The announcement of an official Pokémon game for the iPhone and iPod Touch caused some news outlets to speculate that Nintendo was testing the App Store water for its other major properties. This isn't the case of course, as the company clarified.
Nintendo shares rose as much as 4.9% after the announcement of Pokémon Tap for Apple devices, before dropping after Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa reiterated the company's stance towards iOS games hadn't changed.
Mitsuo Shimizu, an analyst at Tokyo firm Cosmo Securities, gave his verdict on the climb and dip:
The share movement showed how much investors are hoping for Nintendo to change its strategy. Nintendo should consider developing games for smartphones or players that can also act as mobile phones, as it suits the lifestyles of many people.
Do you agree with Shimizu's thoughts? Would you want to play Nintendo games on a smartphone? Let us know in the comments below.
[source bloomberg.com]
Comments 41
I wouldn't mind little "teaser" games that maybe get the casual audience into Nintendo characters. But I wouldn't like to see full-sized games, well Ninty games, on a phone.
With Nintendo's recent attitude towards smartphone games i can only imagine two scenarios if they actually did games for these devices.
1) Releasing crappy games with Mario skins.
2) Releasing full fledged games that don't benefit much from button controls. In this case they risk that their own handhelds seem more overpriced because the only advantage they'd give you would be button controls and in some cases two screens or 3D effects.
Personally i don't think you could get a Nintendo experience on a smartphone anyway. And it would suck if i had to buy one to get some good games they decide to only release on these platforms.
@GuardianAcorn: Hey, that could be a great idea for characters / franchises that aren't common knowledge (like StarFox, F-Zero, Kid Icarus, Animal Crossing, ...)
But i could bet Nintendo wouldn't want to put any effort in it.
I would tend to agree that they should. It could be quite lucrative. But having said that, I doubt they will since it would eat directly into the 3DS, which is something that Nintendo wants you to take everywhere. Now if only they'd actually develop original first-party content for the eShop and DSiWare...
Publish "Lite" games and make the people aware that you can buy this on 3DS eshop - or something like that.
Oh, please Nintendo release apps like encyclopedias and facts/fun on iOS and 3DS.
I still think Pokemon shouln't be on an apple hardware - really weird to grasp.
I see this as an advertisment, nothing more.
NINTENDO - MAKE A SMARTPHONE !!!
@3 dont blow our cover yet wait for next E3
@premko
YES!
how did the pokemon company make a game without nintendo's permission?
not gonna happen as long as the 3DS is around. it would be going against their own handheld
That would be a terrible idea for them.
In an odd turnaround, they're learning from Apple by not releasing games on Apple's devices. It's like the constant calls over the years for Apple's OS X to be released separate from their hardware: it would have ruined Apple's tight integration of software and hardware to cave in and do so, much as Nintendo's design approach depends crucially on integrating hardware and software design.
I dont want them to make apps cuz then ill get left out DX
sighs As strange as it may appear to some of you, this isn't the first time that this has happened. The Learning Company had published a few Pokemon titles for the PC back in the day, including a couple of arts and crafts programs and a collection of educational miniature CDs called Pokerom (I still have five of the latter).
P.S. This is also coming to Android, guys.
@12. TheAmazingRaccoon - They can do it for Marketing purposes. From the looks of it, Pokemon Tap! will be used to promote Pokemon: Best Wishes!, The Anime based on Pokemon: Black & White.
Yeah, just a little simple mario game or kirby would be nice, but I wouldn't want them to start making whle game series on a phone!
Everybody already illegally emulates NES and SNES games on smartphones nowadays, so I don't see anybody yearning for Nintendo on phones.
No. I don't want any of that stuff.
Playing to me is something holier than that. Call me old fashioned but I want my gaming platforms dedicated to gaming.
Besides, I've played many many mobile phone games on both big platforms and they have yet to amuse me more than fifteen minutes a piece, tops.
