3DS talk from SEGA: Titles at/close to launch, Nintendo can further expand their audience
The following information comes from SEGA’s Western president Mike Hayes…
“We’re under so many NDAs, I can’t answer that question. Are we going to have titles at and around launch? Absolutely yes, we will do. I think Nintendo have managed the whole project absolutely brilliantly. They’ve worked brilliantly with third-parties; that was said at their E3 conference. I think that was a double-sided comment from them actually: ‘Thank you third parties, but you actually didn’t believe in DS and Wii [at launch] did you?’ And we’re like: ‘Point well taken.’ Whereas of course with 3DS it’s one of the best third-party involvements there has been in recent years with Nintendo – that’s fantastic.”
“I mean, what a great piece of kit. It’s truly innovative. Their engineers are quite phenomenal – first of all with the DS and now this. The interesting thing is for Nintendo is I think they can expand their audience. I think they can move beyond the younger audience. It was encouraging to see games like Saints Row for example from THQ at E3. I think that’s a great opportunity for Nintendo and for us – particularly Western-orientated publishers. So House of the Dead or Aliens vs. Predator or other core titles like that could see a home on that platform as well, of course, as all the brands that we know will do well – Monkey Ball, Sonic etc. In terms of technology, It’s Nintendo isn’t it… They work in their huge, successful separate world. That dismissal of 3D glasses was a surprise, but they’ve created something unique. That’s Nintendo. They’ll create a phenomenally big market that this time around, which will engage third-party; at least engage them more from the outset. I think what Reggie was saying about the gaming is absolutely right – forget the technology of what they’ve created with 3DS, just enjoy the games.
The situation with 3DS launch software is a bit confusing at the moment since we don’t know who will be supporting it at launch and with what titles. It also doesn’t help that we don’t even have a firm release date for the system. However, that should change sometime in the near future, and things will become much clearer.
