Nintendo is reportedly interested in getting back into virtual reality, according to the Financial Times.
After Nintendo reported its earnings on Tuesday, Nintendo’s president Tatsumi Kimishima said at a press conference that the company was researching virtual reality and found it an “interesting technology.”
Nintendo offered no other specifics with regards to when we might see its virtual reality product.
Two decades ago, Nintendo officially became one of the first companies to try to bring virtual reality to mainstream consumers. In 1995, Nintendo launched the Virtual Boy, which promised to “totally immerse players into their own private universe.”
The Virtual Boy was relatively expensive at the time (around $180), much more expensive than the company’s bestselling Game Boy. And it was limited: it completely blocked out people’s peripheral vision and required a steady surface. But worst of all, people complained about getting headaches from the device: the head-tracking wasn’t accurate enough, and the graphics weren’t very good.
As a result, Virtual Boy sales were abysmal, and Nintendo quietly discontinued the Virtual Boy a year after its release.
Now, Nintendo is looking to get back into virtual reality as dozens of other major tech companies have staked their claim in the space. Apple has reportedly amassed a team of “hundreds” to work on virtual and augmented reality products, while Google and Facebook have entire divisions dedicated to VR.
More importantly, two of Nintendo’s biggest competitors — Sony and Microsoft — are working on virtual and augmented reality solutions. Sony has PlayStation VR, which will work with the PlayStation 4 and come out this year, and Microsoft has its HoloLens augmented reality headset, which will be shipping to developers early this year.
Nintendo really needs a hit right now. Even though its handheld division is performing well, its current living room console, the Wii U, is suffering from extremely poor sales. Nintendo is expected to announce a new console this year — perhaps it will work with whatever virtual reality solution the company is developing.
So what will Nintendo's return to virtual reality look like? Last year, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime talked about the current state of virtual reality, suggesting Nintendo might have an idea how to make it more fun and social.
“We have knowledge of the technical space, and we’ve been experimenting with this for a long, long time,” Fils-Aime told Polygon. “What we believe is that, in order for this technology to move forward, you need to make it fun and you need to make it social. Based on what I’ve seen to date, it’s not fun, and it’s not social. It’s just tech.”
