Quote:
TSA: Hi. What is up with the release status of Twilight Princess - is
it coming out on GCN everywhere, or just here? Also, will we be able to
use the GCN controller for the Wii version?"
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Zelda TP will be releasing on both GCN and Wii on
the same day as the launch of Wii.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: The GCN controller will be able to play the GCN
version on the Wii console, but will not be able to play the Wii
version.
Rest of interview.
Quote:
NOA_ANDY: Chat with George Harrison, Nintendo's Vice President of
Marketing and Corporate Communications. The show stars in 14 minutes.
NOA_ANDY: Chat with George Harrison, Nintendo's Vice President of
Marketing and Corporate Communications. The show stars in 8 minutes.
NOA_ANDY: Chat with George Harrison, Nintendo's Vice President of
Marketing and Corporate Communications. The show starts in 5 minutes.
NOA_ANDY: Chat with George Harrison, Nintendo's Vice President of
Marketing and Corporate Communications. The show starts in 1 minute.
NOA_ANDY: I'm very happy to introduce George Harrison, Nintendo's
Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications. Welcome,
George!
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Hi everybody ... glad to be hear today.
NOA_ANDY: Welcome to Camp Hyrule!
NOA_ANDY: Before we begin, could you please explain what it means to be
the Vice President of Marketing and Corp. Communications at Nintendo?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Basically, I do all the advertising and
promotions, as well as all the merchandising and PR activities and am
responsible for the online and publications groups.
ZELDANATOR: So George whats a average day at Nintendo for you, what
type of tasks you do on a daily basis?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: The average day is far too many meetings and not
enough game play time.
RODRIGUEZJR: Hello, I wanted to know if there is any news about the
Nintendo Wii, such as release date or price.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We're not ready yet to announce the release date
and price.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We'll being doing that in the not too distant
future.
MODESTMR.GREEN: Mr. Harrison, thanks so much for spending time talking
to us. I was just curious, what has your personal experience with Wii
been like thus far?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: I am not a really experienced game player and like
many people the games have become too complicated for me recently.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: So, when I experiened Wii for the first time, it
was instantaneous fun!
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: You may have seen me on the stage at E3 playing
with Mr. Miyamoto.
GRETZKEYR99: How is Nintendo's status with third party developers
changing with the Wii?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We made an effort to begin working with the 3rd
party publishers much earlier on Wii than we did on GameCube.\
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: After E3, many of them were so excited they
initiated additional projects for titles that will launch in 2007.
GAMEHUNTER101: Do you think nintendo can meet the demand for the Wii?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: It's hard to know what the total demand for Wii
will be.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We'll do our best to supply as much as possible,
but there are many consumers around the world who are also hoping to
get a Wii this holiday.
JSR: Hi Mr. Harrison! There are a lot of cool looking DS games coming
out later this year, but I think that many of them will be lost in the
Wii's hype. How does Nintendo plan to keep the DS on gamers' minds?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We have very aggressive marketing plans for DS
hardware and software.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We know that we will probably sell many more DS
units this holiday and have a lot of great titles to tell the consumers
about.
TSA: Hi. What is up with the release status of Twilight Princess - is
it coming out on GCN everywhere, or just here? Also, will we be able to
use the GCN controller for the Wii version?"
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Zelda TP will be releasing on both GCN and Wii on
the same day as the launch of Wii.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: The GCN controller will be able to play the GCN
version on the Wii console, but will not be able to play the Wii
version.
SUPERHYPERMARIO128III: How do you decide on a marketing campaign, like
"Who are you?" or "Touching is good"?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We provide creative direction to our advertising
agency and they typically give us several alternatives. In the case of
Wii, we are now testing some of those concepts before we decide on our
direction.
RAYQUARIAN: Have you made plans for a Wii commercial yet?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We are developing several TV concepts and, once we
select a direction, we will produce 3 to 5 different spots. While TV is
important, we are increasingly looking to online and other advertising
outlets to reach the game fans and the expanded audience.
MARIOISAWSOME3233: In your opinion, what has been the most successfull
marketing campaign in Nintendo history?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: I've been with Nintendo for almost 15 years, and
we have had many successes. I think certainly the launch of Nintendo 64
was a phenomenal experience that we hope to replicate with Wii.
