Nintendo Believes Bad Videogames Are Worse than the Recession

More videogames are being launched each year, even with publishers vowing to cut down on quantity and focus on quality, but players often complain the industry fails to produce the gems that it created in the '90's and the early years of this new century. And now, one prominent videogame executive is joining the ranks of those who believe that a lack of great videogames is one of the biggest issues for the hobby at the moment.

While speaking with VentureBeat, Satoru Iwata, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Nintendo, said, “My belief is we should not blame the bad economy for the cause of slow sales of video games. The slow sales must be due to the lack of great software that everyone wants to buy,” adding, “This is not the problem of Nintendo alone, but the entire video game industry.”

Apparently, some of the blame for the lack of good games actually lies with the players, who have become much more adept at quickly experiencing innovations made by developers only to then dismiss them as just gimmicks. Iwata thinks some of the titles we have seen launched this year (he would not name any names) would have been bigger hits three years ago when the market was less cynical about innovation.

Nintendo plans to address the issue of quality games by shifting the perspective with the new 3DS handheld, which is set to allow completely new experiences even for older franchises. The device is equipped with special screen technology that allows players to have full three-dimensional gaming without the need for specialized glasses.

The studios behind a variety of titles, from Kirby to Resident Evil, Metal Gear or The Sims, have announced versions for the Nintendo 3DS. At the moment, the device does not have a release time frame or a confirmed price point.