Sega: 3DS can attract mature audience to handheld gaming

Nintendo's 3DS handheld has the potential to attract an older, broader audience to handheld gaming, according to Sega West's president Mike Hayes.

Speaking in an interview published today on GamesIndustry.biz, the publisher boss suggested a number of mature Sega franchises could work on the 3DS, if the handheld appeals to a wider demographic than previous Nintendo consoles.

"With the quality of the device they've got it's possible they can expand their audience into an older, broader audience," he said.

"It was interesting to see games like Saint's Row on the device. If we could bring, let's say, a House of the Dead or an Aliens title, if the audience for 3DS is much broader it could give us much more scope in that market, and that's as exciting as well as Mario & Sonic and Monkey Ball games."

Publishers are already committing triple-A franchises to the 3D console, with Capcom's Resident Evil, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed and Konami's Metal Gear Solid projects already in development.

A number of publishers, most significantly Sega, Capcom and Electronic Arts, tried to reach a mature audience on the Nintendo Wii with mixed results, eventually abandoning efforts to reach hardcore game consumers on the home console.

But Hayes sees new potential, and praised Nintendo for its vision of 3DS, highlighting the fact that while many manufacturers can jump on the home 3D bandwagon, Nintendo has created its own unique, self-contained technology.

"The 3DS is Nintendo through and through, this is Nintendo's brilliance," he offered. "They're almost in their own technological world, doing their own thing.

"Whilst 3D TV is quite an amazing technology advancement, and many companies will get into that, Nintendo will now create this huge business with their own unique piece of technology that very few if any, will be able to copy. That's Nintendo over and over again, it's fantastic. For us as a third-party it's a great leg up in terms of the portable business."

The full interview with Mike Hayes, where he also discusses the potential for Sony Move and Microsoft Kinect, can be read here.