News

Nintendo Didn’t Feel Pushed Into the Mobile Market

By Kenneth Shepard

Posted on March 27, 2015

Nintendo has given more insight into the reasoning behind its partnership with DeNA to bring its IP to mobile platforms.

Now that the English translation of the announcement and subsequent Q&A has been released, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has stated that the company didn’t feel pressured into moving into the mobile market, but the partnership with DeNA came about naturally, and because Nintendo believed that its new partner was the best choice among many potential candidates.

“A variety of media have written that Nintendo is cornered a number of times, but I do not think we were cornered at all. Needless to say, we are also aware that unless a company can deal with the rapidly changing world, it will face decline. But I would like to emphasize here that our alliance is not the result of a lack of better options for a cornered company.

When I first met with Mr. Moriyasu, I started to wonder if there was anything we could work on together. After that, the more we discussed, the more I realized that DeNA knew so many things that Nintendo did not. Mr. Moriyasu even said that DeNA did not mind remaining in the background as long as it could collaborate with Nintendo, and I came to realize that this could be a very productive opportunity as in comparison to what Nintendo might have been able to achieve by itself. We would be able to provide consumers with far more attractive offers in terms of entertainment experiences and speed.

This is why I just said that this is not a decision made out of a lack of options. In fact, Nintendo has received a number of proposals from a variety of companies. Among them, Nintendo has proactively chosen DeNA, and today, we are able to make this announcement.”

Nintendo has confirmed that, despite jumping into the mobile market, it won’t be releasing older games on mobile devices, instead focusing on creating mobile-specific games featuring its IP. Alongside the announcement of the company joining the mobile market, Nintendo confirmed that development of a new console has begun, and is currently code-named “NX.”