Harrison stated that the current market leader is instead looking to third parties such as Ubisoft and EA to appeal to non-Japanese gamers. The future plans of Retro are currently unknown, but N-Space was reported to be knee deep in Wii development some 18 months ago.

Nintendo: 'No Plans' To Increase Western Game Development [Game|Life]

Amazon Video Games

Harrison, a 15-year vet at Nintendo, was reportedly one of the employees who would opt out of relocating to the company's new California digs in an effort to be closer to Silicon Valley partners and Bay Area third-party publishers.

Source: George Harrison Has Announced His Retirement [GameDaily Biz]

Remember that rumor that Beth Llewelyn, Perrin Kaplan and George Harrison, were among the 60 percent who decided to leave Nintendo of America rather than relocate to San Francisco or New York?

It isn't true, well not yet at least. All three of the execs were at E3. True, the rumor was they were sticking around until E3 and then packing up their offices, but I had a chance to talk to Llewelyn about the rumor during a Nintendo executive mixer.

She said they were still "working things out." I suspect, or at least hope, that's code for Nintendo realized that moving people all over the country, especially valued executives, isn't worth forcing them out of the company.

According to Next-Gen, Harrison says Nintendo is working hard to meet demand and that Nintendo Corporate is making decisions about where to allocate its stock. Sorry, Gamestop, I guess that didn't mean you.

Harrison adds, "I think [DeMatteo's comments] may have been GameStop's way of trying to request more." Know what I think? I think I'm pretty pleased with myself for not exploring any "holding his Wii" jokes. Michael McWhertor

Nintendo Rejects Wii Shortage Plot [Next-Gen]

Being surrounded by clapping teenagers, a shirtless, singing adult in Mario overalls and a video camera-weidling dude in a Toad hat. Yep, this is a Nintendo exec's nightmare. Though, half way through, Nintendo's Senior VP George Harrison does warm up to Game Jew. No wonder: It's not a bad tune, not a bad tune at all. Brian Ashcraft

Game Jew Confronts Harrison [Gamer Andy]

Nintendo held their Los Angeles based midnight launch at Universal Citywalk, which, on a Saturday night, is already filled to near capacity. Add an extra thousand gamers and you get a maddening crowd.

After $20 worth of "preferred" parking, we made the journey through the thick soup of teenagers and families to the far end of the strip. Basking in the tacky neon glow illuminating everything around us, I finally see the sign: EBgames! I'd never been so thrilled to see one.

After witnessing what looked like a surprisingly short (and sparse) line, we learned that the line had been split up into segments, wrapping around the Hard Rock Cafe and far beyond. With gamers stacked several hundred deep, I knew there was no way I'd sneak my way into nabbing a last minute Wii for myself.

The line had started to form early Friday for Saturday night's Wii launch. Staying cool in nothing but red overalls, Jonathan Mann was first in line. He was going to have his Wii handed to him by Nitnendo's very own George Harrison at 12:01.

To keep the Wii faithful entertained while waiting in line—despite the fact the virtually everyone was armed with a DS or DS lite—Nintendo had off-road Segways with widescreen monitors cruising through the crowd.

For line gawkers and passersby, about a dozen Wii demo stations (as well as a handful of DS kiosks) were installed. Gamers lined up to play Excite Truck, Wii Sports, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Red Steel. Hundreds of onlookers got their first exposure to the Wii that night and the buzz seemed positive.

The night kicked off with an interview with Nintendo's George Harrison, who was as excited about the Wii launch as a Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications is allowed to get. In addition to thrilling executive interviews, the crowd was also kept entertained by DJ Rap and the acrobatic group Antigravity. (We were kept entertained by the Rum Runners and Pink Sunsets from the Hard Rock.)

As midnight approached, dozens of Wii retail boxes were pulled from the stock room and stacked on the now empty EBgames register countertops. Following a rousing DJ Rap lead countdown, Mr. Mann entered the store at 12:01 AM.

After picking up his Wii, he read his Nintendo themed poem (seriously) to the gathered media. The first Wii owner exited, booty held aloft, and the patient crowd was allowed entrance. Media were quickly booted out to give the staff some breathing room.

Having engaged in midnight launches myself, I knew that the last person in line wouldn't receive his or her Wii until very, very late that night.

Sleepy from our night of heavy Mexican food, overly sweet adult beverages, we headed back to the lot. Sans pre-order and spot in line, we then set off to find our own Wii. Will we find one? Michael McWhertor

Thanks to a tipster I stumbled upon this fun little post from Ninteondo Veep George Harrison about his personal feelings about gaming after 40.

As an "over 40" gaming guy myself (OK, a little more than over 40), I have at times felt left behind as my game skills and the time I have to play games have declined over the years. That's why my Game Boy and my DS make up the majority of my gaming time. As an executive here at Nintendo, I've had the chance to play Wii a lot and can tell you that it truly does have the potential to let anyone play. In a little over six weeks I'm looking forward to seeing many others rediscover the fun of gaming through Wii.

More interesting is the fact that the big GH takes the time to crawl the MySpace forums singing the praises of his Wii. Brian Crecente

40 year old future wii user... [MySpace]

Not that George Harrison, but as any Nintendork can tell you, Nintendo's Senior VP of Marketing and Corporate Communciation. Harrison did a chat with Camp Hyrule, saying that the Wii's release date and pricing would be announced "in the not too distant future." When talking about the eagerly awaited Twilight Princess, Harrison pulled no punches, saying:

The GCN controller will be able to play the GCN version on the Wii console, but will not be able to play the Wii version.

And of course the Wii controller will not work on your GameCube. For those fretting about the the new console being nothing more than a repackaged GC, Harrison claimed that the Wii's will "deliver dramatically improved graphics over the GameCube." Brian Ashcraft

More Here [QJ.NET]