Core Magazine has translated an interview that Japanese mag GB Advance had with Satoru Iwata. Some more pre-Spaceworld love? Bring it baby!

GB-Advance: How did you decide on the 25,000 yen ($204) price?

Iwata-san: We've always believed that players will end up buying Nintendo consoles because of our 'must have' software titles, so we wanted to keep the price low. It's been challenging to offer all the cutting edge technology of the GameCube at a mass market price.

GB-Advance: Will the modem be available at launch?

Iwata-san: Unfortunately, it won't. A definitive release date and pricing still hasn't been decided, so I can't really discuss it. Sega has been encouraging us to release the modem because of their upcoming title Phantasy Star Online. We're considering their needs and discussing how soon we can release the modem. We should have an announcement ready for SpaceWorld.

GB-Advance: There were very few 3rd party developers announced at E3, are they hesitant about working on the GameCube?

Iwata-san: Our platform is primarily intended for our software. First, we have to create a market in which 3rd party software will be profitable. It would be contrary to our philosophy to concentrate on 3rd party software and the number of software titles available in order to sell hardware. However, we're not trying to close to door on developers either. We're working with several strong 3rd parties, and since E3 we've been approached by plenty more.

GB-Advance: Is it disconcerting however, that the software lineup for the Japanese launch is almost exclusively 1st party titles, just like the Nintendo 64?

Iwata-san: If a company like Sega was set loose to develop for the GameCube, they could have games available in no time. Beyond their expertise in 3D game production, Sega as a whole has the capability to develop quality software very quickly. With the Nintendo 64, 3rd party software took awhile because the hardware was difficult to develop for. We've taken that into consideration when designing the GameCube, so we don't feel that's a problem this time. On the other than though, we feel as if we have to create a market through Nintendo's software first in order for the GameCube to succeed. It's like battle, we have to go in and establish our position before calling our allies for reinforcements.