Nintendo's top designer has 'uneasiness' about virtual reality
Nintendo's top game designer Shigeru Miyamoto finally tried the Oculus Rift at the E3 gaming convention, and it sounds like he wasn't in love with it.
"When you think about what virtual reality is, which is one person putting on some goggles and playing by themselves kind of over in a corner, or maybe they go into a separate room and they spend all their time alone playing in that virtual reality, that’s in direct contrast with what it is we’re trying to achieve with Wii U," Miyamoto told Time. "And so I have a little bit of uneasiness with whether or not that’s the best way for people to play."
...playing by themselves kind of over in a corner...
Nintendo is interested in virtual reality technology, he says, and "always looking at hardware and assessing what’s possible." But the current opinion within the company is that the technology is better suited for arcades than the living room, he says.
It's a bold statement to make at a time when Nintendo's sales of the Wii U have been struggling while the Oculus Rift, recently acquired by Facebook, is ginning up excitement around virtual reality. But some newly announced games, including a reboot of Legend of Zelda, make it seem as if Nintendo may be on its way back to the top without the need for fancy new headgear.
