I don't think that it would be fair to qualify it as a shalow gaming experience.
First of all, because the mobile game was meant to stand on it's own and second, because if the whole point is to make people aware of Nintendo IPs and make them want to have the premium experience, giving them the reward to take their conquests, characters, etc, to a main game of the same IP or similar, would be a good incentive as they would feel rewarded and at ease with a new experience.
That reward could actually by another way for them to not having to spend money on DLC for the main game, for example. Like, unlocking tracks on Mario Kart. Wouldn't that make the game feel cheaper?

I'm not sure that dollar to dollar benefit (talking about discounts?) would be as enticing as merging software experiences of IPs.
If we were talking about a market that is unwilling to spend that much on HW. Saving a few bucks here and there will matter but probably not that much.

My guess is, and i could be wrong, that the idea of providing mobile gamers with a sense of comfort and continuation, despite trying something different, will do more for the transition of gamers than just saving a few dolllars.

I don't think we really know what the "bottom" is for dedicated handhelds either. We went from 150 million DS' and 70 million PSPs last gen (220 million hardware units) to maybe 72-73 million 3DS' LTD and 10 million Vita's LTD this gen?

Truth be told too while I don't think ginormous gamepad accessories are ever going to be a big thing for smartphone, it wouldn't take a whole lot for smartphones to be much more game friendly devices.

Apple just filed a patent that allows the home button on an iPhone/iPad to pop up and transform into a joystick. If they ever decide to use that ... it's likely dedicated hardware has a very limited future to a declining one in Japan and a very niche audience outside that.

Even without buttons but with a joystick/pad, genres like platformers, racing games, shooters, etc. would become far more playable. 

With gaming becoming a bigger and bigger part of the smart device ecosystem, I think its probably inevitable that at some point we will see a phone with at least a directional input in addition to the touch screen which developers could then make a host of different, deeper types of games with if they wish.

Who you calling an escaped goat? 

Definitely a paid subscription will hurt them big time. Its just that Nintendo will one day implement a paid online service like the other two consoles, and probably wont do it in the best way initially.

This is from an intervire with Time right after the confrence. You were right - it wasn't at the press release. My mistake. Not that it makes a difference. The point is that Nintendo's initial stance has not changed.

"Also, it’s even more important for us to consider how we can get as many people around the world as possible to play Nintendo smart device apps, rather than to consider which payment system will earn the most money." - Iwata

"We have come to the stage where we can say that we will be able to develop and operate software which, in the end, will not hurt the value of Nintendo IP but, rather, will become an opportunity for the great number of people around the world who own smart devices—but do not have interest in dedicated video game hardware—to be interested in Nintendo IP and eventually to become fans of our dedicated game systems." - Iwata

What I never said was that profiting on smart phones wasn't important to them. I also never said that the only reason they moved to mobile was to bring mobile players to dedicated gaming hardware. Nintendo has stated many times that they want mobile to be an integral part of their platform. I've already said that. One branch isn't more important than the other.

What I did say is that getting as many people as possible being connected to the Nintendo brand was the priority. Nintendo cares more about building its brand than making a short term profit off mobile. That doesn't mean they aren't planning to make a profit - you don't plan a 100m unit hit without expecting to make a hardy profit, but Nintendo is prioritizing making mobile money over spreading its brand, like I said.

There is overlap. The entire point of going mobile is the overlap. The primary focus of making this massive step into mobile is to is to create that omnipresence. To be that platform that you always have access to. To have gaming contantly be a part of your daily life, no matter where you are and what you own. Nintendo's using mobile as one of the ways that it doesn't need to depend on mobile to be it's No. 1 source of income. Not because their mobile division isn't making enough money, but because they used mobile to facilitate building their brand back into something that could make money from all facets of the company again. From phones to handhelds to consoles. That's the end goal.

Your opinions on the vitality of handhelds and home consoles by Nintendo in the future have absolutely nothing to do with how the company themselves feels about them. Nintendo has made it clear on many occasions, including this conference, that they remain focused and passionate - those are their words - on producing successful and profitable gaming hardware. No company, especially not Nintendo, would use profits from mobile merely as a way to continue producing failing hardware while still being able to making a profit. No sane entity works that way. Just as they are ambitious about trying make their mobile games successful, and just as they are ambitious about "expanding the gaming populace" through Nintendo software and the Nintendo brand, they will be ambitious in creating massively successful handheld, and they will be ambitious in creating massively successful console hardware.

That's not just a business thing. That's a pride thing, and it would be ignorant to think that, seeing their track record, Nintendo isn't a company who's decisions aren't at least partially dictated by pride. No matter your opinion on whether handhelds will fizzle away and whether Nintendo has no chance in the home console race, Nintendo are clearly not making these decisions based off of those sentiments. They're basing them off of the opposite.

