Speaking at a shareholder's meeting in Japan earlier this week, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata admitted that the Nintendo Revolution console may arrive on the market after Sony's PS3 - but said that it will not "fall behind by too much."

In a marked departure from the company's promise at E3 three years ago that it would not be the last out the door in the next-generation, Iwata gave a guarded response to a question about whether Nintendo would fall behind its rivals in terms of launch timelines.

"There is no possibility that the Revolution's launch will fall behind by too much," he said, according to comments translated by GameSpot, "but there might be some small changes [in its release schedule]."

Nintendo has never put a date more solid than 2006 on its console, while Sony intends to roll out the PlayStation 3 in Spring 2006 in at least one territory; so of course, whether Revolution is last to the table or not depends as much on how Sony's schedule proceeds as on Nintendo's own timing.

However, while Nintendo may launch after PlayStation 3, the company has revealed that it will be launched at a significantly lower price point than its rivals.