To save you wading through the lengthy transcript of Nintendo of Japan's recent corporate management briefing Next-Gen has edited it down to 20 bite-size and fascinating highlights...

1. Wii Launch Date

Satoru Iwata: Because we are saying that we will launch Wii in the fourth quarter of 2006, or during the October-December time period, we will need to make these announcements before then. So, we are contemplating to make these announcements in or before September.

2. Wii Pricing

Iwata: Some people think that hardware always loses money. Nintendo is taking some distance away from that approach. If you ask me, "Will Wii be sold at or over the cost?" I cannot tell today if we won't lose even one yen by selling one Wii hardware. However, we do not intend to lose a great deal of money from the hardware sales.

3. Third Party Support

Shinji Hatano: Since E3, almost all the domestic software makers have approached us and requested detailed information on Wii and requested hands-on experiences with the Wii software we showed at E3 for those developers who did not attend E3. Such developers requests are increasing. Since the end of last month until around the 20th of this month, we have been conducting hands-on opportunities either at our Tokyo branch or at their facilities depending on their conveniences. I'm sure they will come up with unique ideas to create great software, and we are more than willing to cooperate with them. We are also intending to provide them with a dev kit at an inexpensive price, say, at little more than 200,000 yen ($1,750).

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