Nintendo planning future platforms
President Satoru Iwata looking beyond Wii U and 3DS; company has begun developing tech that would simplify sharing assets between platforms.
Nintendo already has its eyes on what's next. A translation of prepared remarks from president Satoru Iwata today states Nintendo last year began work on technology for "future platforms" that would make software assets more transferable, regardless of the platform. According to Iwata, this would have multiple benefits, including avoiding software launch lineup shortages.
"Last year we also started a project to integrate the architecture for our future platforms. What we mean by integrating platforms is not integrating handhelds devices and home consoles to make only one machine. What we are aiming at is to integrate the architecture to form a common basis for software development so that we can make software assets more transferrable, and operating systems and their build-in applications more portable, regardless of form factor or performance of each platform," he said. "They will also work to avoid software lineup shortages or software development delays which tend to happen just after the launch of new hardware."
Iwata said that previously it was technologically impossible to have the same architecture for handheld and home consoles, but Nintendo's new technology could change this. Iwata's comments suggest games could be shared between a home console and a portable device, though the company is a long way away from implementing any such technology.
"Although it has not been long since we began to integrate the architecture and this will have no short-term result, we believe that it will provide a great benefit to our platform business in the long run," he said.
Nintendo's latest platform is the Wii U, which launched last year and has sold over 3 million units worldwide.
Fallout 4 Next Gen Update Comparison Stellar Blade - Hard Mode No Damage Gigas Boss Gameplay Stellar Blade - Hard Mode No Damage Abaddon Boss Gameplay Stellar Blade - (Almost) All Outfits Granblue Fantasy: Relink - New Content Trailer Modern Warfare III - New Season 3 Reloaded Modern Warfare Zombies Update River City Girls 2 - New Playable Characters DLC Reveal!! That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles – Official Announcement Trailer MEGATON MUSASHI W: WIRED – Official OP “MUSASHI English Ver.” Trailer Gothic 1 Remake | Official Collector's Edition Trailer SaGa Emerald Beyond – Official Launch Trailer Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – Official Switch Overview Trailer
Please enter your date of birth to view this video
By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com
Join the conversation