Why doesn't Nintendo release games for smartphones?

[paperfire]

Nintendo right now is in dire straights in the handheld market. Smartphones are rapidly growing and are unseating dedicated handheld gaming devices. Why have a 3DS when I can have a smartphone that plays any game I want? People only want to carry one device.

However this is also a big opportunity for Nintendo. Imagine if they ported all their old games to smartphones, such as Pokemon, and selling them for $5 each? It will take little effort (just optimizing controls for touchscreen) and would bring in millions. However they continue to shun smartphones stating that Nintendo games must be played on dedicated hardware. In my opinion, Nintendo is being blind and arrogant to this huge threat, and if they don't adapt, they will suffer in the long run.

[Digglett]

Because they are direct competition.


I'd rather have a 3DS then a smart phone any day of the week.

[Caiada]

Because they are direct competition.


I'd rather have a 3DS then a smart phone any day of the week.

Pretty much exactly this. We'll see how handhelds and smartphones develop together in the future but definitely not this generation.

[Deleted]

Why play games on something that does it half-assedly when I can have something made to play games on.
3DS any day of the week.

Why make game consoles when you can plug your computer straight into the TV? Same question.

[georgevonfranken]

I would love to get pokemon on my phone, because I can't justify getting a 3ds only for pokemon

[Zeta333]

I would love to get pokemon on my phone, because I can't justify getting a 3ds only for pokemon

I dunno i bought a dsi just for pokemon silver and gold. I bought a wii for just Super smash bros. Its a trend. Its cheap enough to work good in that method.

[paperfire]

I'm not saying that Nintendo should give up the 3DS, there are still many customers who prefer it. I'm just saying they have nothing to lose by porting old games like Pokemon to smartphones.

[suspendedstasis]

You don't need to buy a 3DS just for Pokemon...there's OCARINA OF TIME.

EDIT: OT- They already have a mobile market(crashing or not). It would be like trying to sell someone a brand new iPhone model every year... Oh wait... Nevermind, lazy nintendo bastards.

[Vayshan]

Why play games on something that does it half-assedly when I can have something made to play games on.
3DS any day of the week.

Why make game consoles when you can plug your computer straight into the TV? Same question.

+1
/10chars

[Caiada]

I'm not saying that Nintendo should give up the 3DS, there are still many customers who prefer it. I'm just saying they have nothing to lose by porting old games like Pokemon to smartphones.

They're already porting games to the 3DS's E-store and selling them for a few bucks though. They'd lose that business.

[suspendedstasis]

They're already porting games to the 3DS's E-store and selling them for a few bucks though. They'd lose that business.

This is probably the real right answer.

[Digglett]

I'm not saying that Nintendo should give up the 3DS, there are still many customers who prefer it. I'm just saying they have nothing to lose by porting old games like Pokemon to smartphones.

Giving money to competition generally isn't a smart thing to do.

[Edge-]

Because Nintendo has respect for gaming? 99% of the "games" on smartphones aren't even games. They're time consumers that have nothing that you would usually find in a game. Sure, occasionally you get some gems (Infinity Blade or Sword and Sorcery for example), but the overwhelming majority of games on phones are complete trash.

That and because you don't make as much money off of each individual sale...and they're stubborn and old fashioned :P

[Kankuri]

The real question is: Why didn't Nintendo make the 3DS a phone? It's not like it has utility apps (calculator, alarms, notepads), entertainment apps (Netflix, 3D Video)...HEY WAIT A SECOND...

[Caiada]

Because Nintendo has respect for gaming? 99% of the "games" on smartphones aren't even games. They're time consumers that have nothing that you would usually find in a game. Sure, occasionally you get some gems (Infinity Blade or Sword and Sorcery for example), but the overwhelming majority of games on phones are complete trash.

That and because you don't make as much money off of each individual sale...and they're stubborn and old fashioned :P

I think games like Infinity Blade prove that it's not the concept that's bad, it's the quality, and if a developer like Nintendo started doing it, the quality would definitely improve. They do have a load of pointlessly old-fashioned business ideas though. As much as they innovate in gameplay, things like the Friend Code's continued existence (and poor implementation) disappoint me.

The real question is: Why didn't Nintendo make the 3DS a phone? It's not like it has utility apps (calculator, alarms, notepads), entertainment apps (Netflix, 3D Video)...HEY WAIT A SECOND...

I imagine the 3DS's successor will have exactly that happen, if Nintendo's smart.

[Skelington]

Phones are a rather poor way of gaming. Quite frankly, you couldn't consider them an actual 'gaming' device. Angry birds and bejeweled are pretty far from.... consoles, handhelds, and PCs.
Skelington might actually use his phonething if he could get super mario bros on it, but he is perfectly fine without any of those games. That is why he has gameboys and other systems, which are much, much nicer. And he has them on his gameboys/consoles, which he would instead play them on.

He supports nintindo's decision in not doing it.

[Iceman2500]

Nintendo doesn't release games for smartphones for the same reason Apple doesn't sell OS X to non-Mac users; the software sells the hardware. If you could play Nintendo games without having to buy a Nintendo system, the company would end up leaving the hardware business and go pure third party like Sega did, which I think would be a hard pill for the Big N to swallow since their developers would be forced to use whatever interface Microsoft and Sony used.

I remember when the only way to play a Sonic game was to own either a Genesis or a Game Gear, but now Sonic is just about on every platform.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Because the 3DS is a smartphone without the phone.

[Halicia]

I don't really see a downside to selling oldschool NES ports on various mobile devices, but I agree there's a HUGE downside if they start releasing their dedicated new titles crossplatform.

[insmek]

Dire straights? Hardly. The 3DS has outsold what the DS did in its first year of life, and there are a couple huge exclusives coming down the pipe, including one mega-exclusive: Monster Hunter. Seriously, the Monster Hunter franchise single-handedly kept the PSP alive for years. Even if most Europeans and Americans will never care about it, it's a big deal. A very big deal.

As for the smartphone thing...well, I just think it's a shame that the Xperia Play didn't catch on. Touchscreen only gaming blows, and the number of phones shipping with physical keyboards is dwindling greatly. The Apple App Store has an amazing game library, but most of the games are near-unplayable for me because a touchscreen is such a poor substitute for actual buttons. I can't imagine Super Mario 3D Land without real buttons.