Nintendo of America's charismatic VP of sales and marketing Reggie Fils-Aime has confirmed that the company is aiming to launch its next home console in the same timeframe as Sony's PS3, and attacked Microsoft's "rush" to the next generation. "Our focus is this: we will bring Revolution to the marketplace roughly at the same time as the competition," Fils-Aime told US website IGN. "We are driving our timetables based on what we believe Sony will do."

While Nintendo may be watching Sony to work out when to jump on the next generation, the company is less sold on Microsoft's approach. "Not that I want to ignore the Xbox," Fils-Aime qualified, "but certainly we believe that a rush to a new system is a mistake."

This is the second time in recent months that a senior Nintendo executive has attacked Microsoft's seeming haste in moving to a next-generation platform - speaking at the ELSPA Game Summit in London last June, former Nintendo Europe boss David Gosen said that "in every cycle, some manufacturer not profiting from the current cycle is eager to kick-start the next one," and suggested that profitability was not Microsoft's "key motivation" with the Xbox.

Fils-Aime also confirmed that the forthcoming Nintendo DS handheld could potentially be used to link up with the GameCube console, and will almost certainly boast link features with the Revolution platform.

"Could there be interactivity with GameCube?" he said. "Potentially. Depends on the software and accessories needed from a GameCube perspective. But it's certainly possible. Could there be interaction with the Revolution? Certainly possible. Certainly capable."