NOA's VP of Marketing and Corporate Affairs comments on the Wii's launch, its online services, offers a Smash Bros. Brawl tease, and more.

In a recent D.I.C.E interview with Gamespy, Perrin Kaplan was full of praise for the Wii's launch performance, enthusing "it's been fantastic. We're in awe that consumers have embraced it so readily, and that such a wide audience has embraced it, from core gamers to their grandmas." and later noting that the diametrical appeal of Wii Sports and Zelda: Twilight Princess captured "two different audiences that the games appealed to, which combined to lead to a successful launch lineup."

She continued by chatting about the progress of the Wii's various online functions, and defended the apparent slowness in developing a proper online gaming service. When asked if Nintendo were missing out by not placing online play as one of the major pieces of the Wii experience, she pointed to the merit of specific services, like the Virtual Console, and promised a bigger role for the future: "I think you're asking why we're not following the other guys. And we feel that everyone has developed their own niche of expertise [...] Now, massively multiplayer online gaming is probably not a direction that Nintendo will be going. I think that's a niche area that other companies have more expertise in. But worldwide online play is a priority for Nintendo and you will see it."

Kaplan also defended the piecemeal progress of the various Channels, claiming making everything available at once would have "overloaded" the consumer: "instead we began rolling everything out in a fashion where people can really understand it." She promised more for the future again, saying "we have more things coming, and online is definitely one of them." On the trial Wii Channel, she was ambiguous on whether or not the full version would come at a cost or not, and praised the "phenomenal" success of the Virtual Console, outlining Nintendo's plan to "launch about ten a month, and every Monday we've launched Virtual Console products, about three or four a week. We're going to stick to that and start building a huge library."

And Smash Bros.? "There are some neat surprises," she hinted. "I can tell you that you'll absolutely love it." As if there was any doubt. Read the full interview here.