Ex-Nintendo Boss: No Need for Ports, 'Huge Gap' With Rivals

Former Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser says Nintendo doesn't 'feel the need' to bring its games to other platforms, citing a 'huge gap' in development costs versus other studios.

Nintendo isn't losing sleep over porting its games to other consoles—at least according to its former US boss. Doug Bowser, ex-president of Nintendo of America, says the company simply doesn't "feel the need" to spread its ecosystem beyond its own hardware.

Bowser made the comments during a recent roundtable with several well-known game industry veterans, where the conversation turned to how Nintendo approaches software publishing. According to The Gamer, he explained that Nintendo's hardware and game teams work closely together in a way that's different from other companies, optimizing the whole development plan at "as low a cost as possible."

That tight-knit setup, Bowser argued, has created a "huge gap" between Nintendo's development costs and those of basically every other studio out there. And it's a model that has "worked well" for the company over the years.

Instead of chasing multiplatform releases, Bowser said Nintendo focuses on building its own "Nintendo universe." Funnily enough, he added that the company doesn't "feel the need" to expand that ecosystem "outside its own platforms"—a pretty clear hint that Nintendo has zero interest in shipping its games on rival consoles.

There are, of course, a few exceptions. Nintendo has dabbled in mobile with titles like Super Mario Run and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. But looking at how Mario Kart Tour has played out, it's safe to say mobile isn't exactly the core of Nintendo's long-term plans.

Honestly, none of this is shocking. Nintendo has always been famous for its hardline stance on exclusivity and for fiercely protecting its intellectual property. Still, with both Xbox and PlayStation now testing the waters of wider game releases, it's kind of refreshing—and definitely noteworthy—to see a console maker sticking firmly to serving its own core fans.

So what do you think? Should Nintendo keep its games locked to its own hardware, or is it time for Mario and friends to show up on more platforms? Let us know in the comments.