Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, the master of talking a lot without saying much, recently spoke about 4K gaming and Nintendo’s plans for it.
And according to Reggie, Nintendo has no plans of joining the 4K bandwagon right now because the 4K gaming audience is too limited.
“A sweet spot of $300 for the Nintendo Switch, a platform that has Mario and Zelda and Splatoon. Going against a more limited consumer pool, a higher price point, requiring investments in other ways — 4K TVs, what have you — that is a strategy that for us, candidly, is a bit too limited.”
In other words, Nintendo doesn’t want to force to consumer to invest in more tech (like a 4K TV) in order to enjoy the games they make. Which of course makes sense — it’s easier and more consumer friendly.
But it also means that Nintendo is once again leaving it to the other companies to push the envelope when it comes to tech, and then Nintendo will join years later.
The company did the same with online features, and now finds itself at a distant third to Sony and Microsoft when it comes to online infrastructure and multiplayer.
For the Switch however, 4K was never in the talks — most games run at 720p, a fraction of 4K, and even when docked, only some games support full 1080p resolution.
And according to a recent NPD survey, less than 15% of US households have a 4K right now (which is expected to grow substantially over the next few years).
Do you have a 4K TV? Would you like to see Nintendo’s next home console to support 4K? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!
