Nintendo Set To License All IP to Mobile Publisher DeNA

It's happening...

Wow. Are things this bad for Nintendo right now? I can't help but feel this won't go well in the long run...

RIP Nintendo as a 1st party

About time. A market with basically unlimited potential for them. It makes perfect business sense to go into it and I'm surprised it hasn't happened earlier.

No need to panic. It's not as if the next main series Zelda or Mario is going to be on android/ iPhone. It'll be games like Pokemon shuffle and other small puzzle games using Nintendo IP. More money to develop the games we want can't be a bad thing.

Makes cup of coffee just to do a spit take

This... this came out of nowhere. A subscription service available on mobile, PC, and Nintendo hardware is also much welcomed by many (@Quorthon )

The best news here is that the online membership is coming. I suspect a true unified account system independent from hardware. This is also likely the replacement to Club Nintendo.

Also notable is that DeNA is now 10% owned by Nintendo... and 13% owned by Sony.

And yeah, Nintendo isn't going mobile. They're just doing what Iwata said they were going to do all along - use mobile to leverage their own IPs.

All mobile games are doggeypoop so as mentioned above it will be just trashy pay to play and micro games.

Codename of the next console/handhelds were announced by Iwata today as well as codename NX.

This is big. This is really big...

Well, this will mark a stark departure from a hardware-locked digital software strategy...

And the fire storm begins... I suspect there will be about 300 comments here before I wake up tomorrow.

Worth noting that Iwata specifically said that they wouldn't be porting their own games to mobile. He also made a point of their "continued commitment" to dedicated gaming hardware by announcing that a new console codenamed "Nintendo NX" was in development. This is big news for sure, but it's not "Nintendo going third party"....

Look at it this way: The consumers aren't chasing after anything with "Nintendo" printed on it anymore, so it makes business sense for Nintendo to move in the direction of the customers, and like it or not, but the mobile market is huge.

@renaryuugufan92 wonder if it is a replacement if a current system or a "third pillar" like the DS was. Apparently it's a new hardware with a new concept.

So... Mario Teaches Typing scenario for a modern audience?

@renaryuugufan92

Did he use one codename for both consoles? If so then has this been done before or does it indicate that this generation will be a portable/ home console hybrid?

@Oren87 He didn't specify which.

RIP Nintendo 1887-2015
Zelda CDI all over again

Something touched me deep inside...

The day...Nintendo...died...

I don't think this means Nintendo is doomed in any way. They see enough demand for mobile games, and are acting on it. Can't say I'm too happy about it, though I'm more upset that Nintendo was acting all strong and keen on not producing mobile games, only to produce mobile games anyways.

@Oren87 hard to tell from just tweets. Saw a slide with mobile devices in one side of a text bubble and 3ds,wiiu,and,nx on the other. I think it could be a device for streaming these new titles and maybe virtual console/eshop games. That's just speculation I'm reading of course.

If anything, this means even MORE games with our favourite IP. Just don't expect AAA calibre Mario, Zelda, Kirby and Fire Emblem on mobile platforms.

Guys, stop overreacting. This would be bad if Nintendo was developing the mobile titles, but they are only giving IP rights to a mobile publisher.

This doesn't mean that Nintendo is straight-up going mobile, they are far from taking the road that companies like Sega, Square Enix and SNK have taken.

Calm down, there is nothing to worry about.

Reading Nintendo is doing development and branding while DeNA does all the backend technical aspects.

This is bad.......really really bad...... Mommy i'm scared.....is this the end?

The spokesperson just said that the excellent game experience that you get on Nintendo consoles won't be ported to smart devices.

@Barely_Able

Ah, I see. Thanks for the clarification.

For anyone declaring this is the end for Nintendo; take a deep breath and think before posting. A lot of you want to see Nintendo competing with the big two again. There is no way this will happen without making moves like this. The market has changed immeasurably in the last decade or so and Nintendo hasn't moved with it. If we all still want to be playing new Nintendo games in twenty, ten or even five years then something has to change.

What a coincidence. I was just thinking about this on the subway ride home from work today, seeing multiple people just randomly playing casual games on their smartphones. This is Nintendo adapting to modern technology and the new face of gaming in the 21st century. Home consoles are slooooowly going the wayside, and it'd probably be more profitable for Nintendo to just focus on gaming.

