Nintendo has announced that it plans to release a third console purely focused on health and ‘quality of life’ software.
Nintendo plans to release the platform, which is currently known as QOL, during the fiscal year that begins in April 2015 and ends in March 2016. CEO Satoru Iwata stated that it’s a “non-wearable” device but declined to give any more details on what that meant.
The move comes after the gaming company posted its third annual year of losses in its financial forecast, the blame for which has been put on weak sales of the Wii U and 3DS.
However, many analysts were surprised by Nintendo’s announcement to launch another piece of hardware, expecting the company to instead enter the mobile gaming market by introducing its popular games for smartphones.
“What Nintendo will try to achieve in the next 10 years is a platform business that improves people’s quality of life in enjoyable ways,” Iwata said.
“What I see as our first step into a new business area in our endeavor to improve QOL is the theme of ‘health.’ Of course, defining a new entertainment business that seeks to improve QOL creates various possibilities for the future such as ‘learning’ and ‘lifestyle,’ but it is our intention to take ‘health’ as our first step.”
Source: Wired