Nintendo says it is ‘looking’ at virtual reality

Having previously dismissed the technology, Wii U and 3DS platform holder Nintendo has seemingly softened its stance toward VR.

Analyst Serkan Toto says that the company has told investors that it is looking at VR”, although it did not elaborate.

There are three premium virtual reality headsets on the way this year – Facebook’s Oculus Rift, Valve and HTC’s Vive SteamVR and Sony’s PlayStation VR. Google has already made inroads into the market with its Cardboard headset, while Samsung’s Gear VR, made in collaboration with Oculus, is already available.

Even Apple is being tipped as making a VR move of its own, and while Microsoft seems slightly distant from the sector it is busy developing its Hololens augmented reality headset.

Nintendo, however, has been cool on VR until now. Last year both American boss Reggie Fils-Aime and development boss Shigeru Miyamoto said the tech was at odds with the company’s social philosophy – none of which has stopped analyst speculation that VR work has been going on behind the scenes.

So Nintendo (at the briefing) just said no change in plans for the smartphone app roll out. Says they "are looking" at VR – with no details.

— Dr. Serkan Toto / Kantan Games Inc. (@serkantoto) February 2, 2016