The Nintendo Switch is the company’s least traditional console since, well, ever. It’s not a home console per se, but it’s more powerful than any handheld we’ve yet to see. It has classics like Mario, Zelda and Metroid, sure, but it also provides its youngest fans with zany DIY cardboard playsets that play collections of mini-games.
Now, Nintendo is taking its less-than-traditional approach to games and hardware overseas and bringing them straight into the heart of Silicon Valley – a new report says Nintendo will be partnering up with a venture capital firm to find startups to create new Nintendo hardware.
The report comes by way of Bloomberg, who says Nintendo will be partnering with San Francisco, California-based Scrum Ventures to find new, innovative ways to interact with the Nintendo Switch.
Specifically, Nintendo is looking for components, sensors, chips or other add-ons that will provide players unique ways of interacting with Nintendo hardware.
Neither Nintendo nor Scrum will invest directly in these ideas, however, but rather offer support and guidance bringing these devices to store shelves.
From card games, to video games, to cardboard video games
Nintendo’s eccentric development ideas are nothing new: Most will remember how Nintendo broke new ground with the Nintendo Wii, one of the most successful consoles ever made.
The Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Labo and this new pilot program are all just an evolution of that concept of being different in the all-too-similar-feeling hardware space. Nintendo might not be able to compete with Microsoft’s or Sony’s high-powered gaming consoles, the Xbox One X or PS4 Pro, but it’s not trying to. It’s taking its own path up the mountain.
So just when will we see these new peripherals on store shelves and in our own homes? Scrum says they’ll handpick startups in the next few months to prepare for a pitch meeting with Nintendo sometime in the later half of this year.
If you’ve ever wanted to work on a Nintendo product, here’s your window of opportunity.
- Speaking of peripherals, these are the best Nintendo Switch accessories