It may not seem like a great fit for Nintendo’s traditional customer base, but Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime says he’d “love to see” Grand Theft Auto on the Wii.
In an MTV Multiplayer interview following the announcement of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS, Fils-Aime said Nintendo has a “long-term relationship with Take-Two,” and claimed the Chinatown Wars project was one the development team at Rockstar wanted to take on. While he didn’t elaborate on details, saying they would be better explained by Rockstar, he did say he was “thrilled to have it on the platform.”
When asked about the gender ratio on the DS, which enjoys a large number of female gamers who aren’t typically Grand Theft Auto fans, Fils-Aime said, “Right now [there is a] 20 million installed base in the U.S. 52 percent are male. That’s over a ten million installed base to sell a GTA title into. We expect the title to sell phenomenally well. And that’s why we’re thrilled to have it come.”
He also dismissed concerns about resistance among high-level Nintendo executives to a Grand Theft Auto title on the company’s systems, which have typically been viewed as more family friendly than the Xbox and PlayStation systems. “I’ve had a very good relationship with the folks at Take-Two, continue to have a good relationship,” he said. “And so in our view we want just the best content coming on our platforms. Period.”
“You know, a GTA on the Wii is all based on what Rockstar and Take-Two want to do,” he continued. “And again, from our standpoint, if they build a bottoms-up game that takes advantage of what we do well, I’d love to see it on the platform.”
