Nintendo's "thrust for the hardest of the core" is great online functionality, strong third-party support

NOA CEO and president Reggie Fils-Aime has said it is very important for the firm to have franchises such as Assassin's Creed, Batman, Mass Effect available on Wii U.

Speaking with IGN during E3, Reggie said not only are popular and core franchises important for the console, but "strong third-party support on those genres," or DLC if you will, is also "critically important."

"Beyond that, we also know that there needs to be all of that great online functionality, which we're going to have," he said. "That's our thrust for the hardest of the core."

However, the casuals - those who rarely played games before Wii came along or who like smaller bits of playtime - won't be left out either with Wii U. On the contrary, Nintendo wants consumers from every end of the gaming spectrum to have something to play on the new console.

"For the more casual consumer, what we need to have are great pick-up-and-play experiences, experiences that could be in a party-type atmosphere, all of the things that we've learned, candidly, with the launch of Wii," Reggie explained. "And so we'll also have all of those great games. Everything from SiNG to Just Dance 4 to Wii Fit U, to also games like Lego City - that's why we're publishing that game, even though it's being developed by Traveler's Tales.

"For us, we need to have that broad spectrum of gaming experiences, and if we do that, we'll attract everybody. They won't label themselves core versus casual. What they'll say is, boy, I want to play that game. We need to make sure we have that game for them to play."

As far as whether Wii U will be able to compete with next-gen systems, or current PS3 and Xbox 360 models for that matter, Reggie promises the console is a very "powerful system."

"We're about to launch a tremendously powerful system, a system that pushes out great graphics, a system that has an opportunity to do a lot of things," he said. "What I've heard the fan community say is: 'I want my Mario, I want my Zelda, and I want the best of third-party.' That's what we're looking to bring to consumers.

"I think in the end, the consumer choice is going to be... once I buy my Wii U, that satisfies my Nintendo cravings and my cravings for all of these other great multi-platform franchises, then what is the role of a competitive platform?

"It's going to have to live on the backs of some sort of unique proposition, or unique content, and to me that's the million-dollar question. Of our potential competitors down the road, who's going to have that compelling content that's going to say, hey, now I need to branch out and pick up this additional system?

"I think it's for them to answer."

You can read the entire interview through the link, and find out what lessons he thinks Nintendo learned from the 3DS price-drop - hint: he has said the same thing before.

He also discusses whether the younger generation will be able to appreciate Pikmin like those of us who are apparently ancient did - being we owned a GameCube an all.