Nintendo president Satoru Iwata moved to underline the firm’s shifting stance regarding the videogames market yesterday, blaming the shrinking consumer spend on the industry’s lack of innovation aimed at the casual gamer.

Making some of his boldest statements in some time, Iwata-san, at a press conference in Tokyo, said, “The Japanese game market has steadily been shrinking since 1997 and there is no clear sign of an exit to such a falling trend. The key reason for the continued shrinkage lies in the fact that the complication of games is prompting the growing number of so-called light users to not play games anymore”.

Again, the Nintendo president sought to position the company at the forefront of making what he believes is the essential u-turn in the home console race. “The launch of the Nintendo DS is our answer to the shrinking game market in Japan. With the launch of the Nintendo DS, we are confident of introducing new fans and bring those light users who have stopped playing games back into the fold. I also believe the Nintendo DS is not only attractive for light users but also for hardcore users," he added, illustrating a much overlooked yet hugely important point. Although Nintendo is openly targeting casual gamers, its casual offerings have delighted the most hardcore sections of the gaming community.

The DS was unveiled to hardcore hysteria and Nintendo’s other new-market strategic offering, the Donkey Konga Bongo Drums, have been welcomed with open arms, with the super-hardcore seeing the peripheral as a must-have item.

Iwata went on to underline his anti-technology race stance as outlined at E3: “I have gained a stronger belief that the old trick of success - the combination of high-spec game consoles and advanced graphics - no longer works. Light users no longer see any value in advanced graphics.” Then, on to the successor to the GameCube, the Nintendo Revolution, he said, “Rather than offering an advanced version of the GameCube, we want to offer new ways of gaming. I am sure we can differentiate use from rivals. We code-named the new machine Revolution, it seems the US market has come to a major turning point. Many people who had not expressed any warnings a few years ago voiced concerns over rising development costs of game software at last month's E3 show. I am confident Nintendo has the ability to break through the deadlock now surrounding the global game market and continue to grow rapidly.”

Nintendo has now shown its hand as the next-generation console stand-off continues. We were told on the record by a high-ranking Nintendo executive that the Revolution “...will not just be a box, that plugs into your TV with controllers coming out of the front.” Nintendo is clearly planning to turn the expectations of gamers upside down, arguably looking back to its days as one of Japan’s leading manufacturers of novelty toys. And if the reaction to the DS and Donkey Konga is anything to go by, Iwata-san’s strategy might just prove decisive.

Expect everything Nintendo, right here, as it breaks.