Investors are screaming out for it, but Nintendo is remaining relatively stubborn. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata believes the key is not to bring Nintendo’s games to other platforms, it’s making people aware of console games using mobile devices.
“The spread of smart devices does not spell the end of game consoles. It’s not that simple,” he said.
“It doesn’t mean that we should put Mario on smartphones.”
The interesting thing about investors pushing towards the mobile market is that, for Nintendo, the handheld business is booming. Many believed it would be the first to suffer with the rise of smartphones, but the 3DS continues to be the highest selling console in the market, even with the release of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The fact is Nintendo’s troubles started with the Wii U, a console that’s struggling to keep pace with its competitors.
Nintendo’s response has been to add funds to its research and development which suggests a few things: Nintendo believes its best move is to make more video games. Software sells consoles: that’s always been the mantra at Nintendo. It also suggests that Nintendo may be fast tracking the release of a new home console or that it plans to work on more new IP. Perhaps Nintendo is looking at making inroads into the mobile market in different, unique ways.
Regardless of what it means, change could very well be afoot at Nintendo.
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20 responses to “Nintendo Isn’t Planning To Bring Its Games To Mobile Devices”
But what comes after the 3DS ? Will that console have enough punch or features to make it a better choice for gaming on a smart phone?
If those features are actual controls than yes. Smart phones are great for touch screen games, but the original Super Mario Bros still sucks to play on them.
Stay Nintendo, Nintendo.
hard to stay what you are. when what you are is a leaky boat in the ocean.
WiiU is more like the titanic. Started off with everyone saying how awesome it is. But then it hit an iceberg, the iceberg being that no 3rd party devs like it and no one is buying the console. Its a fast sinking ship.
Can you draw naked chicks on the controller’s touchscreen?
You can draw naked chicks on anything. Here’s a Sharpie.
Beyond some cool touch based games like Jetpack Joyride, mobile gaming is terrible and something like Mario needs proper controls.
the wii u is only struggling due to lack of killer titles… the 3DS was exactly the same… yet now people praise the 3DS as the most amazing thing ever (and its pretty damn good i have to say)…
how quickly people forget… the 3ds was shunned for about a year as far as i remember… it took a price cut and some awesome games before it picked up, whos to say the same can’t happen for the wii u?
3DS doesn’t really have much competition, though, other than the Vita which is pretty much a niche device and not any serious competition at all.
Wii U, on the other hand, is getting squeezed from both sides – it’s got the PS4/XBone above it which are vastly superior pieces of hardware and, while they’re more expensive, they’re probably offering better value for money in terms of bang-for-buck. And below it’s got the PS3/360 which are pretty close to the Wii U in terms of hardware, are significantly cheaper and have vastly superior game libraries, many of which can be had at dirt cheap prices these days. Plus Sony and MS have the online side of things sorted out to an extent that Nintendo can only seem to dream of.
What puzzles me is why the Wii U has been so short on games over the past year while the 3DS has just seen a procession of quality titles. You’d think Nintendo could have redirected some of those games from 3DS (whose cup has runneth over in the past year) to the Wii U which has been pretty much starving to death. Nintendo had a 1 year window in which to build momentum on the Wii U before the PS4 / XBone arrived to steal all the attention, and they squandered the opportunity.
the thing that sets the wii u apart from a ps4 or xbone isn’t the power of the hardware though… its the games… the nintendo exclusives…
they’re just not coming out quick enough 🙁
The last thing Nintendo needs is to make their excellent IPs play like garbage on buttonless touch screens where you need to stick a big finger on the screen.
The DS is perfect. It still has buttons when they are needed and the stylus means you get precise control without obscuring the screen. Don’t send a damn thing to mobile markets!
Smart Phone gaming sucks. Start smashing out more exclusives for wii u and it will sell just like the 3ds.
I know I caved and bought both a 3DS and wii u and love them.
Obviously I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t want to play games on mobile devices.
I feel as if they aren’t suited for it. Games such as Infinity Blade, etc. Feel unwieldy due to either the over-sized or undersized screens.
Mobile Game Consoles such as the 3DS don’t have this problem due to the lack of fingers on the screen but instead placed in a comfortable position that fingers should be in.
Some of these fears are somewhat exaggerated.
This financial year is the first in which they are reporting a loss, and a big part of that is over production of the Wii U in line with very ambitious forecasts of sales.
What they have always done has let them be far more financially successful (even in the gamecube years, in which they still reported respectable profits) relative to Sony and Microsoft (who have often had their gaming divisions report significant losses at times, and profits in others).
In fact, their financial performance is the most stable and consistent of the three.
That’s not to say they shouldn’t change and they shouldn’t be wary of their current position, because the video games market is changing.
Smartphones aren’t the answer though and I think Nintendo are wise for not taking that route.
I quite like playing Sonic 2 on my S4… is it as good as with a megadrive controller? No. But its still alright. I managed to finish it anyway. Same with Donkey Kong Country (though had to save state a fair few times).
Super Mario World however just doesn’t quite work. There are too many sudden button switches you have to do with Mario that just don’t work well enough on a touch screen. Fighting games fall into the same category.
People buy Nintendo for Mario, keeping it exclusive keeps them afloat. Could you imagine if halo was on every console, Microsoft wouldn’t have sold half the consoles
Why is there only ever pressure on Nintendo to release their games on everything, nobody complains about MS or Sony exclusives.
because MS and Sony didn’t release there consoles with a handful of crap and then forget the consoles existed for 2 years.
It’s not just because of crappy sales of the Wii U, when the Wii was selling like hotcakes people still said Nintendo Exclusives should be multi-platform.