Nintendo CEO: Developing for iOS is "not under consideration"

Remember when people used to buy dedicated portable gaming equipment? The Nintendo Game Boy hit American shores in 1989 and over the years we’ve seen it become more and more capable, with the latest incarnation being the poorly selling 3DS. Folks have started wondering why Nintendo simply doesn’t bring their widely loved franchises to platforms other than those that Nintendo controls, more specifically iOS. At a recent press conference, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata was asked what’s up with iOS, and he responded that iOS games are “absolutely not under consideration”. That brings a tear to our eyes, but also starts getting the gears in our minds turning. What if Nintendo decided to make their own mobile phone? It’s been a rumor since as far back as we can remember, and in today’s age of nearly everyone and their mother slapping Android on Qualcomm silicon, why couldn’t Nintendo do the same thing?

If Apple’s iOS platform has proven anything, it’s that if you give developers a powerful device, relativity easy to use tools, and a billing mechanism that allows consumers to purchase games on impulse, then you can print money. Anyway, at least Nintendo isn’t chasing short term profits. Iwata went on to say:

“If we did this, Nintendo would cease to be Nintendo. Having a hardware development team in-house is a major strength. It’s the duty of management to make use of those strengths. It’s probably the correct decision in the sense that the moment we started to release games on smartphones we’d make profits. However, I believe my responsibility is not to short term profits, but to Nintendo’s mid and long term competitive strength.”

We’re curious, if Nintendo made a phone made purely for gaming, and they developed their own ecosystem for it, totally separate from Android/iOS/WindowsPhone, would you bite and make the switch to whatever it is they bring to the market?

[Via: Boy Genius Report]

About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
- http://www.intomobile.com/ Stefan Constantinescu
  
  actually, there’s good reason to own the hardware platform. one, you can make money on the hardware, which Nintendo does, unlike other players who take a hit on the hardware and make up for it with games. two, you can control which games get sold on your platform, and charge whatever you want to devs to make games for your platform.
  
  i don’t buy the “it’s more fun” argument at all.
- http://www.intomobile.com/ Stefan Constantinescu
  
  actually, there’s good reason to own the hardware platform. one, you can make money on the hardware, which Nintendo does, unlike other players who take a hit on the hardware and make up for it with games. two, you can control which games get sold on your platform, and charge whatever you want to devs to make games for your platform.
  
  i don’t buy the “it’s more fun” argument at all.
- http://www.intomobile.com/ Stefan Constantinescu
  
  actually, there’s good reason to own the hardware platform. one, you can make money on the hardware, which Nintendo does, unlike other players who take a hit on the hardware and make up for it with games. two, you can control which games get sold on your platform, and charge whatever you want to devs to make games for your platform.
  
  i don’t buy the “it’s more fun” argument at all.
- http://www.intomobile.com/ Stefan Constantinescu
  
  actually, there’s good reason to own the hardware platform. one, you can make money on the hardware, which Nintendo does, unlike other players who take a hit on the hardware and make up for it with games. two, you can control which games get sold on your platform, and charge whatever you want to devs to make games for your platform.
  
  i don’t buy the “it’s more fun” argument at all.
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun
Iowa_heretic6663

Nintendo doesnt want to have to give up on game play

and we all know controls on any phone right now are terrible and make for bad games

nintendo has always been about fun gameplay and phones are not ready for that, that’s why they make their own console, so they can offer a product not too expensive that allows them to make their games the way they want them: fun