We're getting Mario on our handheld smart devices, and so is the re$t of the world. Nintendo as company is saved!

Can I get a hallelujah.

Good! Finally nintendo is getting with the times!

I really hope this doesn't backfire...

Why is this bad? More money, licensed IP, new games and new experiences.

What this mostly does is give the stockholders, analysts and industry something to chew on.

It gives Nintendo a breather to concentrate on what they do best, games instead of having to answer "WHY AREN'T YOU GOING MOBILE". They partner with well known professionals and license their IP's to them.

I like it.

My jaw literally dropped.This really is monumental news,at least in the world of Nintendo anyway.Now for a barrage of overly dramatic comments about how this will be the end of Nintendo when really it's anything but.This if done right can make them a power house again.more relevance,more sales,and more money to make better games and consoles.

So dedicated smartphone games that are separate from those on their own hardware, a subscription service that will likely be the replacement of Club Nintendo, and new hardware to be shown next year, codenamed Nintendo NX. Wow. Just... wow.

Never have I wanted to leave a "grabs popcorn" meme until now.

I hope this doesn't signal the beginning of the end for Nintendo hardware somewhere down the line...

I guess it really was only a matter of time.

I hope there will be some tough restrictions on what types of games can be created with the IPs, and how much they must differ from their Nintendo platform counterparts.

And quality assurance. DeNA is not exactly known for anything other than successful pocket farming strategies.

On a more serious note:

I feared for this day and I hope this doesn't mean what everyone think it means. Hopefully it's just a small step in a new direction and won't affect Nintendo in the long run.

What I really can't figure out is why they use time on this, when they could be making games for those who bought their consoles.

I'm going to bed. I expect a massive ****storm when I wake up.

If done right it could be great for Nintendo. Their IPs (well, most of them, anyway) are well suited for mobile apps, that will entice more people to buy their consoles and games.
But yeah, this is history.

Hakuna your tatas, people.
The Nintendo NX is coming.

""As proof that Nintendo maintains strong enthusiasm for the dedicated game system business", Iwata adds, "let me confirm that Nintendo is currently developing a dedicated game platform with a brand new concept under the development codename 'NX'."Iwata says Nintendo will share more information about the new hardware "next year"

I was going to go out but screw that I'm staying right here.

Guys watch the actual presentation announcement before you say anything

I wish I had a "I did NOT see this coming" gif at my disposal.

I'm more interested in Codename NX than this, but I wouldn't be surprised to see stock soar soon because of this.

Edit: I assume that new membership service will be Club Nintendo's replacement?

OK, reading this I get the feeling that Nintendo is the active part here and DeNA is just needed so Nintendo can focus on the games and not the mobile backend for Android and iOS.
This is in it self nothing bad, it actually can be something really good if Nintendo plays their cards right. If they now create a rounded out software library to capture the mobile crowd as potential 3DS/WiiU owners and dose so with quality low budget games they can make a fortune with this while increasing their install base for WiiU and 3DS .... I don't see where this move is bad, because Nintendo stands for quality as far as I'm concerned ...

To top this all off, if they make a dedicated eshop app and a WiiU/3DS companion app and sell some of the marketing space to 3rd partys to advertise their games they could also get part of that cake back.

So I'd imagine NX is pronounced as "Next", right?

Again, worth repeating the things Iwata has said on the stream. The "Nintendo NX" announcement is purely there to show people that they're not "going third party". My best guess is that it's a 3DS successor. Iwata at one point was asked about some of the exploitative nature of some free to play games, specifically said that Nintendo would never create that sort of content. Thirdly they said that the games on mobile would be "different games" and that they wouldn't be porting their games. Because buttons.

This is more of a licensing deal and permission to DeNA to create games based on Nintendo IP with Ninty working as a quality controller.

All good in my mind.

Welp... I foresee that our traditional software droughts are going to get a bit longer..... sigh They are going to have to use dedicated teams to make these mobile games, which will take away time and resources for our 3DS and Wii U games.
I'd love to be wrong though. As I'm not interested in mobile gaming at all.

I have my doubts that the 3DS and Wii U install base will grow from this. I see Nintendo making lots of money for sure, but I don't really see mobile gamers, who only play mobile games because they are cheap and on their smartphone, will go out and buy a dedicated handheld system to carry around with them as well as their smartphone. Let alone buy a Home Console.

