A Japanese shareholder question-and-answer session translated by consumer site GameSpot indicates that Nintendo's next-generation Revolution console may be the last of the three next-gen systems to make it to market.
Nintendo has long given a non-specific "2006" date for the system's launch, but President Satoru Iwata indicated to the board at this official financial-related meeting that the precise date could fall after the PlayStation 3's targeted spring 2006 release.
"There is no possibility that the Revolution's launch will fall behind by too much," said Iwata in answer to the question of whether Nintendo's next console would be last to market, "but there might be some small changes."
Nintendo's current console, the GameCube, was last to launch in the U.S. when the Xbox beat it to retail by a matter of days, though it launched well before the Xbox in Japan. Microsoft's own next-gen system, the Xbox 360, will be first to market in all territories when it's released this fall.
After the warning about the Revolution's release date, Iwata assured shareholders that Nintendo would back the system up with anticipated software regardless of its launch window, saying that the company had new versions of
Zelda,
Mario,
Metroid,
Donkey Kong, and
Smash Brothers in development.
