Iwata Says "Absolutely Not" to Smartphone Games

Nintendo will always be stuck in the past, until the day they really are in the past.In most businesses, you only get a chance or two to screw up, and then you are done. It seems Nintendo makes people want their bad decisions. Kinda like Apple.

Well, I don't know, many of Nintendo's games are quite casual, like Mario, Zelda etc. Not casual as in demeaning sense, but they can appeal to anyone. So, they could bring their titles to smartphones.

I agree with Nintendo's stance here...in the end there will be 1 dedicated gaming company and it looks like it will be Nintendo. If they want to build hardware that enters the mobile market down the road it makes since too. The prices will be even cheaper, they will be able to enter the market as a gaming platform with mobile as an option, but gaming is their number one business.

Nintendo is different from Sony, I dunno why everyone thinks they should go the smartphone route. Nintendo has always made profit from both software and hardware, but it's speculated that the 3DS maybe the first piece of hardware they are losing money on, but we still don't really know if that's true. I still think they make a few dollars for each sold. Playstation and the Xbox do not make profit from their initial hardware, infact they lose buckets loads from the hardware but have other divisions of leech off of. Playstation and Xbox are software/licenses driven. So it's easy for playstation and xbox to go the smartphone route as that's their main source of profit. But if Nintendo goes the software only route, they'll lose a large chunk of profit that they get from their hardware division. So it makes sense to keep their software to themselves to help drive hardware sales. How these people can't seem to understand this is beyond me!

If Apple released all their software on Android and or PC, who would even by their hardware, where they have 10x mark ups?

I can respect his opinion, because he's not basing his decision on what's going to be "profitable" but rather on what's going to entertain people. I'd hardly say Nintendo's "stuck in the past" considering many of their ideas have been revolutionary compared to their competition which has stuck with tradition. I can't say I always agree with these decisions but they are the ones trying new ideas like motion controls and dual screens. Riding the waves of trends is NOT always the best course in the long run.

Exclusivity is one of the most important factors in the video game industry. Exclusive titles have kept NIntendo in business since the n64 era. They're selling their hardware thanks to their own software. They may not still be in business were titles like Zelda, Metroid, and Pokemon on other platforms. Had Sony not had exclusive 3rd party titles on the Playstation, there might not have been a PS2. The day Nintendo starts selling their exclusive titles to other platforms is the day their hardware business fails. They just need to make quality titles that still encourage people to buy the hardware. 3DS doesn't have anything to sell the system, and it's failing because of that.

I call BS. Apple is not a threat because a phone will NEVER be an adequate gaming device. I would rather have a DS/3DS instead of a phone anyway, a focus on well-made games will always surpass a 'do it all' device that does everything half-assed. Nintendo hasn't succeeded this long by accident, they know what they're doing. There's just no way to compare Nin's excellent lineup of titles to some throwaway stuff on a phone that only lasts as long as it took to spend that dollar.

but those are the biggest sellers that move systems, a catch 22.




THANK YOU, its not only me who sees that there is no software on the 3ds and thats why system sales were dead.

and when the good games started to come out, it was after a what, 2-4 month gap of nothing, followed by another 2-4 month gap of nothing? the people who will pick it up because of nintendo alone, already did. the people who will pick it up on software alone, either did in the beginning for streetfighter, or held of for zelda, than realized there was a huge gap so are waiting a bit longer, only to see another huge gap. i didn't even get a ds until almost he dsi was out. so yea... i waited on software.




a few days ago, a smartphone that was snapable into a tablet, a laptop, and a gaming shell was shown. i have said sense the iphone 1 that that is all that it would need to be a serious gaming device.

i could see apple doing this, and charging a premium on the phone because its the core, and selling the laptop and tablet portions for 1-200$, and if there was a gaming portion... i may actually get a touch for myself.

Stupid if Nintendo wanted to branch out and make money somewhere they can at least offer their last gen DS games to smart phone users.

Here is the thing, and I know this is not going to be a popular stance, but consumers do not know what they want. Just look at the i-phone. Can you honestly tell me that you wanted a phone that is tied to one vendor, that requires apples permission for you to get add-ons, and that is expensive? Absolutely not, but look at the success of that piece of hardware...

Investors are often (

Here is the thing, and I know this is not going to be a popular stance, but consumers do not know what they want. Just look at the i-phone. Can you honestly tell me that you wanted a phone that is tied to one vendor, that requires apples permission for you to get add-ons, and that is expensive? Absolutely not, but look at the success of that piece of hardware...

Investors are often (

No I don't. And according to above comments (most of them) I am not the only one.
If I want a great gaming experience with Nintendo games, I do not want it to be ruined by average virtual touch base gamepad on a smartphone.

iPhone is very incompetently designed phone. Well iOS looks sweet but the hardware is... meh! My cheaper and more primitive Nokia is much better designed and it works and lasts for long time. The iPhone is everything but a phone!