SHADOWLINK19: Hello. With the DS going strong, and the Wii coming out
very soon, will the GBA still be receiving anymore games? I can
understand third party games will probably come for it, but will
Nintendo be focusing on producing anymore first party games for the GBA
handheld?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: GameBoy is still a very exciting and appealing
product, but developers have limited resources and increasingly are
focusing their attention on the DS, so the number of new GameBoy games
will begin to shrink in 2007.
W34V3R: When it comes to advertising Nintendo-style, what do you think
makes Nintendo stand out? What do you look for when it comes to
advertising, oh, say, a Mario game? Do you look for a certain feature
to make that advertisement shine in a certain light? Thank you very
much for your time, and I look forward to hearing from a true pro.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: In the video game industry, it's easy for all
commercials to look the same. We certainly use our characters to help
us stand out, but we also try to find an advertising approach that is
unique. If you think about the GameBoy advertising which we referred to
as FreeBoy, it was a unique way to present the player and the game
experience.
VIDGAMEPLAYA: Hello, Mr. Harrison! I live in an area where most kids
play shoot em up games, and buy consoles based on graphics. I was
wondering how you might plan to advertise to this group of consumers.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: First, the Wii will be able to deliver
dramatically improved graphics over the GameCube. But, if all the
player is concerned about is graphics, we may not win them over. Our
best chance is to show them the sheer fun of our games.
LOGIEDAN7: Do you think that many people will utilize the Virtual
Console to buy their old favorites?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Certainly, we hope many people will take advantage
of the virtual console games that they love from the past., but we also
hope that people who have never experienced these games will enjoy them
for the first time. Remember, there are other secrets of the virtual
console that we won't reveal until we get closer to launch.
SMASHMANIAC: Since I am currently interested in creating a new small
software company, I was wondering how much Nintendo is ready to help
new third-party developers to create videogames with innovative ideas.
Thank you very much.
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: By showing examples of products like Nintendogs
and Brain Age, we hope that developers will recognize that there is an
opportunity for unique types of software. The virtual console also
offeres the possibility of introducing a new game idea without having
to develop the entire game before finding out what its appeal might be.
ENCELADUS: Hello, I have a lot of friends who refuse to buy Nintendo
consoles due to the "kiddy" games and image Nintendo has according
to them. Will this image change a lot with Wii in comparison with the
Gamecube?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: I would say the "kiddy" image is in the eye of
the beholder. These same people probably don't hesitate to watch the
Cartoon Network and enjoy a good laugh, so all we can do is make the
games as fun as possible and hope that consumers don't worry so much
about what other people think. We need all the Nintendo fans to stand
up and support us and lead the way.
NPC: If the Wii becomes a huge sucsess is there a chance we could see
more Nintendo stores like the one in New York?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: NWS is a one-of -a-kind store that is really
designed to help us communicate marketing messages. It is in an
exciting location where we have had Mr. Miyamoto and other guest
appearances that we probably couldn't replicate if we opened several
stores.
ZYKE_HYBRIX3: Were you glad to see that there was a 5+ hour wait to use
the Wii at E3?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: I was surprised and excited, but I felt for the
people who had to spend their whole day just to spend a few minutes
with Wii. This Fall, when Wii goes on sale, hopefully everyone will
have at least one friend who finds one and can play it at their home.
.SHY: Are they any plan for new (non-classic) Virtual Console games
from Nintendo?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Virtual console offers the possibility for us to
create new games, but our focus right now is in getting the Wii
hardware launched and new games from Nintendo on the virtual console
will be coming sometime after the launch.
NINTENDO_GAL: Why is the marketing decision made for certain games to
make it over here to this market (the US) while other games are left in
the dust? Will there be a shift towards bringing more Japanese titles
over as the popularity of quirky fun games rises due to the DS and
quite possibily Wii?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: Basically, we have an internal product review team
that screens all the software produced in Japan and makes a
recommendation on if there is a market opportunity here. Some games are
liked by a small core of people and are difficult to introduce them
broadly to all the retailers. We are always open to considering
software from Japan if we believe there is enough consumer interest.
NOA_ANDY: We have time for a couple more questions.
0GLASS: What's the stance on going to public gaming conventions like
the penny arcade expo to promote the Wii?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: We are actually planning to attend the Penny
Arcade Expo and recently were at the Comicon convention.
NOA_ANDY: ... and one final question ...
KIRKINOUT: What is the hardest or most stressful part of your job?
NOA_GEORGE_HARRISON: During any hardware launch, there are thousands of
details that need to be managed and also a close coordination with
other territories around the world. But, in the end, the successful
launch wipes away any of the stress.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114786