With the introduction of cloud gaming and streaming as new ways for people to play their favorite games, Nintendo has now joined the discussion as a party that may be looking into the market as well.

During Nintendo's recent shareholder Q&A session, Ko Shiota, head of the company's hardware department, was asked about the possibility of 5G integration in the future. Shiota responded by saying, "Nintendo is also investigating [5G]", while being upfront in saying two of the company's biggest obstacles will be both the cost of acquiring a more advanced data network, as well as making sure the gameplay experience isn't negatively impacted by the technology.

"When considering what to offer in our entertainment and services, we think about both how the technology will be applied to gameplay and what new experiences and gameplay we can offer consumers as a result of that application. Cost is also an extremely important factor when it comes to 5G. It's difficult to use even an outstanding technology if the cost is too high, so we will continue to also thoroughly investigate the cost of new technologies."

Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa also discussed during the session his thoughts on cloud gaming and streaming, options he sees as a way to "increase the worldwide gaming population." The ability to stream would be a feature that would greatly benefit from an upgrade to 5G, given that Nintendo's competitors will be entering the cloud gaming market with this idea in hand very soon.

One of those major competitors is Google Stadia, which launches this November as a streaming platform already supported by dozens of third-party developers, with that number likely to increase over time. Microsoft is planning its launch of Project xCloud later this year, as well as teaming with Sony to improve streaming and cloud gaming quality in the future.

If Nintendo plans to "investigate" the ideas of both 5G and cloud gaming, it will likely need to do it sooner rather than later. The company has tried its hand at cloud gaming before with Resident Evil 7 on Switch, however that version was strictly limited to people living in Japan with a suitable wi-fi connection. It's possible however, given how early it is in the Nintendo Switch's lifecycle, there could be an upgraded version of the hybrid console with 5G and cloud gaming in mind.

Source: Nintendo Life