8 hours of game play on a smart phone = radiation to the nuts ! who wants to try?

nintendo to me is the worst console company, cause they dont have so much guality in game design, i like good graphics in a game.

but i will stil say many of their games has ALOT of potential on mobile, imagine they did an old school mario remake and charge 20$ for that, its overpriced yet stil people will go mad for it, the marketing could perhaps make over platform deals, from the wii,ds, 3ds. just saying, i understand his point but he doesnt need to fully take on mobile, he can easily make 2-3 SIMPLE games(yes those 2D games are easy to make)it wouldnt even take a month a game(to remake). then just sell that.

nintendo can try and dominate both markets, isnt that what the xperia play is trying(and failing horribly though)

yes i dont like nintendo , cuz i wont pay for a system and constatntly get that uality level. but i will admit it has some good titles and since it aint resource intensive i cant see how it can be hard

Frankly entering the smartphone games arena, even as a token gesture would've been a good one. It probably takes minimal work to port classics like Mario and Donkey Kong but you could generate quite a revenue stream by selling it for $1 or $2.

@shqtth
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Thank you Nintendo, I would really be disappoint to see them wasting time on a smartphone platform.

The fact is Smartphones (and tablets) are not good as a gaming device; well, as serious gaming device.

Yes, you can dinner dash, birds can be angry and virtual cars may be steered. Yet, the fun of game play is not dashing dishes or throwing birds or steering cars. Mario is fun, Don Kee Kong is fun, why ?

Acclaim's Wrestlemania was fun but many Smash Downs aren't. Why ?

Graphics is only a part of the equation. The fun factor is the selling force and Nitendo has it.

Finally a smart man with a sensible attidute towards business. A long-term thinker. Nintendo should be Nintendo. It's time that shareholders learn to think long-term as well since they caused the current economic decline o/t western world. THEY caused that bank-shit in 2008.
As for consumers. What consumers? Teenagers and kids whom changes whenever something new is in fashion. Applause for Mr. Iwata for sticking with his core-business. See how well HP fares after their webos debacle.

You actually answered your own question as why Nintendo should stay away from smartphones.

I applaud Nintendo's stance on this. Nintendo has first and foremost always been about fun, quality gaming. Let the uninformed shareholders bark at you all they want, as long as you keep releasing quality games, the real gamers will always support you, Nintendo.

Nintendo has really made some stumbles with the 3DS and I am not nearly the Nintendo fan that I used to be, but I can't help but respect their dedication to true, classic video gaming.

In my opinion, if the gaming market turns to micro smartphone games, then the industry is dead regardless of whether Nintendo, Sony, or anyone else follows along. Angry Birds and Farmville aren't video games.

Here's an idea. Why not just add "phone and text" capability to the 3DS? Continue to make it the best gaming experience as Nintendo has, but just slap in phone and text capability. Maybe add a sim card slot, and people could plug in their headphones make calls, text or even download games. I would love to be able to bring it to work and justify it as my "phone"

The point is they don't have any patents on Antenna etc.

...I foresee pain in Nintendo's future... They'll end up being the next Sega, a company which THEY bought. All of their intellectual properties, and everything will become a part of some larger corporation like Sony or Microsoft, and we'll Sonic, Mario, and Master Chief all in the same game! Super Smash Brothers 4! Or is it 5 now? LOL

Nintendo stuck in the past? Well that's a first

I like how people say Nintendo's stuck in the past... yet they've basically pioneered a ton of hardware based features in consoles.

In order for a video game company like Nintendo to succeed, they need a stable platform that isn't subjected to variation. The smartphone "platform" (used loosely) is a highly variable system, and I daresay it's more volatile than the PC gaming market.

I've said it before, touch screen phones suck for gaming.

Problem is Nintendo, you need to deliver hardware people actually want. The 3DS could have and should have been so much better. People wouldn't be expecting Nintendo to create mobile games as much if Nintendo came out with a killer handheld gaming device. The 3DS is much better off with the price drop, but it's still just kind of lame ... especially with the Vita around the corner.

Nintendo has been a part of the "mobile" future for many years, anyone remember the Gameboy? Today they have the 3DS.
What you are griping about is that it doesn't have a phone built in.

People did want it, but the sticking point has lways been pricing, when they did the recent price drop sales went up by 260%, that is pretty conclusive.

@back_by_demand

Yeah it's selling alot better now, the price drop was a smart move by Nintendo. IMHO they should have ditched the whole 3D thing and tried to focus on better hardware though. I mean, for most people 3D will give them a headache in a few minutes (for me it did) and it's really not good for young kids eyes as we saw with the reports. Once the Vita comes out, I just don't see any compelling reason for anyone to buy a 3DS even with the new price. I guess my point is, I don't think people "wanted" 3D.

I couldn't see any reason to buy the Wii when the PS3 came out, but it still sold as many as the PS3 and Xbox360 put together.
Sometimes you just can't predict what people want, even if the hardware appears inferior, people are weird like that.
The only thing we should really say about Nintendo is never to underestimate them.

Definitely a good choice. I have a smartphone, but it has issues being so many things at once. I end up buying dedicated devices like an MP3 player and a GPS to compensate for the smartphone's shortcomings