Nintendo consolidating hardware teams

Written by David Hing

January 17, 2013 | 08:08

Tags: #3ds #hardware #wii-u

Companies: #nintendo

Nintendo is merging its home console and handheld hardware teams next months to help the two work closer together.

According to GamesIndustry International, the company hopes that bringing the two teams together will help technology and knowledge move more freely and save costs on new research and development.

The teams will be stationed in a new facility in Kyoto which could lead to greater integration between the 3DS and Wii U. The new $300m facility has been under construction for the last three years.

The Wii U was launched at the end of last year and although was met with a mostly positive critical reception, the launch was far from smooth with day one updates rendering the machine unplayable for hours after un-boxing and in some cases easily bricked by impatient users.

Nintendo is facing an increasingly competitive market than the one it launched its previous salvo of consoles into. Instead of two primary console competitors in the form of Microsoft and Sony, it now also faces the ballooning smartphone market and an incoming round of micro-consoles including the Ouya, Nvidia's Project Shield and Valve's Steam Box.

The Wii U and 3DS will inevitably struggle to live up to the high standards set by their wildly successful predecessors. With regards to the Wii however, recent figures suggest that it is the Xbox 360 that is poised to 'win' the current console generation with a forecast from DFC Intelligence showing that 46 million of the Microsoft consoles will be sold by 2017 compared to 42 million Wiis.
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