金融時報:再次回歸：任天堂重返VR

所屬教程:金融時報原文閱讀

瀏覽:

2021年10月11日

手機版

掃描二維碼方便學習和分享

再次回歸：任天堂重返VR

任天堂在1995年推出了游戲界第一款虛擬現實游戲機，但是當時代表了虛擬現實技術在消費領域的首次大膽嘗試的“Virtual Boy”卻未能被用戶接受。

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

foray襲擊['f?re?]

fiscal財政的['f?sk(?)l]

lacklustre無光澤的['læk,l?st?]

blockbuster一鳴驚人的人['bl?kb?st?]

monochrome黑白的，單色的['mɑn?krom]

compelling引人注目的[k?m'pel??]

Nintendo signals cautious return to virtual reality （425words）

By Kana Inagaki

Nintendo's president has signalled that the Japanese video games company is exploring virtual reality technology more than two decades after its disastrous foray into what is the industry's hottest sector.

Tatsumi Kimishima's comments on Tuesday came after the Kyoto-based company reported a 36 per cent fall in net profit for the fiscal third quarter.

The lacklustre result had been widely expected after Nintendo missed the Christmas season to enter the mobile games market. Sales of its game devices also fell amid the absence of blockbuster titles while rival Sony continues to enjoy strong sales with its PlayStation 4 console.

For the quarter from October to December, net profit fell to Y29.1bn ($241m) from Y45.2bn a year earlier. That came in slightly above the Y23bn forecast by analysts.

Mr Kimishima told a news conference the company was carrying out research into virtual reality. It was an “interesting technology”, he said, but there was no specific plan to launch a product soon.

Nintendo was one of the first games groups to try to bring VR to consumers when it launched the Virtual Boy in 1995. But the firm abandoned the clunky red headset a year later amid complaints its monochrome screen caused headache.

Since then, technological advances have prompted a string of companies to enter the field. Facebook-owned Oculus VR began taking pre-orders for its Rift headset last month, while Sony's PlayStation VR will be launched in the first half of 2016. Apple also hired one of the top US researchers in virtual reality.

Naoki Fujiwara of Shinkin Asset Management said: “It has now become much easier to accept a VR device from Nintendo. If it can ride on the boom, it might be an interesting development.”

For now, though, Nintendo watchers are focused on its first smartphone game Miitomo, a character-based, social network-style service, that is scheduled to be launched next month. Investors are also pinning hopes that Nintendo will offer Mario Kart or Super Mario for its second mobile game title.

For a company whose most recent console, the WiiU, has delivered disappointing sales, the mobile gaming market figures had become increasingly compelling. At an estimated $7.5bn, Japan is the most valuable mobile games market, according to Deutsche Bank, which puts the worldwide market at $26bn.

Nintendo is working on a new console codenamed NX, although Mr Kimishima did not offer any fresh details.

In the third quarter, sales of Wii U console fell 2.1 per cent to 1.87m units, while sales of its 3DS handheld game device fell 28 per cent to 3.6m units.

請根據你所讀到的文章內容，完成以下自測題目：

1.Where is Nintendo's headquarters?

A.Tokyo

B.Hokkaido

C.Kyoto

D.Sapporo

答案(1)

2.Who is Nintendo's rival, producing PlayStation 4?

A.Sony

B.Microsoft

C.Google

D.Oculus