Playing Mario Maker on my friends’ Wii U, we can’t help but talk about how awesome Nintendo is when it comes to innovative gameplay. They’ve been ahead of the curve every step of the way. Even if their Power Glove and Super Scope were never quite as functional as one would hope and the augmented reality aspect of the Wii U isn’t quite as appreciated as it should be, every new Nintendo system at least attempts to reinvent the way we think of gaming. And one such unpopular innovation, the Virtual Boy, may be getting a reboot, demonstrating that, once again, the Japanese gaming giant may have just been ahead of its time.
During an earnings call last night, new Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima said that the company is “looking into” VR. Aside from that, there was no elaboration as to what that exploration looks like. It’s possible that it could be connected to the company’s NX console, currently under development. The console is described as a “new hardware system with a brand-new concept”, which, when it comes to Nintendo, could mean just about anything.
In the past, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime has expressed reservations about VR, telling the AP in 2014, “For us, it’s all about fun gameplay. That’s what we want. We want a fun, compelling experience. Right now, the technology isn’t quite there yet, in our view. Certainly, it’s something we’re looking at. We look at a wide range of technologies. When it’s there and enables a fun experience, we’ll be there, too.” Fils-Aime also stated in an interview with Polygon, “[B]ased on what I’ve seen to date, it’s not fun, and it’s not social. It’s just tech.”
Given these statements and Nintendo icon Shigeru Miyamoto’s suggestion to NPR that VR doesn’t fit with Nintendo’s philosophy of creating “products that are going to be played with everyone in the living room”, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo went the further along the augmented reality route. Digi-Capital claims that AR will be a $120 billion industry by 2020, while VR will only be worth $30 billion, a fact that companies like Google and Microsoft are well aware of. And AR is certainly better at allowing for social interaction. I also wouldn’t be surprised if, given the creative control Nintendo has provided players with Mario Maker and Mario Paint, that they wouldn’t also introduce a 3D printing element to at least one of their games. Who knows, though? Maybe Nintendo will be releasing a CAVE system, allowing whole families to be immersed in an AR/VR blend within a dome.
Nintendo more or less brought haptic technology to the masses with the Jumbo Pack for N64, further increasing the practicality of VR tech with the Wiimote and Balance Board. Whatever the new hardware is behind the NX console, it should not be written off. Even if some of their products have flopped in the past, there’s no telling what effect that technology will have on the future.
