Miyamoto questions digital distribution

Nintendo’s boss of development and games industry legend Shigeru Miyamoto has questioned the belief that a digital-only future for games retail is inevitable.

The thing for us is we really don’t see the future of video games being merely confined to digital distribution or moving solely or even to a majority of our products being distributed that way,” Miyamoto told The Mercury News.


Entertainment is something that will not just become digital. If I look at Wii MotionPlus, this is something that you’re not doing via digital distribution.

The acclaimed developer added that the impact digital distribution has had on the games industry to date is minimal, though he did concede that it has opened some new doors.

The hope for business departments always is how they can reduce costs. So if you look at digital distribution with the fact that you don’t need money for packaging and things like that, it’s great.

As a developer, it’s not changing how much money you’re bringing in; it really doesn’t change what we’re focused on.

However, I think it creates a lot of opportunity for a lot of different developers. Personally, I’m one of those guys who, even if I have all the songs from iTunes, I want the CD as well. It’s something that makes me — I feel more reassured with that physical media.”