at the E3 games convention in Los Angeles, California.

It is believe that Nintendo may launch the Nintendo Revolution in North America prior to Japan, mimicking its successful launch of the Nintendo DS handheld. Due to the lower manufacturing costs of the console compared to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, it is believe that Nintendo will be able to supply a sufficient amount of consoles for a worldwide launch.

Poking fun at Microsoft in an interview with News.com is Nintendo’s VP of Sales Marketing and fan favorite celebrity Reggie Fils-Aime. Fils-Aime promises that the Revolution will have a far more successful launch than the Xbox 360 when it launches in the latter half of 2006.

"We will see more units than Xbox 360 did here in the United States in our launch window," he predicted. "I mean, in December, we sold more GameCubes in the United States than Microsoft sold 360s, and Revolution will do better than that."

In regards to the launch price of the console, both Iwata and Fils-Aime re-stated that the console would launch at a lower price point than its competitors, making it more affordable for the general consumer.

"The amount of money that people are willing to spend on videogames is getting less every year," Iwata commented. "Even if it’s a superb machine, it’s not going to sell if it’s 50,000 Yen (around $430). We plan to make [the Revolution] an affordable price."

"Many companies are making their products too exclusive and expensive for the general consumer," he commented. "For example, for American consumers to get into the Xbox 360 franchise, with games and extra controllers, they had to spend more than $700, not including an HDTV, which is really the only way to positively experience 360."

"We resolve at Nintendo to remain within reach for the vast majority of our consumers," he commented, and went on to say that the firm hopes to make Revolution into a more affordable prospect for developers as well, with one of the company’s "new years resolutions" being to "turn game development into a democracy of great ideas."

"Just as the cost of systems is getting out of reach for everyday consumers, the cost of game development is getting out of reach for game publishers," he said. "The Revolution will be more affordable for game developers to create for, and that will result in fantastically innovative content."

We hope to bring you more information on the Revolution and its games as we come closer to E3.