Nintendo's president is confident that there will not be an end to console gaming any time soon.

Even with the rise of cloud-based gaming and social gaming, Iwata reckons that consoles still have a firm place in the games and that the and audiences even overlap with social gaming audiences.

Iwata told an analysts' Q&A session: "We do not think that the combination of a game system and dedicated software will last forever. However, we do not believe that dedicated to gaming shall (become obsolete and) perish in a few years. I personally think that kind of scenario is unthinkable."

He continued: "The reason why we have been making systems dedicated to games is because creating engaging experiences that can not be available on other devices is the lifeline for the company."

Thanks Gamasutra.

By Ewan Aiton