In an interview with the Mercury News, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto addressed the company's stance on the current economic climate and digital distribution. When asked about the recession's effect on Nintendo, Miyamoto responds, "(we're) thinking of how a family spends their budgeted entertainment money. ... Rather than a dad going out and buying something that he wants," Miyamoto adds, "(we're) creating something that we can present to them as something the whole family will use."

The interview goes on to discuss the role of digital distribution in Nintendo's future. "The thing for us is we really don't see the future of videogames being merely confined to digital distribution or moving solely or even to a majority of our products being distributed that way." Miyamoto goes on to comment on Sony and Microsoft's motion controls, saying that he thinks bringing new users to videogames through natural controls is great, but that the challenge lies in getting those controllers "into the hands of the people."




Tyler says: My knee-jerk reaction is to read this story as evidence that Nintendo is once again leaving behind the hardcore. When Miyamoto talks about creating something the whole family could use, I immediately think of games like Wii Music, Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit. Sure, those games have merit, but Mario they are not.

Yes, we're getting a new Mario, and sure they're working on a new Metroid game, but with every new peripheral comes a new family game. And with every new peripheral Nintendo is further splitting the userbase. It won't be long before everyday moms and dads become frustrated because they don't have plastic toy "X" to play family game "Y."

And how short-sighted does its view on digital distribution sound? James Lee over at Edge Online pointed out that while Miyamoto is still unsure of digital distribution, sales on Steam and Direct2Drive rose during the first quarter of 2009, while Nintendo's fell.