The ever changing games industry may be forcing Nintendo on a “path to irrelevance,” according to Atari founder and industry legend Nolan Bushnell.
Speaking to the BBC in a recent interview, Bushnell said that due to Nintendo’s reliability on handheld consoles, and the fact that their primary market audience is becoming increasingly attracted to its rivals (Sony and Microsoft), they have been left in a “very difficult position.”
“I don’t think handheld game-only devices make sense anymore,” Bushnell said. “Not when you have an iPod or an Android microtablet.”
Mr Bushnell went on to say that “when it comes to the console market, I think the market is truncating. Nintendo always had a soft spot for young people – they sort of did the 12-and-under pretty well, and the other guys did the 12-and-over. And now I think the other [consoles] are good enough on those things, and the rush to upgrade from the 12-and-under is not nearly as important.”
What do you think? Do you agree with Mr Bushnell’s opinions? Let us know in the comments below.
Published: Sep 7, 2013 4:43 PM UTC