This is what I love about Nintendo.

It's good to hear that Nintendo are planning to continue develop these deep experiences, and seem to be recognising other mobile formats as competitors to the handheld sector. But it still makes me wonder why nintendo can't manage to sell apps from the eShop for the same price as the iOS store or the android market, to try and get dedicated gamers to spend not just more of their time, but all of their time with handhelds.

ive never been into hhelds more than now with the 3DS
not even with the original GB, that was awesome back then

I would not have bought the 3DS if it weren't for Mario Land 3D, Kid Icarus, MK7, and some future titles such as Paper Mario and Smash Bros.

"As smart phone games continue to grow, deeper and more advanced experiences are being offered. Wouldn't these directly eat away at the future handheld market?"

I thought his response to this sort of question really didn't address it well enough. He's right that there will always be those who want a deeper and more engaging experience. What he didn't say was how the handheld market will continue to evolve to give that deeper gameplay experience that the mobile market can't provide in the future.

We shall see in time.

and yet littleBigPlanet, mod nation racers, playstation allstars, assassins creed, call of duty is the proof that sony doesn't get handhelds or gamers..

I agree with him. Problem is, smart phones and tablets will increasingly get deeper and richer experiences, that will always cost less than on a dedicated portable game device.

Nintendo Phone with Nintendo Network with Unlimted Talk n Text is inevitable in the future. I think Iwata said it was not out of the question for Nintendo to make a handheld gaming device + smart phone.

wfz said exactly what I was going to say...

I really enjoy reading Iwata. This man does some of the best interviews and always backs up his points. I feel like a student and he's the teacher when listening/reading to him, and that's really saying something.