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Smartphone users have long cried out to see their favourite Nintendo franchises appear on their mobile device, but there’s only one thing standing in their way: Nintendo.
The firm’s president, Satoru Iwata, has crushed the hopes of a Ninty generation by reaffirming that characters such as Mario and Zelda won’t be appearing on the likes of iOS or Android anytime soon.
Whilst highlighting the short-term benefits that Nintendo would reap from porting its key franchises over to mobile devices, Iwata stressed that such a move would only hurt the firm in years to come.
Talking to the Wall Street Journal, Iwata said: "If I was only concerned about managing Nintendo for this year and next year – and not about what the company would be like in 10 or 20 years – then I’d probably say that my point of view is nonsense."
"But if we think 20 years down the line, we may look back at the decision not to supply Nintendo games to smartphones and think that is the reason why the company is still here," continued the Nintendo chief."
Both fans and shareholders of the company have called out for such a move to take place, as the smartphone market continues to hurt the handheld games market – a major area of business for Nintendo – with smartphones, tablets and their associated app stores luring gamers away from dedicated gaming devices, such as Nintendo’s 3DS console.
For now, at least, gamers wanting to see their favourite plummer on their iPhone will have to remain disappointed.
