Defying the credit crunch once more, Nintendo has spent 12.8 billion yen on a site near to its headquarters. It plans to use the site for research and development of new software and hardware, with its existing R&D department likely to merge with the new place.

Many people have questioned Nintendo’s reluctance to expand further given how much money it has been making of late, and it finally seems that it’s spending a bit on making more games. How much of this new facility and its staff will be allocated to creating Wii’s successor isn’t known, but I’d wager that that is going to be highest on Nintendo’s agenda, as it attempts to figure out how exactly to follow two of its most successful consoles ever, while revolutionising gaming and simultaneously remaining accessible to its expanded audience. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it.

Alternatively, perhaps Nintendo has decided it doesn’t really need third-party support, and is just going to release more Wii and DS games to sate its loyal fans, who’ve been vocally complaining about its directional shift over the past few years.

Whatever it’s used for, the likely outcome is ‘more games’, and should that mean a worthy follow-up to Super Mario Galaxy, then I’ll be more than happy.

Thanks to Kotaku (via VG247)

Bookmark It

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 10:59 pm by Chris Schilling
DS, Hardware, Japan, Nintendomination, There has never been a better time.