No..dear god.

NX = Nintendo Cross-device

Home console and handheld

This is very surprising! I almost yelled out but luckily, I was in my office so I got control over that.

But I don't think this is the 3DS successor because its like they said, to release a new system so soon would be a disappointment to us all. Then there's really no reason to even have the N3DS if that's the case. And some will argue that the Dsi had suffered from this but the thing is, the Dsi barely had any games that mad people want it. The N3DS, definitely seeing it there.

This is rather surprising news.......I don't know what to think about it but at the same time, I know Nintendo isn't going to be stupid to doing something like SEGA.

Nintendo about to print even more money, im cool with that

Cant wait to see Nintendo stocks graphslol

@Artwark

All we have is a codename though. If they aren't going to release any details until next year then it could still be 2-3 years until it's release. That will mean the 3DS is 6-7 years old. Sounds realistic to me.

Also with the Wii U they have already started winding down. Expect it's life cycle to be shorter than consoles that have come before it, especially if the next console combines portable and home.

But actually this cant come as a suprise, since Iwata stressed several times that Nintendo IS/WAS looking into how they can utilize smart and mobile devices (in a way that would support and strenghten their console buisness)

A straight forward approach of just cashing in the money by releasing classics/straight forward ports and thus supporting other company branches still seems far fetched, by Nintendo standards, and is kinda cool.

At one point or another I've seen at least half the users here say that the day Nintendo games are on mobile, they would be finished with Nintendo.

Bye guys!!!

It could be good from an economic point of view but I'm afraid the games they will make are going to be mediocre like the other smartphone ones,

Finally getting with the times albeit late as usual.

I've said it would be smart to go mobile for ages, but not like this :s They should just port the classics to mobile, takes almost no effort, very little cost, but they'd make loads off them. Who cares if they control like crap, we're not going to be playing them, but it boosts Nintendo's funds and boosts the brand.

This sets up a real chance that there will be a major shift in Nintendo's focus, as the mobile games are going to make so much more than what the average 3DS games does.

The online membership part of it all sounds great though. Netflix for classic Nintendo games, yes please.

Meh if the quality of mobile games is like Sony we have nothing to worry about, people need to calm down a bit.

"Speaking in a press conference this morning, Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata confirmed Nintendo would take charge of the actual game development - the front-end, gameplay and UI that players actually see.

DeNA, meanwhile, will be working on supporting Nintendo by providing back-end services and server knowledge"

Nintendo had to make this move and it makes complete business sense, even though I don't game on mobiles I'm looking forward to this.

I enjoyed everyone's comments, Now I want Nintendo to make a cell-phone-game-device for all of this new software. Wii-U,N3ds and new cell device. I'm just waiting to give Nintendo more money😉

@Randomname19 They did say they would offer more premium experiences on their consoles. It's a general rule for mobile games: they're either terrible, or a port of a good game, but with terrible controls.

Any word on what their stock's doing right now?

@CB85
Up 2% from yesterday, 1 month rise about 14%

UNIFIED ACCOUNT: YES. MOBILE GAME EXTENSIONS: YES. HANDHELD/CONSOLE COMBO: YES.

Please don't make good games on mobile
I bought a new 3ds for a reason...

@allav866 hope you're right mate

@Peach64 I'm not sure how it will boost their brand by releasing games that "control like crap"? If anything it would do them more damage than good.

This isn't really anything we don't already know about. It's good that they're making the games themselves.

Well, at least they choose partnership rather than jumping into the smartphone market themselves. That means, they still have their focus on their console platform, while leveraging their IP to the other developer. It means that their console business won't go away anytime soon.

I sincerely want Nintendo to success, but I hope this smartphone games partnership won't be too successful, so that won't tick Nintendo head nor their investor to make them focus on smartphone market. At least, with partnership, they won't lose much if it failed and their console business won't be damaged. All I hope is that it's going the way Iwata hoped, increase brand awareness to boost their console market.

Oh no...

@Timppis

Excellent. I expect it will only rise.

