Nintendo is not planning to follow in the footsteps of arch-rivals Microsoft and Sony by going all-in with video game streaming, the company has admitted.
Although there have been a number of attempts to bring game streaming to the mainstream, it was Google Stadia that really fired the starting gun. The £8.99 a month subscription service lets you play triple-A titles like Assassin's Creed and Doom on your smartphone, laptop and Chromecast 3 dongle – with nothing but a high-speed internet connection and a Wi-Fi connected controller.
Microsoft has already unveiled an all-digital Xbox One S that can either download titles the old-fashioned way, or take advantage of its forthcoming Project xCloud game streaming option. Likewise, the feverishly-anticipated Sony PlayStation 5 is tipped to include its own streaming service via PSN.
And what about Ninty?
Well, executives for the aren't exactly bullish about the idea right now, although they're willing to admit that it's more than likely the future of the industry.
Speaking during recent shareholders meeting, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said: "While we don’t expect all games to become cloud games any time soon, the technologies are definitely advancing. We see a future where cloud and streaming technologies will develop more and more as a means of delivering games to consumers. We must keep up with such changes in the environment.
"That being said, if these changes increase the worldwide gaming population, that will just give us more opportunities with our integrated hardware and software development approach to reach people worldwide with the unique entertainment that Nintendo can provide."
Nintendo director Shigeru Miyamoto – and creator of best-selling franchises like Super Mario, Legend Of Zelda and Donkey Kong – agreed that "cloud gaming will become more widespread in the future," but was quick to add that these systems will not replace console hardware, like the Nintendo Switch.
“We believe it is important to continue to use these diverse technical environments to make unique entertainment that could only have been made by Nintendo," he said.
The Switch hardware enables players to pause and take their favourite titles wherever they – plugging into the nearest HD TV to rejoin the action on the big screen, exactly the same promise offered by Google Stadia and the like.
The hardware limitations of the Switch mean that it cannot match the same graphical prowess, or the size of the worlds seen on other consoles – but you can also play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on a plane, something that isn't possible with any streaming service. So, you know, swings and roundabouts.
Nintendo will launch a portable-only Switch, dubbed Nintendo Switch Lite, this month, while the Japanese company is widely-tipped to be working on a successor to the Nintendo Switch, believed to be called Switch 2 or Switch Pro, with beefier specs, and a high-resolution OLED touchscreen display.
