Nintendo's Iwata: "we just do not care what kind of 'more beef' console Microsoft and Sony might produce"
Put a jet engine in them if you like - Nintendo doesn't care how powerful Microsoft's and Sony's new consoles are.
"Even when we were going to launch the Wii system, there were a lot of voice saying 'Nintendo should stop making hardware'," Iwata recalled, talking to Gamasutra.
"The reasoning behind that was Nintendo would not have any chance against Microsoft and Sony. The fact of the matter was: I did not think Nintendo should compete against these companies with the same message and same entertainment options for people.
"We have not changed our strategy," he added. "In other words, we just do not care what kind of 'more beef' console Microsoft and Sony might produce in 2013. Our focus is on how we can make our new console different than [others]."
It's a very typical Nintendo reaction. But it doesn't sit well with what Iwata said at the start of the month, when he attempted to allay shareholders' fears that the technological differences between Wii U and the other consoles wouldn't be as "drastic" as they thought they were between Wii and PS3, Xbox 360.
"Naturally, some consumers are very sensitive about such a small difference in graphics," said Satoru Iwata at the time, "so we will make efforts to make the most of the performance of the Wii U to keep up with technological innovations and not to make the system out-of-date soon."
Whether Nintendo really does care, we may not know until we properly dissect a retail Wii U this autumn (exact date still TBC). Strict NDAs and conflicting developer assumptions of Wii Us power will probably keep us guessing until then.
