When the Wii was first being developed, HDTVs didn’t have a market penetration rate high enough for Nintendo to justify supporting them. Now the company is saying something similar regarding 3D TVs, however, the Wii U will indeed play 3D games. But that doesn’t mean Nintendo will be the one focusing on making them.

"If you are going to connect Wii U with a home TV capable of displaying 3D images, technologically, yes, it is going to be possible, but that's not the area we are focusing on," Iwata tells Mercury News.

"When it comes to 3D, we already have the 3DS, and each owner of the Nintendo 3DS is capable of viewing 3D images,” he continues. “However, when it comes to the home console, it depends upon the availability of 3D TV sets at home, which, unfortunately, is not expanding enough. And rather than pouring a lot of energy into that kind of area, with the Wii U we'd like to focus more on each Wii U owner being able to have an equal opportunity to enjoy it."

Based off our time playing with the Wii U, it’s obvious that Nintendo has some risky ideas for the future of video games. However, supporting third-party developers, HD, and 3D TVs isn’t risky – it’s just smart.

[Via Joystick]