Although many game giants have stated that cloud games will become the most important game method for future players, it is still questionable whether the local host has no value.
After all, Last year Google ’s cloud gaming platform Stadia was blamed for its immature services , Microsoft ’s Project xCloud It is still in the testing stage, and even after years of operation, Sony PS Now has not shaken the core position of its own game console.
The only thing that is certain is that these game companies have already launched layouts in areas such as cloud gaming or VR / AR. On the contrary, it is one of the three giants, Nintendo, and it seems that they are not too cold about these new technologies.
Recently, Nintendo President Furukawa Shutaro also accepted the interview with Nikkei. In his view, finding original gameplay and content is more important than the technology itself.
Specifically, consumers now have a variety of entertainment methods. Games are not only competing with their peers, but also competing with other media such as film, television, and music for user time.
This means that Nintendo needs to maintain a sense of crisis while seeking self-innovation to make possible ideas that seem “impossible technically”. Such a work will be surprising:
“For example, sports games on the Wii that can move the body, and works to improve memory. These are the results of combining themes and game consoles that the mass users are willing to try.
He also added that whether the game itself is interesting, new and stunning is still a part that manufacturers should pay attention to. No matter how the technology develops, as a developer, you should give priority to the content that can make consumers willing to buy and play, and then consider the technologies that can make this content.
So, although Furukawa Shutaro agrees that cloud games will become very popular in the next 10 years, and also welcomes large companies like Google to participate in the competition in the gaming industry, he now believes that game consoles still have value .
“It will take a long time for us to draw conclusions about the existence of game consoles, but on the other hand, if we do not explore the works that can only be played through game consoles, or once users think that Games can be played on mobile phones and computers, then the game console is naturally meaningless.
When asked if such a strategy would plunge him into a dilemma of innovation, Furukawa responded that the focus of developing a dedicated game machine is not on hardware, but on creating new gameplay. The original game that Nintendo is pursuing is only developed under the mode of software and hardware integration.
“We do n’t want to make the outside world misunderstand. I think Nintendo ’s attitude towards new technologies is negative, but in fact we have been conducting related research and development. At present, the hardware department will also communicate with the new technology and software teams. See if you can make something interesting, such as AR, if they think this technology can be used in games, then they will adopt it, and we will maintain this model in the future.
As early as last July at the Nintendo Shareholders’ Meeting , several executives also explained to the outside world about 5G and cloud Attitude in the gaming field. Among them, Yantian Xing, director of Nintendo ’s technology development department, said that although 5G is one of the hot words at the moment, Nintendo hopes not only to pay attention to the development of technology itself, but also how to apply new technology to game works, and to give What experience the consumer brings.
Nintendo game producer Shigeru Miyamoto also believes that even if cloud games will become very popular in the future, he still believes that some very interesting games will still run locally instead of the cloud.
On the other hand, in view of the current low birth rate and aging demographic trend in Japan, Furukawa Toshiro believes that it is necessary to produce works for a wider range of ages, in order to make the game more popular with users.
“Nintendo ’s revenue outside Japan now accounts for 70% of the total, and we must also strive to explore markets that have not been reached.”