Nintendo: We're not interested in free-to-play

In a recent opinion piece, I mused that Nintendo should really have a think about offering free-to-play games via the newly released eShop.

Unfortunately, it sounds like that's a no-go. Talking to the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata noted that the company is "not interested" in free-to-play gaming at all.

Iwata said, "We have no intention to provide a property to any other platform, or making them available in a mode that does not require consumers to pay at all."

"Nintendo is a company which is trying to maintain the overall value of video games," he continued. "If we were simply going to say okay, the only the way we could sell more products is by decreasing the price, then there wouldn't be a bright future and the entire industry will fold."

Concerning the recent success of free-to-play elsewhere in the industry, Iwata believes that this will simply not last.

"There are great examples of advertising and doing the microtranscactions, and several companies who have come up with that kind of system," he admitted. "But on the other hand, if you ask me, is this the system that can be sustained for the long time?"

He concluded, "When you asked me if I'm interested in this kind of system or that kind of system, I have to say, 'No I'm not. No, I'm not interested.' And, if we do something similar, we are going to come up with something completely different ourselves."