Talking strategy, the Nintendo president confirms his company will charge for next-gen console access to its back catalog

In a business strategy conference held today by Nintendo, president Satoru Iwata outlined a number of company plans for the current business year and beyond.

Iwata repeated the theme that Nintendo's next-generation console, "will provide different kinds of uses that will be of interests to each members of the family." But he didn't elaborate, only making a general remark that by "expanding the definition of games, games should become a subject of interest to everyone." For example, Iwata said the Revolution's capability to download and play back classic Nintendo titles will be of interest to parents, letting them enjoy the console as much as their kids.

Iwata also talked a bit more about the Revolution's capability to download and play games from Nintendo's previous consoles, called the Virtual Console system. First off, he shot down speculation that all first-party Nintendo games will be downloadable for free. "There's rumors floating on the Internet that the Virtual Console will be available for play for free, but we have no plans to distribute [the games] without charge."

Follow up:

Iwata's comments contradict recent statements by Nintendo vice president George Harrison, who implied in a recent GameSpot interview that first-party Nintendo titles could be "downloadable for free." However, Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo of America's vice president of marketing & corporate affairs, told GameSpot that no pricing structure has been decided. "For Revolution and accessing older games, we haven't finalized how we will structure it yet," she said. "It is possible that players will enjoy these games without a charge from Nintendo, or there may be some pay structure for accessing the actual product. We haven't finalized it yet. Our goal is to make it as easy and inexpensive as possible, which could be free."

Iwata took a similarly ambiguous tone vis-à-vis pricing of downloadable NES, SNES, and N64 games. He said, "We believe that there's a number of ways that we can use the system, such as to offer a bonus download with the purchase of a new game, or allow some games to be downloaded during a limited time during a campaign period."

Iwata also repeated Nintendo's stated desire to have third-party developers get in on the game-download action. "We hope to establish a format where both Nintendo and [third-party] software makers will be able to make a profit by using the resources from our past."

Iwata also discussed the Revolution's internal 512MB flash memory, which he said will be used for saving game data, downloading virtual console games, and for "expansion of the Revolution's capabilities." He didn't go into specifics regarding its connectivity to the DS, though he confirmed that users will be able to download demos for the handheld at home.

Iwata also stated that Nintendo is aiming to have over 90 percent of its customers play games using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, its online gaming service. To that end, Nintendo plans to set up 1,000 wireless DS hot spots in Japan, located in high-traffic areas and in stores where its products are sold.

Iwata also said all games published by Nintendo will cost no charge to play online, though third-party games may charge a fee. He said that along with connection difficulties, fees are the biggest reason wireless play hasn't been more embraced by the mainstream. "Because of these hurdles, only a small percentage of people that have bought online-compatible games have actually connected to a network and played online," he said.
Some info from GameSpot.com