Nintendo might provide a service similar to PlayStation Cross-Buy for 3DS and Wii U in the future

Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto has said that making games that run on both Nintendo's handhelds and consoles is an "area of opportunity".

This was part of a conversation that Kotaku's Stephen Totilo had with Miyamoto at E3 this year.

Totilo asked Miyamoto whether Nintendo could possibly merge their currently separate console and handheld game development teams.

Totilo then proposed that Nintendo might be able to introduce a system akin to Sony's Cross-Buy and Cross-Save features.

You see, with many PlayStation games you can buy them on a console, say, the PS3, and then get the PS4 and Vita versions at no extra cost (if they're available). You can also transfer save games across platforms.

Miyamoto said that having two teams working on home console and portable games at Nintendo is a big stress. So, yes, it would be looking at unifying the two teams going forward.

Miyamoto also noted that the recent proliferation of digital distribution has encouraged Nintendo towards these kinds of decisions.

He also agrees with the notion that purchasing a download of a game should mean you own it on all available Nintendo platforms.

Miyamoto then reiterated Totilo's point, saying that Nintendo needs to change internally before it can promise any kind of service similar to PlayStation's Cross-Buy.

"Certainly from a development standpoint there is some challenge to it, because if you have two devices that have different specs and you're being told to design in a way that the game runs on both devices, then that can be challenging for the developer," Miyamoto said,

"But if you have a more unified development environment and you're able to make one game that runs on both systems instead of having to make a game for each system, that's an area of opportunity for us."

Miyamoto isn't the only one talking about merging Nintendo's development teams, either.

As Totilo points out, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata talked on the topic to Nintendo investors last winter. The relevant snippet is below but it's worth reading all of his comments.

"Previously, our handheld video game devices and home video game consoles had to be developed separately as the technological requirements of each system, whether it was battery-powered or connected to a power supply, differed greatly, leading to completely different architectures and, hence, divergent methods of software development.

"However, because of vast technological advances, it became possible to achieve a fair degree of architectural integration. We discussed this point, and we ultimately concluded that it was the right time to integrate the two teams."

Perhaps, in the not-so-distant future, you'll be able to buy Wii U games and get the 3DS version at no extra cost, and vice versa.

It seems that Nintendo might be gearing up to provide a service that delivers along those lines.