By Jonathan Charles | Sep 18, 2012 10:57 AM EDT
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that while nervous about Wii U's launch, he is galvanizing Nintendo's American brand. In the interview, the console's price, launch titles, and competitors were also discussed.
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Fils-Aime said that Wii U offers value. The basic $249 bundle includes the console, GamePad, and new services like TVii. The $299 model also includes ZombiU, developed by Ubisoft.
"We don't believe in losing money on a lot of hardware, even if it's small amounts of money at the start," Fils-Aime added and referred to Nintendo 3DS' price cut last year. It led to the company's first annual loss.
Fils-Aime said he was not concerned about impending Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 price cuts, because the consoles are from a previous generation. Similarly, on more aggressive pricing, the Nintendo of America president revealed that retailers are taking lots of pre-orders for the console.
"We chose to include Nintendo Land because in our view it's the most complete representation of all the ways you can use the GamePad," Fils-Aime claimed when asked about whether Nintendo Land can have the same effect as Wii Sports. Wii Sports demonstrated the Wii's functionality, ushering in 'casual' gamers. Nintendo Land seems to be a more traditional experience for longer-term gamers.
Fils-Aimed refuted claims that Nintendo is diluting the Mario brand. Three titles have released in three years; one is launching on Wii U -- New Super Mario Bros. U.
"They know that if they [the developers] don't do that [build titles with new mechanics], we'll kill the golden goose that lays the golden egg. So it's something that they are highly cognizant of, and even the executives on the business side, we hold that IP very dearly to make sure every edition in the series is fundamentally sound," Fils-Aimed added. The president was keen to stress that Wii U is launching with a Mario game.
Wii U launches November 18.
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