Nintendo has gone on the record many times saying that they have no interest in joining the VR industry, stating that they don't believe that consumers have actually accepted and are willing to pay for the technology. As a fun thought experiment, let's see what changes Nintendo would need toimplement in order to join the VR market. To do this, I'll seperate this article into three main sections: The headset, the controller, & the games.
The Headset
VR headsets can make or break the system, and Nintendo's already got everything they need in the Switch's screen to monitor head movement, an accelerometer and a gyroscope, the former tracks your movement speed and the later tracks your viewing angle. Obviously the switch doesn't have a full headset, but an easy way to fix that is a proper utilization of Nintendo Labo. It wouldn't be difficult to manufacture something like Google Cardboard and ship it off with VR game of Nintendo's own creation. Of course it won't look anywhere near as cool as the PSVR, but functionality is key.
The Controller
The Switch's Joy-con controllers are already removable from the console, and can be held in either hand. Using the straps that come with the console make them potentially the best controllers on the market in terms of VR, and they already have the accelerometers and gyroscopes, for measuring movement speed and angle. The reason the Joy-cons would be so well adapted for VR is due to how nicely they sit in the players hand, while having all the buttons and capabilities of a standard VR controller. They also have the added benefit of being slim and simple in design, making it easier to remember where buttons are without looking at the controller, which is unsurprisingly important in VR.
Games & Labo
Nintendo potentially has a huge market for VR games, looking briefly at some of the releases on the 3DS, we have Kid Icarus & the Metroid series, both of which make fine candidates first person games and could utilize the Joy-Cons for gun-play or bow firing, even a sequel to Link's Crossbow Training would be entertaining in VR. Nintendo Labo could also be utilized to further immerse players, maybe something like a cardboard bow, or even Nintendo's own robot kit The only modifications that would be needed would be the headset, in order to better accommodate the Switch's screen, and more space for the headphone port for better immersion.
What do you think? Could Nintendo bring something new to the VR market? What other franchises of theirs do you think would make a good fit? Is this the secret reason behind Nintendo Labo? Let me know in the comments below.
