Chinese console breathing new life into Nintendo games

A host of Nintendo games will soon be available on the Nvidia set top box in China.

The news follows an agreement by the Japanese games company to license some of its content to Nvidia.

This is unusual given that Nintendo rarely licenses its games to other companies, preferring instead to use its content to boost sales of its own consoles.

Mario, the flagship character in Nintendo's video game series "Mario Bros."  [File photo: VCG]

However, in China, Nintendo's latest device, the Switch, is not available for sale. What's more, the classic Wii console has been discontinued, so for Chinese fans of Nintendo games that aren't actually all that many opportunities to play.

Throwing into the mix is the fact that Chinese gamers are more likely to enjoy playing on a mobile device than those in other countries, and you have a difficult situation for Nintendo.

The license deal with Nvidia seems to be a good solution. It will bring games including New Super Mario Bros Wii and Legend of Zelda to the Nvidia Shield, and give Chinese gamers the chance to play these titles.

The company will doubtlessly be hoping that this maintains an interest amongst Chinese gamers in Nintendo games for a potential future launch of the Switch, or another console, in China.