If this makes money so they can create the games that we want then I can understand the business side of why Nintendo would branch out into the mobile platform.

iMario Awakens

I think this is about making things like a miiverse mobile app or a game like pokémon shuffle or a nintendo streaming app for their anime and directs.
Maybe they port stuff like mario vs. DK or (god forbid)make a Mario runner.

You get a good night's rest, and in the middle of it, this happens. The moral of the story: never go to sleep, kids.

I'm expecting Quorthon going to cause a crapstorm any minute now. Overall I'm just worry if Nintendo is going to be a complete failure in the mobile area.

When I first read about this a little part of me was not happy, sort of sad in a way that Nintendo has had to give up it's traditions and values to jump into mobile gaming. Now I have had some time to think about it, it is definitely the right decision for Nintendo to go onto mobile platforms. I like the idea that they will make exclusive games for the smart phones too! I would hate to see them just lazily port existing games as this would devalue those games. Nintendo have said some very strong statements today and I think they need to act quickly. Nintendo make strong comments sometimes and do not follow through, this needs to be done and needs to be done now! I just hope this means Nintendo will have one unified account with all it's systems and that the next console will be powerful and kick Sony and Microsoft out of the park.

They're Nintendoomed!!!!!!!!

If we go off of standards for console reveal to launch, NX is at least a year and a half out. Quite frankly I could see them pushing it to 2017 if it is a wiiU replacement so as to not alienate that install base. Can't wait for the thousands of speculation threads that will be made between now and then.......

@Barely_Able I can't wait for the rumour stories about the new console, we all love rumour stories, let them begin I say haha!

@Aussiephoenix83 hell yes I love speculating about new hardware!

Son of a biscuit! This is the beginning of the end...

I hope you dirty, filthy shareholders are happy.

Well this is surprising! But I don't think that they're doomed, as some of the comments are making it out. Them exploring the mobile market was bound to happen at some point, wether we like it or not. But they're not going straight out mobile. This is basically just to increase brand awareness. And that could potentially work out rather well. They could probably get some mobile users to get a Wii U or 3Ds in the process. Besides, as long as they're still making games for their consoles, I'm not worried.

As long a they continue to make consoles (both handheld and home console) and continue to make games for those, I don't care. If they stop doing that and go strictly mobile... well, I guess my console of choice will be switching.

lawl I love how some folks are freaking out. Nintendo will still be making hardware and still be making their awesome games on said hardware. They'll just be making smaller, budget titles on iOS such as Pokemon Shuffle and such.

Give the doom and gloom card a rest for once. We don't even know everything about this yet either.

Im not going to count comments, but glad to see its a fairly even split, I was afraid this place was going to turn into Jonestown. Let cooler heads prevail I say.

@Jazzer94 - You're more knoweledgable than most about the number of Sony IP currently available in the form of endless runners and such. Many of the Nintendo fans on here probably arent even aware that any of those games exist.

Of course if they were aware, they probably blame the Vitas lack of sales on those games, and you would point out how well PS4 was selling despite those games, so it still wouldnt matter

@rjejr Lol, not sure how many will get the Jonestown reference. I say this is not a white night for Nintendo fans (although many have been drinking the mobile = doomed kool aid). I personally think that Nintendo has a good opportunity to use mobile games to get people interested in their dedicated gaming platforms. They could easily throw in advertisements for games in their smartphone titles and even link to websites about other games on consoles. It will all come down to how they price games, and if they don't parasitize potential traditional game sales by offering up decent mobile alternatives.

I remember when leverage was a noun.

The beginning of end.

More on topic, there is a great opportunity here to exploit some of their properties that aren't completely in the public conscience. Take Fire Emblem, for example. Surely there's a way to make a simple adventure game that would build some affinity for the characters in the forthcoming 3DS title, no?

Mario Maker could have been a title that made this work perfectly. You can design levels anywhere with a massive variety of devices, but you still need the console/handheld to actually play them properly.

The pressure of the shareholders must have been huge for Iwata to do this.

@MasterBlaster Bahahahahaha so true... I love how all these Ninty fans were so opposed to mobile games. But all a sudden Ninty open's up their mobile division and they're all cool with it... LOL

@Grumblevolcano

The way Nintendo fans have been treating the consoles, it's going to happen eventually. As I've been noting, when even Nintendo fans are only using the hardware as "Nintendo boxes" and no "game consoles," Nintendo's time as a first-party publisher is running out.

