IGN has a story on Nintendo’s social ambitions, and contains this doozy of a quote from the company’s most famous game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto:
“With the Wii U, a system that we’re trying to make into the center of the living room, our ultimate goal is that this might be the most looked-at screen in the house, the screen on the GamePad itself, even more so than the television. That’s our goal.”
It’s as if Nintendo is completely unaware of the smartphone revolution. Their strategy in both mobile and home gaming would make perfect sense if smartphones didn’t exist! There’s already a screen we’re addicted to, one we glance at all the time and use as a second screen while we watch TV. It’s the smartphone screen, and in a growing number of homes, the tablet screen too. Thinking another screen, attached to a bulky controller and with substantially less functionality, will replace people’s iPhone or iPad is delusional.
