Nintendo director is ‘not fixated’ on new console development

Nintendo director Shuntaro Furukawa states in an interview with Nikkei that the company is “not fixated” on developing a new console. He even suggests that Nintendo will no longer make a new console. Flexibility is important, he says.

Japanese newspaper Nikkei’s interview with Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa was translated by Nintendo Everything. In the interview, Furukawa states that the company has been making consoles for more than thirty years, but that he can also imagine that the company will stop doing so. Furukawa: “We’re not really fixated on our consoles. Right now we’re providing the Nintendo Switch and its software and with that we’re delivering the Nintendo Experience. But technology changes and I want us to remain flexible in how we think about offering that. experience.”

A little further in the interview, the CEO explicitly states that Nintendo may “move away from consoles” in the future. Flexibility is just as important as ingenuity, says the CEO. Furukawa also repeats in the interview that he wants to put more emphasis on developing games for smartphones, because that is a way to generate a constant stream of income.

The CEO also wants developers to dare to take risks. “I don’t want them to think about the consequences of failure. My main role within the company is to create an environment where developers can showcase their talents.” Furukawa admits that he is not a good developer himself and cannot judge whether a game is good or not. For that, he relies on others in the company’s management.