The Internet has been abuzz with rumors that Nintendo has been planning to move into the smartphone space over the last couple of weeks. The most common of these rumors was that the gaming company would finally bring some of its properties onto mobile devices aside from its own DS line of handhelds.
However, it seems these rumors can now be put to rest, at least for the time being, as Nintendo has officially confirmed that it has no plans to produce games for smartphones or tablets, according to that it has no plans to produce games for smartphones or tablets, according to TheNextWeb. That doesn’t mean Nintendo isn’t branching out, though; it just isn’t doing so in the way anyone expected or wanted.
Indeed, the company’s latest endeavour — according to its president, Satoru Iwata — will be in the area of healthcare technology. Specifically, it will introduce non-wearable technology to monitor users’ health. As for further details of this, we’ll apparently have to wait until later in the year, but Iwata did say Nintendo’s health devices won’t launch until March 2016 at the earliest.
Once again, it seems that Nintendo’s alleged plans to develop for smartphones was nothing more than wishful thinking. That said, there was some basis for this. For one thing, slow Wii U sales have many wondering if Nintendo has a place in the console market any longer. This, coupled with the fact that other traditional games developers have dabbled in smartphone gaming in recent years, was likely a big factor in how the rumors gained so much steam.
However, it seems Iwata’s statement at a press conference earlier in the month was the real catalyst.
“We are thinking about a new business structure,” said Iwata. “Given the expansion of smart devices, we are naturally studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business. It's not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone.”
Fortunately, Iwata shed some light on the specifics of Nintendo’s future with smartphones by adding that he believes the devices are a good way to “make connections with customers.” This suggests that we’ll be seeing more supplementary apps from Nintendo in the future, but not games.
Edited by
Cassandra Tucker
