Nintendo’s ‘Quality of Life’ Disappears As Sleep Tracking Gadget Plans Are Shelved

Last summer, it leaked out that Nintendo was planning to release an ambitious non-gaming product, one that monitors your QOL, or Quality Of Life. Being a company that's integrated to the core of video gaming, the development of a QOL product came completely out of left field. As we can now see, it might be a little bit too out of left field, as Nintendo has decided to put the project on ice.

These latest plans were revealed during an earnings call, by Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima. Despite no questions being raised about the progress of the QOL device, Kimishima decided to get it over with, "We do not have the conviction that the sleep-and-fatigue-themed [device] can enter the phase of actually becoming a product."

Given the sheer amount of QOL devices on the market right now, that statement seems a bit odd. Clearly, many other companies see massive potential in the QOL market. Fitbit is a great example of a QOL device that scored immediate success. What seems like a countless number of vendors have also released smartwatches and other fitness devices as well. What do they see that Nintendo doesn't?

It's probably clear that Nintendo's QOL device was going to be unlike most others. It had to have that Nintendo "flair", if you will. It could be that the big N didn't think it could properly pull off success with such a device, although it's not closing the door on the idea entirely. Kimishima continues, "we still believe there are things we can do in the general category of Quality of Life, and we will continue to study the possibility of expanding into this field."

Whether that happens sooner or later is hard to guess. Nintendo might in the interim choose to shift the bulk of its focus towards its upcoming console, the Nintendo NX, which could launch by the end of the year.