Senior Nintendo executives remain (understandably) skeptical over the future of the cloud for console gaming.
Indeed, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says there are certain things that cloud gaming cannot achieve.
“[For example], by the laws of physics, it always takes some time to transmit data, and given the current level of Internet technology, there is bound to be some latency during the processes of a server receiving data, producing images instantly and sending them back,” Iwata explained during a recent corporate briefing in a statement obtained by GameIndustry.
“There are many things that cloud gaming cannot do by design, but this fact has not been communicated well to the public, and I find it strange that many people claim that cloud gaming is the future.”
Iwata reiterated that Nintendo would be sticking with dedicated gaming hardware, while charting a separate development path for handheld and console gaming.
“Naturally, our stance is that dedicated gaming platforms will not die out and we are determined to create a future where they will not. In terms of our platform integration, as I explained to you a short while ago, we are not saying that we are planning to integrate our platforms into one,” said Iwata.
“What we are saying is that we would like to integrate software development methods, operating systems, and built-in software and software assets for each platform so that we can use them across different machines. This means that if we manage to integrate our platforms successfully, we may in fact be able to make more platforms.”
Meanwhile, Shigeru Miyamoto told investors that Nintendo remained focused on the development of software which illustrated the advantages of dedicated gaming hardware, even as smartphones become ever more sophisticated.
“The fact of the matter is that the technologies included in smartphones have progressed so much that they can now do what mobile phones couldn’t do in that arena previously. Therefore, what Nintendo should do this time is create something that is more fun to play on our devices,” he opined.
Miyamoto also commented on Nintendo’s home console business, noting there were only a handful of machines on the market that really attempted to answer the question of how best to use the TV screen in the living room.
“It seems that, in developing powerful video game consoles, the TV screen in the living room is just considered as an output device which could be replaced by a computer monitor. We, on the other hand, believe that our mission with Wii U is to make the TV sets in the living rooms more convenient and diverse in people’s daily lives,” he added.
