Nintendo's games used to be only available on their own consoles. However, the company recently launched a massive mobile initiative with games like Pokémon Go, Super Mario Run and others.
It's not that surprising, then, to read that during today's Nintendo's 77th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders investors asked Nintendo executives whether they planned to create games for PC since they are already on two-thirds of the gaming market (console and mobile).
The answers were kindly translated by Alex Aniel via Twitter.
Game industry has 3 segments: mobile/consoles/PC. PC expanding greatly, programmers being birthed overseas. Does Nintendo plan to make PC software/hardware?
Kimishima: We’re aware there are many PC users. Our unified soft/hardware approach is good. However, we also support smartphones. Thanks to smartphones, Nintendo IPs are recognized, leading to returns on console front. Please see videos of our E3 announcements.
Shinya Takahashi: We were at E3 two weeks ago with Mario Odyssey. This year public had access for the first time; 50K industry; 15K public. People lined up at Nintendo booth since early morning. Hard to see floor. Last day usually less busy but not this year. People on final day waited for Miyamoto. He also made a surprise appearance at the Ubisoft conference.
Miyamoto: I participated in Rabbids PR/special presentation. Tons of attention towards Nintendo; seems PC didn’t have as much this year.
Unfortunately, these are not the answers many PC gamers were hoping for. President Tatsumi Kimishima said that the company is aware of the PC market size, but didn't really provide any hint that Nintendo games would appear on the platform anytime soon.
Meanwhile, legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto noted "tons of attention" towards Nintendo at E3 2017, adding that the PC platform didn't seem to have as much.
Respectfully, we have to disagree. Unlike consoles, the PC platform doesn't really have groundbreaking announcements from a single manufacturer, despite the valiant effort of PC Gamer's PC Gaming Show, so making less noise than Microsoft, Sony and the Big N is pretty much a given. That said, PC gamers are well aware of their "exclusive" games as well as the fact they'll be able to enjoy the very best versions of literally every multiplatform game.
That said, I still think Nintendo is missing out on avoiding the PC platform entirely. I'm sure lots of gamers would promptly buy their unique titles.
