Yep, very much this. The majority of popular games on smart devices are the same type of games that made Wii/DS so popular. Easy to understand, simple control games that are fun and accessible to a wide range of demographics. Of course games on Nintendo platforms are of much higher quality but with games on smartphones being under a dollar or even free in many cases and also on devices that people buy regardless of the ability to play games, it's getting increasingly difficult for Nintendo to sell dedicated gaming hardware with $30-60 software.

It's not like the people who bought Wii/DS stopped enjoying Nintendo games, they just now have a cheaper, more accessible alternative to get their simple, fun, pick up and play style games. Nintendo needs to find a way to successfully co-exist with smart devices, it will be a tough task but if anybody can do it, it's Nintendo.

This thread is stupid because Nintendo had this issue in the 90s, and they ended up being right.

In the 90s Mario was not "cool", the furry animal platformer mascots with attitude were cool, like Sonic and all the characters that were created because of the success of Sonic, like Bubsy, Crash, Aero the Acrobat, Gex etc etc

And those cool characters aged like shit, in the 90s it was proven that Nintendo was right by not trying to make Mario cool, because it would end up being as ridiculous as Shadow the Hedgehog.

This is Poochie from The Simpsons, from an episode which made fun of the cool mascots of the 90s that aged like shit.

Cool with who? I'm guessing this thread is talking about the 14-35 year old male demograph and core gamers. I don't remember many of those people talking up how awesome the Wii was. They were mostly playing 360 and COD.

Definition of cool changes each generation.

Mario wont be 'cool' with kids these days, but it has reached an iconic level like Mickey Mouse (which is also not 'cool').

The character Mario is more well loved than cool.

Ironically enough, by the time I graduated HS, in 1995, that was never an issue. Mario and Zelda were still strong games, along with Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, and all were seen as cool. Considering that I went to HS in Brooklyn, NY, if something is cool there, it trumps everything else. After all Brooklyn, NY >>>> the rest of the planet. =)

Wii was chick magnet

I don't think Mario was ever the cool kid who smokes weed and drops out of school. That was always sonic. Mario had and still does have substance.

Was Mario ever "cool?" He certainly seemed like a symbol of quality - rare was the game featuring Mario in any capacity that sucked. Maybe for a brief moment Mario was "cool" with SMB3 in all its 'look at all the crazy stuff they're doing' glory.

Now, "cute?" Yes, Mario has had the capacity to be seen as cute, especially with aesthetics of Mario World 2 and the high-pitched, Pillsbury Doughboy-esque voice that was chosen with SM64.

It's kind of an oxymoron of a statement ... Mario isn't cool to 14-19 old "boys" and 30 year old manchildren who live in their mom's basement ... but that is in an inherently "uncool" demographic to begin with. That's the dorkiest group of people you can get.

That said there's even a lot of 14-19 year old boys who like Mario just fine, even some manchildren will put away Destiny to play some Mario sometimes.

If you put Mario on iPhone, he would easily be one of the most downloaded apps by "normal" adults (as in people with a life). Nintendo's issue is that trying to sell proprietary hardware to get people Mario (who they like) is not easy in the age of smartphones/tablets.

I can like a friend just fine, but if he doesn't have a car that doesn't mean I'm going to drive 45 minutes out of my way to pick him up all the time. Sometimes I might, sometimes I won't, that doesn't mean I dislike him or he's uncool, it's just a pain in the ass to accomodate meeting up with him all the time. 

Not everyone wants to buy a $300 seperate console they wouldn't buy otherwise just to play 1-2 Mario games and a lot of adults don't want a game handheld period, so that leaves the 3DS out. Mario isn't "uncool" ... but Nintendo hardware ... ehhhh. That might be where your "uncoolness" is coming from. 

That said ... which franchise in the last eight years have sold more than the Mario platformers or Mario Kart? Call of Duty, ok, and what else? *crickets*. Not bad.

Nah, sheep follow the flock, the real cool ones are the hipsters choice :)