Iwata and Co. are in the process of prepping for some major internal shakeups. According to the credible Japanese news outlet Nikkei.Com beginning on February 16th Nintendo Co. will be undergoing major restructures internally, particularly within the organization of its console development teams. The core change at play here is that Nintendo is going to scrap their home console and potable console development teams, in favor or creating one unified console development department. This will begin with the combination of 150 portable console developers and 130 home console developers to create said unified development team.
Now you may be asking yourself, so what? Companies change stuff all the time. While this may hold true for much of the corporate world, and even more so in the technology world, the fact is such changes are very rare and not to be taken lightly for the Japanese giant Nintendo Co. The last time the company has had any of sort of major change within its internal structuring was nine years ago, in 2004, which was shortly after Iwata took hold of the reins at Nintendo. Officially, Nintendo is hoping the move will “encourage further connectivity between console and portable devices.” Additionally, a new development building is set to open later this year to accommodate the growing development division of Nintendo Co.
So what does this mean for the Nintendo fanbase? Well, speculation points to two very likely outcomes happening due to this restructure. First and foremost, simply more connectivity between Nintendo’s two current consoles. Thoughts of using the 3DS as a second Wii U Gamepad controller, sharing save states between the two devices to continue playing your home experience away from home (something Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate will be doing), a unified account system between the two devices in order to have your Virtual Console classics shared between both systems, all spring instantly to mind. Knowing Nintendo, they’ve probably got a few unique ideas brewing as to how they are going to have the devices interact with one another. Let us not forget either that Nintendo did announce, during the Wii U unveiling, that the 3DS would be receiving a firmware overhaul at some point in order to implement Miiverse as found on the Wii U.
The other major impact that may be expected of this restructure is on the next generation of Nintendo hardware. Nintendo historically, has always begun development of its next generation of hardware nearly as soon as its predecessor has launched. With the 3DS now having been on the US market for nearly two years, and the Wii U launching just a few short months ago, it is very likely Miyamoto and the other big wigs at Nintendo are well beyond merely discussing what’s next and are actually starting to toy with some ideas that have made it past the first round of the cutting board. This may mean a complete unified Nintendo game console launching sometime in the next four to six years. Mind you, this is all pure speculation, but Nintendo may actually blur the line between your home gaming devices and your on the go devices by creating something that is equally capable and suited for both.
By: amir_zwara (Guest Writer)