Recent reports claim that Nintendo is working on a new 5G technology. In a recent shareholders meeting, the Japanese company told its investors and shareholders that it is 'investigating' some of the recent advancements in the development of 5G technologies. Among those mentioned by the company are aspects of cloud streaming.
Top Nintendo executives said that the company is not simply working on 5G technology to "chase trends." This might mean that the company is seriously considering its entry into the 5G development market, a niche of technology seen by experts as the next biggest thing to happen in technology.
During the company's 79th Annual General Meeting for Shareholders, Nintendo said that it is working on advancements in 5G and virtual reality. The company also added that it is currently working with some allies and rivals in the market of cloud gaming.
Both Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo's biggest rivals in the console market, have confirmed that they are working on the next generation of their respective flagship consoles. Tech giant Google has also publicized its intention to enter the gaming market with its own streaming service Stadia. With these developments, it would appear that Nintendo is lagging quite far behind in the gaming market with the absence of its own hardware.
It would appear that Nintendo is shifting its focus outside of the gaming market and instead focus on a new and upcoming technology: 5G. According to Nintendo Director and Senior Executive Officer Ko Shiota, "5G can send a large amount of data without latency. We are aware that this technology has been gaining a lot of attention, and Nintendo is also investigating it."
Mr. Shiota added that Nintendo is not jumping head-on into the 5G bandwagon. Instead, the company will focus on how this new technology can be applied to the gaming industry. Among those that he mentioned are the expected influence of this technology towards creating new gameplay experiences.
It has been confirmed in the past that Nintendo is working on technologies that can steam cloud-based games into its flagship console, the Switch. However, doing so requires quite a more powerful technology other than current generation Wi-Fi and LTE connections. With 5G's promising speed, Nintendo might finally be able to pull off its cloud streaming ambitions.
Since the start of the year, a number of cities in the world have already launched 5G technologies. However, due to its relatively high cost, the mass rollout of the technology might take years to be fully implemented.
