Peter Main, Nintendo America's executive veep, has spoken out to Japanese magazine Famitsu about his thoughts on the Xbox and GameCube launches. "Microsoft has announced Nov. 8 as its launch date, but I don't think that's final," he said. "Gamecube will definitely launch on schedule though, and it will be a strong contender during the Christmas season."

Main also confirmed that "four-five first-party titles" to launch with the GameCube this November in the States, "which will grow to seven by Christmas." In Japan Nintendo will launch with two or three, growing to about five by the close of the year. Main is clearly anxious not to saturate store shelves with games, which would weaken sales overall as seen with the PlayStation 2 and GameBoy Advance launches.

Speaking with characteristic incisiveness, Main also commented on the networking aspect of GameCube. "Even if we wanted to release an online game now, we would have no way of knowing whether it would be a hit, so we're not rushing things. The only one rushing is Xbox."

You can read the rest of the interview, translated lovingly by the folks at Core Magazine, right here.

© Eurogamer. All rights reserved.