To say Nintendo lags behind Microsoft and Sony when it comes to online gaming is an understatement. Want to know why? It's because the Japanese company's priorities lie with entertaining everyone.
"It is often said that Nintendo was rather late in advancing into the network world", Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto told The Economist. "Actually we simply wanted to take sufficient time to make it a proper business, and make it as comfortable an environment as possible for consumers."
"Of course, we have Mario Kart, which can be played online by multiple people. So we are gradually expanding the experiences using the internet, but my own personal focus is to try to entertain people, even if they are not connected to the internet. That is my first priority."
So what happens when everyone is comfortable gaming on the internet? "I think it is obvious that when everyone is connected online, there will be enormous opportunity for me to create something really unique."
Unique be damned, I think most people would just be happy with a true Animal Crossing MMO.
Nintendo's gaming guru on the recession, innovation and the Wii [The Economist] [image credit: jandruff]