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Nintendo's Iwata says being first in next-gen race is 'not important at all,' pricing is

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata recently talked about how the Wii U's second screen was nearly scrapped due to cost concerns, so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to once again hear him talk about the importance of pricing. While unfortunately not divulging a specific number, Iwata tells Gamasutra that the "pricing of Wii U is going to be one of the most important elements when it is going to be launched," adding that "the environment is different. Wii U is going to be launching in a different environment than when the Wii was launched." He also talked about the timing of the console's release (coming well before Microsoft's and Sony's next-gen consoles), saying that "being first in the next generation race is not important at all." So why now? Iwata says somewhat immodestly that "one of the reasons we believe this is the time for Nintendo to launch the Wii U is it's going to be important for the world," adding that its "focus is on how we can make our new console different" than its competitors.