Nintendo claims VR is not ready for mainstream adoption

Posted on Tuesday, June 21 2016 @ 14:22 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
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While Sony and Microsoft are both preparing for the onslaught of virtual reality, Nintendo says it's not interested in VR capabilities. In an interview, Nintendo of America’s CEO Reggie Fils-Aime claimed that VR isn't ready for mainstream adoption:
“In my judgment, I think VR is a bit further out there for mainstream, mass market applications and applications that consumers can invest a lot of time in versus short snacks of entertainment,” Fils-Aime told Bloomberg.

“For us, we want to make sure that technology is mainstream,” Fils-Aime continued. “We want to make sure the technology represents strong value to the consumer… So the way we look at VR or even AR… for us the technology has to be at a point where it can be mainstream, and then it takes content creating companies like us to really make things that the consumer wants to experience, that they want to jump into the particular technology.”
As pointed out by the linked article, Nintendo's last foray into VR (the Virtual Boy) was disastrous that the company may be hesitant to revisit it. Fils-Aime is also right that VR is anything but cheap. You need quite a lot of graphical horsepower to deliver a convincing virtual reality experience and on top of this you also need a $600 - $800 headset. Pricing needs to come down significantly to reach the mainstream market.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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