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Yasuhiro Minagawa speaks at TGS 2001

by Jeff Shirley - April 2, 2001, 3:52 pm EDT
Source: IGNCUBE

IGNcube recently interview Nintendo head PR, Yasuhiro Minagawa, for various subjects including the linkup between GBA and GCN.

IGN: With Nintendo stressing the relationship between Gamecube and Game Boy Advance, can you say anything about titles in development that take advantage of that link?

Minagawa: As a matter of fact, there is no software I can speak of that can link between Game Boy Advance and Gamecube. This year, we would like to concentrate on software which can push Gamecube and software which can push GBA independently. Later, probably next year, we are going to try out some titles which must use both systems. Some of our developers, with Miyamoto, are working on that, but we're not at the stage where we can say anything about it. They're concentrating on Gamecube software at this point.

IGN: Do you know how many titles Miyamoto is personally overseeing?

Minagawa: I actually don't know. A dozen, at least. At times I have a chance to see some of them, but not often.

IGN: Do you know how many games that Nintendo and other companies are working on will be launch titles for Gamecube?

Minagawa: They say that they want to have about five or so, but they don't care about quantity. If there are at least a couple of good titles that can show the difference in the hardware, they'll go with those.

IGN: We're seeing almost no presence as far as Gamecube is concerned at the show today, so will E3 be the first time the games are shown to the public?

Minagawa: Yes, that's right.

IGN: Why did you choose E3 to be the first time you'll display Gamecube software?

Minagawa: E3 is mainly for timing. We have one show, Spaceworld, which is usually in August, and if there is only one occasion for us to make an announcement, August isn't always a good opportunity. Fortunately, E3 is another big trade show which can invite a lot of media attention. It's not a coincidence, but rather that we're making big announcements at both Spaceworld and the E3 show.

IGN: So TGS is a little early and Spaceworld is a little late.

Minagawa: As you know, this is the first time that we've ever attended Tokyo Game Show. The TGS people wanted to have a portable gaming corner, and they said that without Game Boy Advance, it can't be the portable gaming corner! So we said okay, we'll show off some of our products. It's probably an exceptional case, since we're usually not here. The thing is, we typically have Nintendo Spaceworld, and we want to put all of our resources into that. It's pretty hard for the developers to work with many different shows in mind -- they have to start working on the show versions of the product, which takes a lot of time away from their schedules. TGS is also filled with exhibitors who have their own intentions, so it can wind up going nowhere. Nintendo just doesn't want to be missed in the crowd. The audience is different, too -- the Spaceworld audience is typically younger, and parents come with their children to enjoy the last week of summer vacation together. The TGS audience is typically much older.

IGN: Are you going to have any more special events or promotions for the launch of the Gamecube ?

Minagawa: I actually don't know. Nintendo of Japan doesn't do events regularly. On March 7, we held the premiere of Game Boy Advance two weeks before the Japanese launch. It was the very first time we had done that kind of thing, and we learned a lot from media and marketing execs. We also learned a lot about timing and how many people how much money, and taking all that into account.

IGN: Did you attend the Microsoft keynote that just let out a few minutes ago?

Minagawa: Just the first twenty-five minutes or so. I don't know how long it actually ran...

IGN: What did you think?

Minagawa: It was just as I imagined beforehand. I thought that they were a lot like Sony Computer Entertainment, raising very high specifications and talking about the beautiful graphics, exciting sound, more realistic, and things like that. Microsoft and Sony are very similar, Nintendo is very different.

IGN: During the sixteen-bit days, Nintendo was a haven for third-parties, but a lot of them moved to Sony during the 32-bit era. People would buy Playstation for Capcom and Konami games, while people bought Nintendo for Nintendo games, and Dreamcast for Sega games. Do you think that the Cube and the GBA will be pulling back third-party developers?

Minagawa: Actually, with the Game Boy Advance, there is already a lot of third-party software available, and actually, as a whole, the game industry is not enjoying good sales. They are seeing the Game Boy Advance as a very profitable system, and they're working really eagerly on GBA games right now. It's really amazing. Before, we were planning to launch the GBA at the end of last year. At Spaceworld, we said that we were working on around ten titles for launch, and we thought that was going to be pretty big for Nintendo. Fortunately, there was a three month delay, so we could have enough hardware for the launch, and then the launch list went up to twenty-five! Most of the developers are agreeing that the GBA is a very clean machine to work on, especially when you've worked on SNES, Genesis, NES. It's very simple and easy to make sophisticated games. Sega is also working on some of the titles. Sega said they didn't take much time to convert Chu Chu Rocket. I was really surprised to see that it was one of the launch titles. Of course, we're always working on our own titles, so we hope to be the driving force for the hardware.

IGN: What's the biggest factor in selling a game in Japan? I mean, you've got word of mouth, Famitsu scores...

Minagawa: Yeah.

IGN: Would you say brand recognition? Mario and F-Zero were the biggest sellers...

Minagawa: Well, beforehand it was simply word of mouth. If you made a great game for elementary-school kids, the next day, they'd go back to school, exchange information, and after school they'd head to the toy store with their parents. It was very easy. We didn't have to use so many advertisements, and there weren't so many gaming magazines. These days, especially with the strength of our competitors' marketing, we have no option but to do a similar kind of thing. At least we have to have great games. Pokemon is a great example -- we hardly put any money into advertising the original version, and we put together a very short commercial. It depends on age, as well. If you play Pokemon, you may feel a little silly...

IGN: Nooo!

Minagawa: ... but they're loved by children.

IGN: I think that the GBA, amongst press people and other serious gamers, has been getting a lot of enthusiasm, because it reminds us of the good old days of simple games and solid gameplay. Do you think it has to be targeted towards a young audience?

Minagawa: Not necessarily. But one of the reasons Mario is here is because -- beside the fact that it's a good game -- a lot of children have never played Mario 2, because they were not born.

IGN: I feel so old.

Minagawa: Yeah, and maybe the old cartridges aren't available. That's the big reason. Of course, it's also very easy to make the conversion from SNES games to GBA because of the high performance spec.

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