Ed McGlothlin, Nintendophile member of the GIA, has posted a stellar impromptu interview with former NOA Chairman, Howard Lincoln. A ferocious lawyer Howard Lincoln joined Nintendo in 1983 and helped establish the company with his friend, NOA President Minoru Arakawa, and re-establish the booming video game business.

Of course, while any good Nintendophile should know who Howard Lincoln is, some of you probably don’t know Ed McGlothlin as well as we do!

Ed did some fantastic work for the 64 Source, the fansite Justin Nation started after N64HQ closed. Whether it came to defending Pokemon toys with his “soccer legs” during riots at E3 98 or interviewing members of Rare’s Goldeneye team, Ed came through. Shortly after our first E3, there were some problems and Ed, uh, was fired. After some soul searching Ed ended up at the Gaming Intelligence Agency where he has been ever since. (The rest of us have all moved around a bit… Hehe). We’ve since run into him at subsequent E3s and made peace with past conflicts. (Some of us in sicker ways than others – see comments)

Ed asks good questions and Lincoln delivers great answers. Although he may be retired from Nintendo, he still is very aware of its business, its history and its very exciting future. And Lincoln isn’t completely out of the “games” business either. He is very active in baseball now, as chairman and CEO of the Seattle Mariners (who are owned by NCL President Hiroshi Yamauchi).

The interview is very lengthy and you should read every word, but before ya go, here are a couple quick highlights:

-On Silent Hill producer ruling out his Silent Hill sequel for GameCube because of claims the system is geared toward a younger demographic:

Howard Lincoln: “I think anybody who sees GameCube as just for young kids is crazy. Given the variety of software that will be on the platform, and given the excellence of that software, it will skew all the way across the board.”

- On whether the Panasonic / GameCube combo will make it to the U.S.:

Howard Lincoln: “Panasonic is a very strong brand in consumer electronics, and they can take that risk. They can test the waters better than Nintendo, who will be focused on increasing the install base and demand for the GameCube. The agreement makes sense: have Nintendo focus on the gaming hardware and software, while Panasonic tries combining that with other technologies.”

- On whether the industry can support 3 competitors?

Howard Lincoln: “It remains to be seen, though there are more than three film companies.”

-Since we recently mentioned Nintendo’s official view on emulation, here’s what Lincoln personally had to say about “gamers having lax views toward piracy:”

Howard Lincoln: "It's very foolish to think lightly of intellectual property. This is the lifeblood of this business, and the creative force which makes these great games will disappear if piracy is allowed to go unchecked. It's as serious as somebody taking their own property, a crime, and is stealing somebody else's hard work."

-On Miyamoto’s delightful mind:

Howard Lincoln: “Pikmin is an example of his extraordinarily creative mind at work – he buys a house, gets into gardening, and the next thing we know we've got a game that comes from his backyard.”

Do yourself a favor and read both parts. A great interview from a guy we fired and the man who helped make Nintendo an unstoppable force that we’re all crazy about.