Waiting time for Nintendo fans

Tuesday28 March 2006
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has stated that Revolution, Nintendo's incoming next-gen console, won't be receiving a global launch. "We don't think it's necessary to do the simultaneous worldwide launch simply because others are doing this," said Iwata in an interview with Bloomberg.

It's hardly a surprise, and not just because Nintendo has a history of taking its time with regards to western releases of both hardware and software. Global launches are a massively stressful challenge; while PS3 has picked up the gauntlet thrown down by Xbox 360 and committed to a worldwide release this November, Nintendo is continuing to do things its own way.

Also, Nintendo's somewhat preoccupied with the uncontrollable success of its DS handheld, which has resulted in severe shortages across Japan as supply gets punched in the face by a surge in demand. "I'm hopeful that, in the latter half of April, we can get rid of the terrible, terrible shortage situation that we are facing with Nintendo DS right now," Iwata confirmed.