Before reading anyone's comments, let me say this: Spemanig, you have proven yourself to be the most dedicated Nintendo fan on this site! Your arguments are well thought out and well presented (bonus points for my most played mobile game, words with friends). So well thought out in fact, that I'd be surprised if even Nintendo planned it as well as you have. That said, I hope you're right. I would have said they don't have the sense to pull this off properly (seeing as they're dinosaurs), but considering the DeNA acquisition and the closure of club Nintendo, I'm seeing the feasibility in all this.

WOW!!! I like your perspective towards this! And im really buying the idea!

And yeah, Nintendo needs to go bigger. Sony and Microsoft has other industries, which they can use to promote their gaming section ( Like how you can play PS4 games on Xperia, and how the connection between Windows 10 and Xbox One )

Stupid English! Most of the time you write TWO words, then some times, you put them together. Can I get some consistensy from the English language?!

Well Nintendo is a prideful company I don't think anyone would deny that. Sometimes that has led them into some very bad decisions. 

That said I think even Nintendo is accutely aware that even with their own wishes and desires, there's a market reality taking shape that doesn't neccessarily vibe with what they would want. 

They wouldn't be making smartphone games otherwise. 

The other elephant in the room is profit -- big profit. If smartphone apps become their biggest money maker (which may honestly not be a large stretch) in a few years, eventually they will start to priortitize the smartphone segment. That's just how business goes. 

A coach of a team doesn't keep a younger player on the bench for too long if the bottom line is he's simply playing better than the older players and putting on a show every time he's put into the game. 

But the main reason they're making smartphone games is expansion, not profit. They've said as much, both in the past and the present. There is no elephant. The priority isn't to make mobile games their primary source of income. That is exactly the short term mindset they've explicitely expressed avoiding. This is a long term business plan, meant to grow their overall business. Their overall brand. Sure, their pride has lead them into making bad decisions. But this is one of those decisions colored by pride. Everything they've said and done up until now outright rejects the notion that their wishes and desires to regain that handheld and console dominance isn't driving these decisions. Getting into mobile is a supplement of that. No company that just came out of the Wii/DS era, the single most successful console generation for any video game maker, period, is giving up that fight after one loss.

They're up there thinking "We did that once, we can do it again." Now you may think they can't, and I may think they can't, but this isn't about whether they can do it again or not. This is about whether they think they can do it again, and how it effects their business decisions. Going mobile, in the specific way that they have, is how it's effecting their business decisions. That's why they announced the NX in the first place, and that's why the headline is getting nearly as much coverage as their move to mobile. That's why the NX is likely being build to, by design, take full advantage of their new unified platform and everything attached to it, including mobile.

My argument isn't that smartphone games won't or can't be their biggest money maker; my argument is that Nintendo won't then go and say "well this is what we do now," and slag off the other sectors because that's not what makes them more money. That's not good business. They'll use what has more mainstream success to strategically make their less successful products more successful. That's why Sony's rebranding nearly all of their sectors after Playstation, when common wisdom would just say to cut them loose, and solely focus on games. That's what they've been doing with the 3DS for the Wii U. It's likely the driving reason for the application of Miiverse on the 3DS. It doesn't matter if it didn't work; because they did it. The Wii U is making a fraction of what the Wii U is, yet The Wii U is arguably recieving more of their focus than the 3DS. Nintendo is not a company dictated by short term profits.

And that's exactly the gameplan going in. This isn't reactionary - it's proactive. They're diving in with the goal of building their brand. Expansion. They've said that. They're going big on this. This isn't Nintendo merely making smartphone games. They're trying to use smart phones as a tool to rebuild an empire they've since lost.

Also, this doesn't go just one way. Nintendo isn't looking at current Nintendo console consumers and thinking "well they're already on our consoles, so we can just leave them alone." They want everyone on as many facets of the Nintendo Network as possible. So if you own a Wii U and/or 3DS, they want you playing their mobile games, and they're going to use that hardware to entice you to do that. Nintendo slyly announced that PCs would be a part of their new platform.

This isn't a so much a prediction, but I wouldn't be even remotely suprised if Nintendo tries to find a way to get people playing Nintendo games on their computer. Not traditional PC gaming either. Games from the browser. In the same way that people may have a tab open for Facebook or Twitter, it wouldn't even remotely suprise me (anymore) if Nintendo looks at the Facebook gaming fad that went and gone and tries to do something similar in the future, with the same platform expansion goal. It's about mindshare. I definitely don't think Nintendo will be, say, releasing their games on Steam, and just releasing a website to check your account presents the same pitfalls that merely releasing a Nintendo app does. That's something I'd like to know more about.