As Dragoon already pointed out, people are already emulating Big N's consoles and games on their smart phones. So if Nintendo were to try hoping into the smart phone game market, they'd have to jump some pretty big hurtles to get noticed.
It'd be a good market for them to tap into though. My wife and I devote more mobile game time to our Droids than we do our DS.
no i don't agree, there morons, they make more money and have more freedom the way they are right now.
Nope. Why would Nintendo make games for Apple Systems.
Why not do small stuff on other devices such as Apple's and Android devices, it won't hurt, and buy doing this they (Nintendo) can have way more exposure and ultimately real in more people into Nintendo platform.
EDIT: Nintendo should really stop thinking in the old ways, the battle field has changed, and they should change with it.
YES!!!
I personally would not want Nintendo games on a smartphone, I think Nintendo games ought to stay in Nintendo consoles.
Looks at article picture
OH NO YOU DIDN'T... sacrilege!!! Burn 'em at the stake!!!
If they released real pokemon games on iphone, it would vastly improve the apple marketplace but reduce Nintendo as a whole.
"Would you want to play Nintendo games on a smartphone?"
Not.......really......
just give me skype please. I understand how lots of people would want to combine their cellphone with their mobile games, but I really dislike cell phones and don't want to carry mine with me.
they could make a wind powered smart phone and call it i-fart or they could just keep making good consoles
I'm totally against this and I dont care what the investors want. Nintendo games need to stay on Nintendo systems.
I like my Nintendo games with buttons and a real d-pad.
Could this be the cold truth to an inner message? Could this be the early signs of Nintendo becoming a third party developer?.................. Eh probably not Though yes, I like my video game's with actual buttons (besides the DS of course you get a stylus)
definitely, as long as Nintendo still focuses on mostly making games for their existing consoles
Absolutely not. The last thing we need is Nintendo bowing down to Steve Jobs. Augh. Please, someone, help me erase that image from my head.
They don't even need too. Any app sized game they would think of making would end up on WiiWare/DSiWare/3DSware.
Well, Nintendo doesn't want to give out valuable games for Free, but things like this and Pokedex 3D- which has some quality, is great. Maybe an app that accompanies a game on your 3DS or Wii/WiiU?
Just don't expect full fledged games on iPhone or anything like that. It is possible they may look at Sony, releasing their PSone games on compatible Android phones. Sega emulated their Sonic games on iPhone. So, Nintendo could do it with their classic NES games.
Now I am confused. Will there be a official Pokemon game/app on the i-phone, or not?
I hope it isn't true! If I want to stay in the loop with everything Nintendo, I already have to buy 2 devices: A 3DS and a Wii u. If I also have to buy a i-phone, I go totally out of cash!!
It's also against their "Apps are evil. It destroys the market" stance. Unless they ask 5 or 10 Euro's for a app! In that case it will be a utter failure for Nintendo, since nobody will download them!
Huh. & here I thought Nintendo had their own online shops, called Wii shop, & eshop.
"Would you want to play Nintendo games on a smartphone? "
No. I wouldn't @ all. Smartphones have become more "bling, & status toys", than they should have.
If I owned a smartphone, I'd want it to do decent some things a conventional smartphone should do, such as internet access, e-mail, & of course, first, & foremost be a decent phone that I can depend on for getting someone when I need them, like in an emergency.
While I have been more than convinced for a long enough time now that the line between pdas/cellphones/handheld gaming consoles is continually growing thinner to the quite literal point of non-existence, I still cellphones, & smartphones should more focus on the actual phone functionality, than anything else, including gaming. Likewise, handhelds I feel should not try to emulate, even on a base level, cell phones, as neither system(handheld gaming console/cell/smartphone) have been properly made to do the other devices' tasks.
W/ that in mind, I don't wanna see Nintendo ips on phones. Even if Nintendo became a software-only developer, I still wouldn't want it.
Also, right now, I neither have the money, or interest in smartphones. I have no need for one either.
Why not? They did Plants vs Zombies. Angry birds would be a hit.
Nintendo should only release stuff on their own devices!!!
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