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Nintendo: Twitch Gameplay Streaming is “Not Fun,” Won’t Be Coming To Wii U
It looks like Wii U owners won’t be getting Twitch gameplay streaming services anytime soon. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime recently made Nintendo’s opinion of gameplay streaming known in an interview, in which he said, “We don’t think streaming 30 minutes of gameplay by itself is a lot of fun.”
Fils-Aime said that the decision not to bring straight gameplay streaming to Wii U was based on the concern in Nintendo that it wouldn’t be interesting or compelling enough to consumers. “…what we’ve got to think through is, so what’s fun about that? From a consumer standpoint, what’s fun about it?” he said.
The Wii U still will have a presence on Twitch in the form of more focused content such as the highlight reels from Mario Kart 8. Nintendo also recently announced that it will be putting together a means for video bloggers and youtubers to work with Nintendo to create public content that will be exempt from copyright infringement.
[Source: Polygon]
Our Take
Given the huge success of the gameplay streaming services on the PS4 and Xbox One, it seems evident that consumers do find the idea of being able to directly share their gameplay with one another “fun.” It seems like Nintendo is trying to tell its consumers what is and is not a good use of their products, which is usually not a good way to approach customer service interactions. The other Twitch-based content Nintendo promises to provide sounds interesting, but it is a shame that gameplay streaming won’t be available for those who want it.
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