This, however, doesn't quite sound like Nintendo is losing it's first-party status just yet. That will happen when the next console fails when it doesn't have any 3rd party support after generations of 3rd parties being treated poorly on Nintendo consoles.

This could be a way to gauge interest in certain franchises like F-Zero, Golden Sun, Eternal Darkness, and more. With the membership program Nintendo will know how many of those users actually own a 3DS or Wii U.

@Vineleaf Fire emblem is a perfect game to emulate Hearthstone. Card packs with characters and weapons and whatnot. They have 25 years of history to draw from too, so expansions would be quite easy. Plus they could get the Pokemon company to help if they need since they already have experience working on a trading card game for iOS.

It's good to finally see Nintendo grow up a little and make some corporate decisions to strengthen their brand, reach, and image. I doubt this was a response from the embarrassing shareholders meeting Iwata recently held ("look at all our Metacritic scores compared selectively to the competition who we have been saying aren't competition!"), but I'd like to think the shareholders have finally had enough of his lazy manner in handling things.

Ooh, this makes me a bit nervous... but I guess as long as their portable/home consoles arent neglected...

And maybe this is Nintendo acting proactively. Between amiibos, their QoL stuff, movie/TV show rumors, and now this, maybe they're trying to find more ways to bring cash in as they're [supposedly] gonna merge their portable and console in the next gen.

Oh... oh this could.... this could be bad.
Let's see how this plays out before we throw a tantrum though.
Hopefully the Wii U is not my last console

Sigh at the doom and gloom, LOL at people thinking Nintendo is going third party.

This is good news in the business end of things. As long as the Wii U and 3DS keeps getting great games at a good pace, I'm fine.

Also, fingers crossed that the NX is the console/handheld hybrid people have been speculating about. With mobile development a thing in the company, they really need to concentrate efforts when it comes to dedicated gaming devices, and a hybrid console would be perfect for that.

Sigh.

Sign of the times, I suppose.
We'll see just how bad this gets. I'm not optimistic.

@Barely_Able - "It will all come down to how they price games,"

It's been a long morning - about 8 or 9 or even 10 articles on this already - and I haven't read i tall yet, but you are the only person I've seen mention price, which was 1 of my first thoughts.

There are still 2 types of games on mobile, most are free-to-play, but there are still a bunch of 99c and even $5 games (I think Sonic is $5). Hard to know which route they'll take. Endless jumpers w/ Kirby could be free and nothing more than advertising for all the "real" Kirby games, or they could make $5 Kirby games that are more like real games and try to make some money.

I suppose it will be a little of both, but I'm curios how the IP are used.

Like a couple others said in here, it's just Nintendo delivering on their statement that they were goning to use mobile to leverage dedicated hardware. I'd imagine that takes time to put together. Also it delivers on the licensing their IP statement. The whole shares exchange also gives them a boost in their war chest.

All of Nintendo's IP is being handled by a separate house.
Club N and the account system is getting a much needed upgrade.
All of this culimates to a future console which brings this together and a drive for Nintendo to better their games and attention to underutilized IP.
Heh, ol N is making a big step forward.

Well, maybe Nintendo in the long term becomes like SEGA, a software publisher.

But, I do have serious a question: why would anyone buy a Nintendo handheld console, when they can play these nintendo games on their phones/tablets?

Before everyone overreacts to this news, keep in mind Nintendo has already announced a new hardware platform with the NX.

As for Nintendo licensing out their IPs to DENA, its no different from them letting Tecmo work on a game based on the Zelda franchise or Namco making a fighting game with Pokemon characters.

The only difference is that their IPs will come out on Smartphone devices. And I highly doubt it will be something like a major Zelda or Mario game. Most likely, smart devices will get a Nintendo App and games like Pokemon Shuffle and Rusty's Real Deal Baseball.

This is not a bad thing. Did Xbox sales plummet when tablets got a Halo game? Did Playstation sales drop when mobile devices got a God of War game?

This helps Nintendo extend their reach and showcase their IPs to a bigger audience. More importantly, it gets their investors off their back who keep wanting Nintendo to go into the Smartphone market. They can now focus on their core business, which is the next generation of Nintendo hardware.

