Atari founder Nolan Bushnell has suggested that the Japanese firm Nintendo is in a, “very difficult position” for this coming generation.
Game analysts are coming to the conclusion that the Wii U may fall the way, ironically, as Atari’s own Jaguar console which failed to sell to any high standard in 1993.
Mr Bushnell’s comments come from, ‘Campus Party’ an event at London’s O2 Arena that brings together a mass assembly of technological projects.
In one of the keynote speeches, Mr Bushnell, who now runs the educational software company known as Brainrush developed his comments further.
“I don’t think handheld game-only devices make sense anymore…not when you have an iPod or an Android microtablet. When it comes to the console market, I think the market is truncating.”
He goes on, “Nintendo always have 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.”
Many attribute Mr Bushnell’s comments to his own learning experiences from Atari’s dramatic fall in the 90’s, a fate he seems to believe may befall Nintendo.
With the Wii U being released ahead of Christmas last year it has experienced incredibly slow sales and will now be contesting against the likes of Xbox One and Playstation 4 come November.
Indeed, some key retailers are no longer stocking Wii U consoles, Asda being the main force in this move.
For Mr Bushnell, the future lies elsewhere, such as in the Oculus Rift a virtual reality headset that has been backed by several main leaders in the gaming industry.
“The problem with virtual reality has always been motion sickness…If they’re able to really get the reality and the image right, with low latency, I think they’ll get it.”
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