BIZ: Will adding Wii MotionPlus to the Wii Remote drain battery life faster?

Iwata: I cannot say it won't consume any additional energy from the Wii Remote; however, it's not going to be significant.

BIZ: When will we see new character IPs, not just Miis and IP like Wii Fit but actual new characters that can rival Mario?

Iwata: Whenever I receive that kind of question, I always respond, "Why don't you think our Mii or our intention behind making the Mii is something like our endeavor to come up with a new character?" Let me tell you, new characters is actually the result... in other words, we are not trying to create some new character. More specifically, what we are always trying to do is create some new [kind of] play and new entertainment. As a result, if that new play is appreciated by the consumers, the main characters are going to become the new characters. For example, when Mr. Miyamoto was making the Super Mario character, he was not intending to make the so called Mario character itself, but he just wanted to make some interesting gameplay, and for that interesting gameplay he needed to create some middle-aged guy with overalls and a mustache.

[PR rep: Time for just one more.]

BIZ: For a console like the Wii, which reaches the mass market, friend codes don't seem like they're very friendly for mass market consumers. It's like entering a string of credit card numbers. How will Nintendo's approach to online be changing?

Iwata: First of all, I don't think the current system we have with friend codes is perfect. However, if it's an online world where you can get access to anybody without any restrictions, I as a father do not feel like allowing my daughter be engaged in that kind of world. So for Nintendo, especially in terms of the people who have never experienced online video games before, we think that it's still very important to create a world where we can assure that there will be no harassment for these online beginners, and we really want to assure the security and safety for them to do that. So we will be studying this on an ongoing basis in order to improve Nintendo's own circumstances where people can freely and safely enjoy the communications through the net.

BIZ: Thank you very much.

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Stay tuned for more from Nintendo, as GameDaily BIZ also sat down during E3 with Nintendo of America's VP of Corporate Affairs, Denise Kaigler. We will be bringing you that interview soon.