Sony and Microsoft have already adopted the use of Smart Devices to help promote their systems. Microsoft is even going a step further and is trying to integrate Windows 10 with not only PCs, but mobile devices and the Xbox as well.

The core of Nintendo is still there. The Leadership, key figures, development teams, they are still there.

All Nintendo is doing is moving more into the modern gaming market. Their rivals have already done this. It's Nintendo's turn now.

@CaviarMeths Sony sold their stocks.

This is what Nintendo said it was going to do — use existing IPs to develop games and other software for mobile devices.

The cross-ownership means both have a stake in not making trash.

This is far better than porting for the quick buck but eventually devaluing the IP — which has been the strategy of many companies.

I think some people are overreacting here. No where does it say they are actually abandoning consoles. Iwata stated that smartphone games will be original dedicated titles. This pretty much falls in line with his previous statement of using smart devices to leverage the Nintendo brand. This is huge and makes good business sense

@Vineleaf
"Mario Maker could have been a title that made this work perfectly. You can design levels anywhere with a massive variety of devices, but you still need the console/handheld to actually play them properly"

This, ladies and gentleman, is a guy who gets it. Imagine a Fire Emblem demo and app that lets you play a few levels and then design your own stages, but points you to the proprietary handheld/console in order to play the full game and use your (and other's) created levels. Or WarioWare.

@Yorumi I don't think we are going to get main Nintendo games on mobile devices,. at least not yet. My guess is that Nintendo will put games like Pokemon Shuffle, Rusty's Real Deal Baseball, and other mobile-centric games to give owners of those devices a taste of Nintendo's franchises while withholding the carrot of the real games on Nintendo's own hardware.

I doubt we will see Generation 7 of Pokemon on a mobile device or the next Smash Bros. Why would Nintendo announce a new hardware platform if they don't intend to put their main games on the hardware?

As for the NX, I think a combo handheld/console is the best route for Nintendo to take. It allows them to combine their development resources into a single platform, and put all their major titles onto the system without splitting the userbase.

They could sell the NX in three ways. A handheld device that can operate on its own, a home console that can play games on a TV, and a deluxe set that combines both components. If Nintendo plays their cards right, the NX could be a massive success. Plus, Nintendo could better focus their efforts on making games for the system. A generation 7 Pokemon game that could be played on a big-screen with HD graphics would sell tons of units, to say nothing of Nintendo's other IPs.

They could also hype true "play your game where ever you go" as a feature of the NX. It would not be like the Remote Play of the PS4 and Vita, but true take your game anywhere with the same game, features, and hardware where ever you go.

Now, the challenge is to get third-parties on board.

One less thing Sega does that Nintendon't. Now let's hope Nintendo starts selling soundtracks on iTunes, too!

@Caryslan
Well said

@Yorumi
Name me one corporation as large as Nintendo and that has been around just as long that has always delivered on exactly what it said without ever changing course. The business and economics world would be a much different place if every company, firm and corporation was more concerned about following through on every public statement to save face instead of shifting gears when obvious change or progress must be made.

Also, when did Iwata or someone from Nintendo specifically say that Nintendo would not make games for mobile devices? I remember Iwata saying that Nintendo was looking into ways to use mobile to draw people toward its own devices. Not the same thing. Either way, if Nintendo is now "untrustworthy" for not revealing its internal plans sooner than it was ready to, then who can we trust, ever?

This is very intriguing. This could go either pretty well or awfully bad. Let's hope the best for Nintendo

This is terrible mistake from Nintendo, they are doing what everyone who ever doubted Nintendo & still do to make games for Mobile devices & if I can recall stupid Iwata stated that bringing their games to mobile will take away from the Nintendo name. I won't be surprised if later on through the years they end up bringing their games to PlayStation, Xbox & PC. What everyone dreamed of, could happen sooner then we think. I for one am somewhat done with Nintendo or all together. I guess I can start by quit gaming very soon.

I came to overreact but I think I may have been beaten to it.

I think it's smart to offer byte sized games to get people interested in the IP so they buy and try full blown Nintendo games, just don't port games that need a controller.

@catcatcatcaty I agree.

