Nintendo not a believer in current VR tech
Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime says the VR efforts so far are simply not fun
The entire industry is seemingly consumed with VR mania these days, and while virtual reality has been a big focus for many companies at this year's E3, Nintendo is certainly not one of them. In fact, Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime hasn't liked what he's seen so far in the field of VR.
"What we believe is that, in order for this technology to move forward, you need to make it fun and you need to make it social. I haven't walked the floor, so I can't say in terms of what's on the floor today, but at least based on what I've seen to date, it's not fun, and it's not social. It's just tech," he remarked to Polygon.
Of course, Nintendo was one of the first gaming companies to attempt any VR experimentation when it released the oft-derided Virtual Boy back in 1995. The monochromatic system was quickly discontinued only months after it launched. Nintendo has also played around with augmented reality efforts, offering AR games on the 3DS portable, but it's never been a major focus, and indeed the 3D aspect of the 3DS itself was downplayed after Nintendo witnessed a lack of excitement from consumers.
Needless to say, Nintendo's R&D group is always working on things, and for all we know the upcoming NX platform could offer some sort of VR, AR or both. "We have knowledge of the technical space, and we've been experimenting with this for a long, long time," Fils-Aime said.