Nintendo Moves Further Away From Games

Image by Omeburo via The Rabbit Snare

Engadget is reporting on a recent Nintendo business presentation wherein company President Satoru Iwata announce his plans for more “practical” applications on the DS. The announcement implies that the big N wants to move even further away from games and at the same time strengthen their relationship with casual and non-gamers. You may recall my previous post on the their enthusiastic contentment with the Wii’s board-game characterstics — this just drives that point home even further.

Of course it’s just good business to grab even more unclaimed market share, but is anyone at Nintendo as concerned as I am about these new trends the company is taking? While the DS has certainly seen it’s fare share of real games, the Wii is looking to end up just like the N64 and Gamecube with its dearth of third-party support. It probably won’t die the same ugly death, though, because it will survive on its current appetite of casual and repetitive party games.

From the WSJ article:

Mr. Iwata said he would consider practical uses for the Wii and DS, but that it made sense to focus on the DS first, because it has sold far more.

“This is the first device that is portable and wireless and anybody can use. And with so many devices out there, it would be wasteful to not turn it into a tool,” he said.

The article is fairly short so I may just appear to be grasping at straws, but honestly anything that proves that Nintendo is really thinking less about games has me worried. On the one hand I’m excited to see what Nintendo can do by using their hardware in more creative ways, but on the other I know that if Nintendo casts a wider scope in their purpose, the games we’ve grown to love will suffer.