Nintendo says it ‘must keep up with cloud gaming’
But president doesn’t envision a future without dedicated hardware
Nintendo’s president has said that while the company must keep up with developments in the cloud gaming space, he doesn’t visualise a future where Nintendo stops making dedicated hardware to play its games on.
Sony’s PlayStation Now game streaming service has 700,000 subscribers, while Microsoft is preparing to launch public trials for its upcoming cloud gaming service Project xCloud later this year, when Google will also launch a new cloud game streaming platform called Stadia.
Asked about the future of Nintendo’s core integrated hardware and software business amid these external developments during a recent financial results briefing, Shuntaro Furukawa said: “I don’t think all games will move to the cloud right now, but the technology is steadily advancing.
“In the future, I expect that technologies such as the cloud and streaming will evolve further as a way to deliver games to consumers. We must keep up with such changes in the environment.
“On the other hand,” he added, “I believe that our core value, the unique entertainment experiences that can only be achieved through the development of integrated hardware and software, will further increase in value.
“Delivering unique entertainment that only Nintendo can create will continue to be our top priority.”
Nintendo Switch sales reached 34.74 million units during the business year ended in March 2019, surpassing the Nintendo 64 lifetime sales total.
