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Revolution to come in under $300, confirms Iwata

Nintendo's next-generation console, codenamed Revolution, will be priced at under $300 when it arrives later this year, according to company boss Satoru Iwata who confirmed recently that it will be the cheapest of the next-gen systems.

Nintendo's next-generation console, codenamed Revolution, will be priced at under $300 when it arrives later this year, according to company boss Satoru Iwata who confirmed recently that it will be the cheapest of the next-gen systems.

Speaking with Yahoo! Japan, Iwata gave one of the first hints as to the pricing of the console when he said that the Revolution will cost less than the Xbox 360 Core System, which sells for $299 in the United States.

Some industry speculation has suggested that the console could come in as low as $150, due to Nintendo's decision to focus on an innovative control system for the console rather than on cutting-edge processing and graphics hardware in the box.

Specifications leaked just before Christmas reveal that Revolution is set to be two to three times more powerful than the current GameCube hardware, which makes it significantly less powerful than the Xbox 360 and PS3 - but will allow Nintendo to set pricing far lower than its rivals, and should make both hardware and software production for the console far less difficult.

In a separate Revolution-related development, NGC magazine is reporting that while the eagerly awaited Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is certainly still bound for the GameCube (Nintendo itself quashed rumours that it would be released on Revolution instead back in November), it will have additional functionality when played on a Revolution.

Inserting the disc into a Revolution console will unlock the ability to play using the unique "wand" controller on the new console - but the magazine does not elaborate on exactly what the advantages of using this controller in the game will be.

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Rob Fahey avatar

Rob Fahey

Contributing Editor

Rob Fahey is a former editor of GamesIndustry.biz who spent several years living in Japan and probably still has a mint condition Dreamcast Samba de Amigo set.