Iwata discusses Revolution connectivity, controllers

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed more details of the next-gen Revolution console, focusing on the company's plans to make online gaming more accessible and overhaul the way controllers are designed.

Speaking to Japanese weekly Nikkei Business in an interview partially translated by US website GameSpot, Iwata-san confirmed that Revolution will feature wireless LAN capability and said he hoped it would make playing games online easier for consumers.

"The next-generation console will follow along the same line as the DS [for wireless LAN]," he said. "The ideal is for users to be able to connect to the Internet without having to think about it."

Iwata-san touched on online play in his recent speech at the Game Developers' Conference, where he confirmed that the Revolution would feature wi-fi technology as a standard feature.

He went on to reveal that the Revolution had received more positive response from developers than expected, partially due to Nintendo's intention to do everything possible to keep development costs low. As part of these plans, the Revolution will use the GameCube's software libraries and application program interfaces.

Itawa-san did not discuss recent rumours of a DS-style touch screen controller, but did say that controllers for current consoles "may satisfy the hardcore gamers, but they've become too difficult for more casual gamers."

"For the next-generation console, we plan to introduce a friendly user interface so that, for example, a mother who's watching her child playing a game might say, 'Oh, I'd like to try that too,'" he said.

"However, user interfaces are devices that can easily be imitated by other companies, so I can't reveal any details right now."

The full unveiling of the Nintendo Revolution is expected to take place at this year's E3.