Miyamoto chats about Wii U and 3DS connectivity
Console and handheld connectivity have long been a part of Nintendo’s plans. The GameCube/Game Boy Advance were the first two systems to make major use of connectivity, and all of the company’s hardware since then have linked up as well.
The Wii U is fast approaching, but we haven’t heard much about how the console could connect to the 3DS. Is Nintendo interested in pursuing this feature?
Shigeru Miyamoto explained:
“Of course we are thinking of the possibility of connecting Wii U and Nintendo 3DS once again. [But] we have challenged connectivity on many occasions, and one of the great lessons we have learned is the simple fact that those who own both are much fewer than those who don’t own both. So what we decided early on when considering the Wii U design was that we had to make it so that every single purchaser of the Wii U is going to have the same play conditions, the same equipment.”
Miyamoto added:
“Even between Wii and 3DS, there are some things that can be done by connecting with each other – Mii channel is interchangeable on both systems. There are things that can easily done by transferring data between Wii and DS or 3DS systems. If we are going to do that with Wii U and 3DS, there would be three screens to consider. The reason why we were not so eager to do a similar thing between Wii and DS if that it would have become very complicated using two screens on the DS and one screen on the Wii. But of course we are trying to think about a way to expand the experience of 3DS and Wii U when they are connected with each other, one way or the other.”
