Rumour: Nintendo Employee Discusses Work on "Tablet With Educational Games"

Hopefully it's not true, no matter what, in ANY situation, I don't want my Nintendo games on Tablet. I doubt this rumor is true. :/

Would be nice if true. It could complement all those learning laptops used in other parts of the world.

Would be lame

If this is true, it's nice to see Nintendo thinking outside the box.

Interesting. It would be a great idea. Younger and younger children are using tablets in school and at home to play educational games.

I'm torn. If Nintendo releases a product like this tomorrow, I would buy one for my 4 year old son, and my 5 month old daughter would get one when she's old enough. Educational toys featuring great characters from a company with a family oriented background, thats the kind of stuff I want to get for my kids.

On the flip side, as a 30 year old Nintendo fan, I feel like this would be the final nail in coffin as far as Nintendo's "kiddie" reputation. I wouldn't want to see Nintendo moving resources away from game development to do educational software. Deep down, I'm still holding out hope that we'll see Nintendo take a bit of a turn and release some darker, more mature games. Not like Xbox dudebro "mature", but you know... this would kill those hopes.

Wouldn't be the first time Nintendo products were used in a classroom...

http://kotaku.com/5284180/nintendo-ds-software-allows-for-classroom-test-taking

This could be the future of Wii U or what ever, count me out.

Nintendo has done educational software before (Or allowed Mario to be used for such things.)

Are Nintendo really aiming for 3 years and older with all their games ?

(Average intelligence 6 year old I know finds them too easy. The DS NSMB was a good challenge for him when he was 5 and that is it).

I can see something like this turning Nintendo's fortunes. I daresay there would be a separate division and teams within the company developing this type of product - I also wouldn't expect to see this in the electronics department but rather the toys section.

I bet his next tweet will be "just got fired for being and idiot and blabbing on twitter" lol

If he's really an employee, he's a world-class megalomoron. What is it with some people and Twitter? Duh?

Mobile compatibility seems to be a hot topic these days with the new gen. Maybe Nintendo wants to catch up with that in their way?

It'll soon shut up all of those idiot share holders wanting Nintendo to make tablet games.
As long as Nintendo are the ones to produce the pad and control the content then it's up to them what they do with their franchises.

Wow, Nintendo aggressively hitting schools, if true, eh?
Careful that you don't make your marketing too young, or you might drive your core away.

@JenJacobsen chill out man, life's too short

What's the point of asking Nintendo for a response? They always say the same thing about rumors

"Give me the boy and I will give you the man"

inb4 New game:

"Mario teaches swiping"

(bonus point if you get the reference :>)

No way this is true. How could an employee really be that dumb?

I personally feel tablets for education are a joke. They far more commonly distract than educate (which is really about maintaining focus).

That said, it's impossible to ignore the potential and Nintendo is uniquely suited to capitalize.

They excel at creating secure, durable, economical, and efficient hardware while maximizing ease of use and streamlining functionality. Hard to believe they couldn't produce something more suited for the educational market (more cost effective, energy efficient and less prone to be used to play non-educational games/apps and access social sites).

Moreover, with Nintendo's franchises and proficiency at bridging fun with discipline (Wii Fit, Brain Training, Nintendogs, etc.)... As well as their likely substantial wealth of archived educational content from the years...

Actually, considering all this with their unique knowledge of the technology and product design, it's strange that this wasn't a possibility sooner.

(Remember, Apple was saved from the brink thanks largely to the educational system wasting loads of taxpayer funds on substandard, mechanically flawed iMacs...)

If this stays exclusively as an educational tool using Nintendo IP that would be fantastic. Back in the early 90s we had a few games to help learn such as Mario Teaches Typing on the PC and stuff like Mario is Missing, that numbers and letters game too. Designing a rugged cheap tablet that will help kids learn in a fun way would be very helpful and a nice extra source of revenue. If it clearly was steered clear of being another bs third tier of gaming and was just for learning I think they'd be on the right track of doing something excellent.

Maybe it will be a tablet for education in China.

This isn't the first time Nintendo has tried to educate with technology.
Nintendo has added DSes with educational software in Japan.
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/10/nintendo-reveals-specialized-ds-software-for-classrooms/

/Imagines kids being dragged away from school, crying because they want to play Mario. Headlines the next day, "Wii U and 2DS sales skyrocket".

Did he just refer to Nintendo as a she? O.O

Educational Games? Could be like Mario is Missing...

Doesn't nintendo already do educational software? like they made some sort of ds software to give guided tours in a museum or something like that?

sounds awesome

Sounds like a nice idea! A Nintendo educational tablet is something I'd like to see! If they made it, I'd hope to see them at my little sister's school.

I would love to see, however unlikely, a tablet or phone made by Nintendo. I would buy that thing so fast, no matter the cost

As long as the educational games are better than "Mario is Missing!" "Mario's Time Machine" or "Mario Teaches Typing," then I guess there's no harm in it. Even so, Nintendo doesn't need to make their own tablet for that; just separate apps for Apple machines. I personally disagree with the idea of Nintendo making games on other systems, but for the sake of education, there's no reason to completely dismiss the idea.

Didn't Sega have an educational/early childhood console before?

Or there's the return of Game and Watch branch.

They've done it in the past: I used Mario Teaches Typing in the 90s to learn my keyboarding true story.

Something like a Nintendo Pico? Sure, why not, thought that seems like a product marketing/differentiation nightmare what with the 3DS and U already catering to the kid market.

all I can say to this is Nintendo need more fresh players on there side I ve six kids from the age of 21 to 9 and all my kids as grown up using Nintendo

Why are people thinking this would be a commercial product for the general market? As sad as it is, tablets are being used in early education already. If anything this would be a great way to get a new generation hooked on Nintendo so it would be a good investment.

I would be all over that Super Famicom phone if they brought one out.

Not that Nintendo gives too many hoots about it's public image amongst the "gamer crowd" but I could see this putting younger people off these characters if they associate them with learning. Then again they made those Type with Pikachu games right?

I am genuinely shocked at the Mario Teaches Typing hate, I own MTT 2 and I found it quite fun! Anyway, I'm mixed with the idea of a Nintendo Tablet. If done right, it'll kick Apple and Google's duopoly in the shins and boost Nintendo's mainstream hardware. On the otherside, it could weaken the Nintendo brand and damage core gamers.

I heard this yesterday, I love this idea. I would totally buy this for my kids (future kids)!! Dr. Mario can teach us!

Nintendo has done something similar in the past, but they utilized the DS system running specialized educational software, instead of a specialized hardware device as in this story. I can see this happening for educational purposes, but NOT for sale to consumers.

On a side-note, I'd totally buy either of the mock-up devices if they were real. I can see them both as a phone actually, instead of a tablet device