You traditionalists. Cmon, guys. Nintendo's roots have always been with the Youth (and those who were crazy enough [like us] to stay with the sentiment of good games). Just as the Gameboy was our way of life, the youth today are attracted today mobile gaming. Yes, Nintendo should beware of where they tread, but if we've learned anything about the 125 year old company: THEY ARE CAREFUL. If anything, they've made mistakes in being too careful/conservative (e.g. the Play Station fiasco). Do I think this is a great idea? Potentially yes, but it's too early to tell. But c'mon: we don't need any Michael Pachter's here, saying it's the mark of Nintendo 3rd Party status.

Smartphone "games".

As long as this money-grabbing scheme can fool the general public and sustain the creation of actual games for actual gaming devices, I'm cool with it.

It's a good time to be caring less

I know I'm late to the party, but...

Of course. The one day I decide to not use my iPod so I can concentrate on my schoolwork, Nintendo makes a ton of huge announcements...

Honestly I think this is a great idea. Mobile has a bad stigma amongst non mobile gamers, but it's just another way to waste time. And it's a huuuuuuge market that is taking over handheld gaming. They'd be crazy to not try and appeal.

So basically Nintendo is Marvel and Dena is Sony like when it comes to Spiderman.

Hopefully this works out.

@MarkS27 melodramatic much? Sheesh...

@rjejr @Barely_Able

I'm pretty sure everything DeNA put out is free to play with micro transactions.

@BinaryFragger

Awesome, thanks for showing me.

I still stand by my point, though. We could name dozens of instances of all three console manufacturers (along with several large publishers and studios) contradicting themselves with public statements, not to mention companies in other industries. If they were more concerned about standing by something they said months or years ago instead of growing or fixing an issue, they'd be digging their own graves.

@burninmylight: Nintendo has said in the past, something along the lines of that they were not putting their software to mobile, & also that Iwata said his reasoning was the devaluing of the Ips, &/or Nintendo brand as a whole, not to mention, & I'm adding in, it could eat into hardware sales. BinaryFragger's(#128) comment has a link to an article of that nature. This site(NintendoLife) also had an article, saying pretty much the same thing. Now, whether any sites got an accurate translation of those statements, can be debated.

Point is, the general message is that Nintendo said one thing, & eventually turned around, & said they were looking to leverage their ips on mobile, which this is a progression of. So, either Nintendo's guilty of double-talk, they need to make statements w/ both translation, & clarity in mind, or they can not make up their (business) mind on what they are doing.

@Yorumi: "but mobile gamers generally won't buy consoles because they're generally not really gamers. I don't mean that as as a slight just that they tend to play the games cause they're already there, not that they bought the phone/tablet for games." (#123) - I agree.

@Burninmylight: That is a problem w/ PR, it sometimes is damage control, rather than anything substantial.

@Everyone_Else: All we can do is wait, & see. I just hope that even if the WU's lifespan isn't as long as other consoles', that it will be at least a couple years realistically. Otherwise, it becomes a thing of later system adapters purchasing a system that's got a short life of product support.

@Capt_N

I never said Nintendo hasn't said such things. I just asked if Iwata ever explicitly said that Nintendo would not be making games for mobile devices. Someone showed me a source that he did (that you and I both acknowledged). I'm not arguing whether it's true or not, so your reply to me is a bit redundant at this point. What are you trying to tell me that hasn't been said already or that I'm not acknowledging? Perhaps you should read my posts again.

Nintendo just invested 22 billion yen into DeNA. I think its mind is made up on what its doing. Screw double-talk, backpedaling or whatever else you want to hang Iwata for. Because at the end of the day, he doesn't answer to us nobodies on message boards; the board he answers to is full of presidents, chiefs, directors and investors. And like Selfridge said in Avatar, "Killing the indigenous looks bad, but there's one thing shareholders hate more than bad press — and that's a bad quarterly statement."

We knew it would happen eventually. The pressure from analysts/share-holders may have been to much. Those guys never pushed Microsoft/Sony to do the same though (throwing their stuff on mobile-phones).

Its far to early to say this is the end for Nintendo (after all, there is a new device coming), but this news combined with free to play malarky, Amiibo, quality of life, it all doesn't bode that well!!

At least Nintendo partnered with a Japanese company. Same culture, it could work for them.

damn I wish I was the first to comment so I could say to all the folks that had trouble taking that article in.

