This week has seen something of an unexpected avalanche of interesting pieces of news. Here's the round-up: Heading the bill, is the announcement of the GameCube's successor. Nintendo of Japan's president, Mr. Satoru Iwata, has finally broken the silence on the issue. Although not divulging any information on the new console, he did reveal than the company are readying it for launch in�2005, significantly sooner than expected. Shigeru Miyamoto has previously stated that he wanted the GameCube to have a lifespan of seven or eight years- the vastly increased competition in the industry over the past couple of years has put paid to that idea. Nintendo were late to the party with both the Nintendo 64 and the GameCube- a mistake which has cost the company dear.

"The PlayStation 2 debuted one-and-a-half years ahead of the GameCube. If we had launched the GameCube at the same time as PlayStation 2, the result would have been different," he said.

This is a very significant statement from Iwata- not only is it an admission for the first time that the 'Cube's release was scheduled badly, but it marks a turn-around in attitude: Iwata also says this of the release of Nintendo's next console: "We will get ready for a (new) battle in 2005 although foreign game developers are now saying that rival next-generation systems won't come until 2006."

Battle? Just a few months ago, Iwata and co. were insistent that there was no console war; and if there was, Nintendo were certainly going to play no part in it. But things are different now: the GameCube's relatively disappointing performance in Japan and Europe, coupled with a diving share price (its lowest in four years) have spurred Nintendo on to speed up development of the new console. Nintendo are looking to have the first next next-gen console out, which is commendable, but not a guarantee of success: just look at the failed Dreamcast for a prime example- it was launched before the PS2, had a host of great games and great features, but it still went the way of the dinosaurs in a very short space of time. Nintendo are slowly learning from past mistakes, but perhaps a little too slowly- time will tell if they are to succeed in the next round of the battle, which begins in 2005.

He also went out of his way to dismiss speculation that the company would eventually abandon home console production. "When we withdraw from the home game console, that's when we withdraw from the video game business," he said.

Encouraging stuff, I'm sure you'll agree. Are a new Nintendo emerging? We have had many false dawns in the past, but since Iwata took over, Nintendo have changed considerably. More on this soon.

The announcement of a Player's Choice range of budget games is also good news: Luigi's Mansion, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Pikmin are the first three games to get the cheap-o treatment: the games will retail in the U.S for a reasonable $29.95 (around �18/E28). No word as yet on whether the scheme will come to Europe, but there is no doubt about it really: the question is when, not if. But where are Wave Race, NBA Courtside, Star Wars Rogue Leader , Super Monkey Ball et al? These would undoubtedly be ideal budget fodder. True, most of these are third-party games, but that never stopped Sony's budget series- if Nintendo don't expand the list on a regular basis, I don't envisage it being a major success.

The announcement of a Metroid movie gives me mixed feelings: Yes, it will undoubtedly raise Metroid's profile and give Nintendo a lot of publicity, but unless it is done really well (not like Resident Evil or Tomb Raider) then it simply won't work. I for one don't want the good name of Metroid sullied by a half-baked movie rendition. Pray the producers don't mess it up; that's all we can do. The announcement of a Metroid Prime sequel by Retro is cause for celebration- but I'm just waiting for the first one to finally come out over here�

Aaaaand finally, I have to say a big welcome to Lionhead- welcome to the GameCube fold. The announcement of their GC exclusive, Unity is very exciting- it's also great to see a third-party with such an impressive pedigree putting their faith in Nintendo's purple box.

Until next week.
Mark Cullinane [email protected]