Nintendo Interested In Cloud Gaming, Says Hardware-Only Is “Pointless”
The technology behind cloud gaming was once sitting at a meme-level status, but as time and technology has progressed, the idea of playing games from the cloud has become something much more tangible. Nowadays, the topic of next-gen continues to be an incredibly important one within the industry and President of Nintendo Shuntaro Furukawa recently gave his input on the future of gaming, as well as cloud-based services themselves.
Disclosing these thoughts in a recent interview with Nikkei (via NintendoEverything), Furukawa addressed the company’s current stance on future hardware development. He explained that while dedicated consoles won’t be going away any time soon, solely focusing on hardware would be a poor stratagem for companies hoping to live long into the future. He maintains that once an audience feels they could have the same experience on a different platform, the idea of dedicated hardware begins to become obsolete.
It’s possible that cloud gaming could capture the public’s interest in 10 years from now, however at this point in time, I do not think that dedicated hardware will go away. It’s a long way off before we’ll really know the outcome. With that said, it would be pointless to solely focus on methods of play that can only be had on dedicated hardware. Once your audience starts saying they can play on other consoles or smartphones instead, you’re finished.”
As quoted above, Furukawa mentions that perhaps a decade from now, cloud-based services could possibly be at a point that they’ll be the future of gaming. As download speeds continue to improve, it likely won’t be too much longer before games will be able to be played from the cloud as smoothly as through dedicated hardware. However, as shown by inconsistencies in services like Google Stadia and PlayStation Now, this future just isn’t entirely feasible for everyone–at least not yet–making this split-focus on hardware and cloud gaming a much more understandable stance for Nintendo.
Nintendo has had some big wins even in the last year. What are you hoping to see the company do in the future? Let us know your thoughts on Nintendo’s opinion of cloud gaming and more in the comments section below. As always don’t forget to follow Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter for 24/7 coverage of all things gaming and entertainment.
Chris Calles1560 Posts
Known as "Stash" or Yippee Calles. He's a student of everything, avid adrenaline junkie, and creator of random things. When he's not delving into a game, book, or movie - He's out teaching himself new things or taking part in some pretty epic adventures. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.
