FUN FACT: Trip Hawkins founded EA in 1982.

EA's on-off relationship with Nintendo has become so epic that it could be turned into a Hollywood romance, but the pair appear to be at the stage of exchanging furtive glances across the room at the moment, with the massive American publisher indicating that while it is supporting the Nintendo Switch, it is going to do so in as cautious a manner as possible.

Speaking at the recent Credit Suisse 2016 Annual Technology Conference in Arizona, Electronic Arts Chief Competition Officer Peter Moore had very much the same tone as we've heard previously:

Nintendo has always been and will always be an very important partner in this industry. They have some of the best first party development studios in the world, and some of the most valuable intellectual properties in the world. We have announced publicly that we got a partnership with them on their new platform, the Switch, we haven't talked in detail on what's that about. You can imagine, as you heard, that a major game will be distributed on that platform.

We're huge fans. We have a relationship that goes many decades back. They've had some difficult times as if recently obviously, but never, ever, ever discount Nintendo in this marketplace, and their ability to leverage their superb game development opportunities. Their intellectual properties, whether it's Mario, whether it's Zelda, whether it's Metroid Prime, we could go on forever about what they can do… obviously Pokémon, we've seen more recently.

We're gonna watch with interest and you can rest assured that EA, just like every major publisher, is in regular conversations with Nintendo.

What could this "major game" be? FIFA or Madden are both obvious choices, and it's worth remembering that both were present for the launch of the Wii U, a console EA unceremoniously dropped when it became obvious that bumper software sales weren't going to be forthcoming. Perhaps EA is working on something entirely new for the Switch? Let us know your predictions - as well as your thoughts on Moore's comments - by posting your opinion below.

[source dualshockers.com]