Nintendo boss: MS and Sony have brought "powerful" products to gaming

Speaking at a Learning Without Frontiers event in London, Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton has praised the arrival of Microsoft and Sony in the games industry, saying the two have brought "powerful" products to market.

The competition afforded by the two companies' inclusion in games has helped "to promote game development, providing the extra tools for developers and help them experiment and explore new ideas and concepts," Yarnton said, as reported by MCV (via Eurogamer).

"As an industry we can provide people with a lot of different options across formats with the view of having something that can appeal to everyone," he added.

Yarnton admitted there are "really powerful programs and games that come from Sony and Microsoft," calling PS3 platformer LittleBigPlanet a "fantastic example".

The exec went on to talk about how "games are good for us; socially culturally and economically," citing the example of game centres in children's hospitals.

Yarnton also discussed how Nintendo had helped eradicate the "old image of a gamer 16-24 antisocial male".

"We have children and families all paying together," he said.

"Almost 50 per cent of Nintendo users are female. We believe at Nintendo games can have more social credibility than being something enjoyed in isolation."