Embracing the mobile market

Mobile gaming is something Nintendo reportedly has no plans of participating in anytime soon. President Satoru Iwata previously made it clear Nintendo would lose its identity if it were to make such a move. On other occasions, he has said this field of games and software development is under absolutely no consideration.

Despite this, fans continue to witness subtle movements with development of applications such asPokédex for iOS and Miiverse availability on mobiles, tablets and computers. Now, Nintendo may have just inched a step closer to mobile games development. It is not exactly a clear indicator, but it is no doubt significant enough to pique curiosity amongst the video game world.

Bloomberg reports the stock value of the house of Mario has jumped to its highest since August after purchasing a stake in Dwango Co. — a company that provides content through mobile phones.

According to a statement filed with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Nintendo stock rose by as much as 5.2 percent to 13,070 yen as of 11:30am today. Dwango shares have now also surged by 21 percent, after Nintendo purchased exactly 612,200 shares in the company.

Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa said Nintendo has no plans to distribute games through Dwango’s video delivery system Niconico. He also explained shares were acquired by Nintendo at the request of Dwango Chairman Nobuo Kawakami for personal funding reasons.

Let us know what you think about this latest development, and if it is any indication Nintendo will enter the mobile market in the near future.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/11/nintendo_stock_value_rises_after_buying_stake_in_mobile_web_company_dwango

Found this on gaf:

Top 10 Investors prior to Nintendo purchase:

1) Nobou Kawakami - 6,879,000 shares (16.86%)
2) Kadokawa Corp. - 4,992,600 shares (12.23%)
3) Goldman Sachs & Company Ltd. - 3,532,400 shares (8.66%)
4) Joho Capital, LLC. - 2,853,400 shares (6.99%)
5) Avex Group Holdings Inc. - 2,467,400 shares (6.05%)
6) Nippon Television Holdings Inc. - 1,632,600 shares (4.00%)
7) Daisuke Yokosawa - 1,304,400 shares (3.20%)
8) Toyonori Ohta - 950,000 shares (2.33%)
9) Japan Securities Finance Co., Ltd. - 667,800 shares (1.64%)
>>>> Nintendo purchase - 612,200 shares
10) Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Company, Ltd. - 245,200 shares (0.60%)

http://67.227.255.239/forum/showpost.php?p=89925995&postcount=21

lol, investors so desperate to see Nintendo do smartphone games.

I have said this before, and I'll say it again: Nintendo games will not be good on smartdevices as long as those devices can't give haptic feedback. Smartdevices just aren't good for good games. IF Nintendo (or someone else) can figure out a way around this I could see Nintendo games on smartphones/tablets.

Who knows, maybe we'll see a good gaming phone within the next couple years.

I'd so buy that!! But only if they nail it. THAT could be a third pillar for Nintendo; Home console, handheld and a phone

It's possible they would drop the handheld if they made such a move. 

It shoudn't be so hard to do, a slightly thinner vita with circle pads and some kind of sleek way to "slide" the buttons and pads into the phone or something. That should be doable.

Someone call Nikkom and tell him to explain what this means

Yeah I just wonder when someone will make it! I haven't found a really good android/iOS game thus far, and I doubt I'll see one in the near future

I hope Nintendo does that next gen. I feel that a new handheld wouldn't be able to keep them in the hardware race anymore. A dedicated gaming phone could work. But if they did it they would need to stop with the clunky designs they often tend to stick with.

Investors:

"OMG, Nintendo bought stock in something in the mobile market, our constant cries for Nintendo going mobile are being heard!!!!"