TL;DR
Nintendo is partnering with a mobile games company called DeNa (I hadn't heard of them previously either) to make content specific for smart devices that will use Nintendo IP. In other words Nintendo themed games made for skrubs who are too tight to splash out on a 3DS or a wiiU to give them a taste of what they're missing out on. If it works it'll be genius.

@burninmylight: "Screw double-talk, backpedaling or whatever else you want to hang Iwata for. Because at the end of the day, he doesn't answer to us nobodies on message boards; the board he answers to is full of presidents, chiefs, directors and investors. And like Selfridge said in Avatar, "Killing the indigenous looks bad, but there's one thing shareholders hate more than bad press — and that's a bad quarterly statement." - I apologize if my tone sounded menacing, since that wasn't the intent. I should have edited my post, since by the time I posted, you had already replied to BinaryFragger. I should have italicized, instead of bolding (certain) words, since that is most of the time my online equivalent of emphasis on certain words. I wasn't trying to argue, or anything. As for back-pedaling, & double-talk, no, I don't single out Nintendo, since a lot of co.s are guilty of that. It's just business. Anyway, I apologize again for the misunderstanding.

Okay, I somewhat take back what I said. Nintendo still comes with a new device and they won't dump all their games on mobile-phones all of a sudden. While I rather saw they stayed clear of mobile-phones and tablets all together, its really to soon to go into panick-mode. As some people said: Maybe its just some simple stuff to attract people to their real games, on Nintendo's own devices.

On a side-note: Wii u is definitely on the way out, and it wouldn't surprise me if Zelda u becomes a NX launch-game (getting delayed untill 2016). Well, I did get enough enjoyment out of the Wii u I guess. The Wii u wasn't (and still isn't) a great succes, so I understand they try their luck with a different console. Hopefully it works.

Yeah, this is a complete 180 degree turnaround from their previous messaging. Nintendo is not as consistent with their focus today as they used to be. I'm not quite sure what to think about all of this yet, but it's not a good feeling. I don't think it's the beginning of the end, but I'm not thrilled with this sharp change in direction. I'm worried that Nintendo's executives might be succumbing to the temptations of the modern market. DeNA is a company that specializes in free to play titles with lots of monetization- a type of game library which is very different from Nintendo's traditional offerings. I am not looking forward to the possibility of FTP model business tactics and DRM-laden antics to follow.

Interesting to see in action how a popular opinion of yesteryear can become a dissenting opinion of today...

Nintendo made a deal with another company a long time ago who was given a few IP to play around with in exchange for working on a CD add-on for the SNES., I forget what happened though...

@rjejr Yeah true and looking at what DENA put out I don't think Nintendo's handhelds will be challenged in game quality anytime soon.

@Peach64 - "free to play"

Well that would make the most sense. If Ninteod started putting out $8 app games comparable to the 3DS line-up (downloads, not retail) that could be a problem. Better to stick w/ free on smart devices and paid on 3DS and Wii U.

@AshFoxX Yeah, nice one...
But seriously: good thing that this deal is a whole lot better. Contrary to Philips not being a very well performing gaming company or ever having had a professional enough department to possibly being able to have made a success out of it, DeNA is a very reputable company as far as online services are concerned and they will not mess around with Nintendo related hardware. Nintendo IP's coming to smartware is a different thing.
As far as I can remember there also wasn't any stock/share exchange between Nintendo and Philips and with the current situation that could be seen as something of a safe guard, because it is now in both their interests that this cooperative effort will churn out some positive results.
The added bonus from day one is that the new Nintendo platform will be able to have a MASSIVELY improved online experience and the people at Nintendo that had to concern themselves with that (ever so clumsily, I might add) up to this point, are now freed up again to perform other tasks that will benefit Nintendo as well.
We'll just have to wait and see what they come up with this coming E3. Maybe some extra info and some images, although knowing Nintendo, they probably don't want to give too much away too soon, so I'm expecting a modest amount of additional info about this whole concept and the NX platform.
Still, any tiny bit of info will probably be devoured by most of us and by the press. Stocks will continue to rise, share holders will be happier, Nintendo will once again solidify its name and even Michael Pachter will have something positive to say this time around. Ever so minimal, mind you, but it will be positive, mark my words...

No, no, no, no, no, NO!!!!

Oh... oh, no.