Rumor: Sony and Nintendo in 3G discussions with NTT DoCoMo

Japanese wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo has told the Wall Street Journal that it's in talks with handheld gaming manufacturers to provide 3G capabilities to next-gen devices.

The company's president, Ryuji Yamada, declined to identify specific companies, but said the firm is discussing 3G with "various players".

"Videogame makers know that in order for portable game machines to take the next step forward, they need wireless communication," he said. "We are discussing this with various players."

DS and PSP are both Wi-Fi compatible, but neither can connect to a 3G network, but should future models of either handheld support 3G in the future, it would make software and security patches easier to apply.

Yusuke Tsunoda, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center, said the talks between handheld makers and DoCoMo came about due to "pressure from smartphones".

"The distinction between gaming devices and mobile communication devices, like smartphones, are blurring," said Tsunoda,"and it may eventually disappear."

Nintendo and Sony declined to comment on the report, but Nintendo's Hideki Konno, who heads up the 3DS development team, said during an E3 round table there will "probably be discussions" with carriers in the future but wouldn't go into further detail.

Meanwhile, Sony has said there's no plan for a new PSP at the moment,but SCE WWS boss Shuhei Yoshida recently told Develop the firm is working on new hardware.

Via: Industry Gamers.