I'm sure the idea has been brought up before on this site, I've certainly heard it here. Anyway, I'm pretty sure Nintendo doesn't want to alienate their massive preexisting handheld fanbase. And besides that, making it a phone and a handheld results in probably having to water down or complicate a few things, from the OS, to the interface, to even the phone itself, physically.

Nintendo might be on the verge of practically having a monopoly over the dedicated handheld console market after this gen. They won't let that slide.

“I felt it was necessary to communicate that Nintendo is not pessimistic about the future of the dedicated game system business but rather more and more eager to continue it,” Iwata said, explaining why he first mentioned NX’s existence to the media. “On the other hand, details on the new platform essentially should come later. This is because the entertainment business has an aspect where there is value in surprising consumers.”

Iwata said that they chose to announce it at their mobile event specifically to show that they're not leaving the dedicated gaming space for mobile.

/thread

Its not

There could be a NX phone model ... that said I doubt Nintendo would make it themselves. They'd probably have to partner with Samsung or *gulp* Sony to make a NX phone and have it taken seriously by worldwide vendors.

 It goes against everything theyve told us already about what the NX is.... so I doubt it is.

They have actually said the NX will be a console so... yeah no its not a smart phone.

I see their presence on mobile as more of a replacement for their handheld revenue since they're probably going to unify their handheld/console libraries. I think Nintendo understands that creating a mobile game is different than making a traditional handheld/console game and are going to tailor their mobile software towards experiences that capitalize on what makes smartphones/tablets unique. The last thing I think they'd do is something like try to shove Mario Kart on mobile.

Apparently Moore's law, which isn't even really a law, has "unofficially" ended (I guess power/speed are going to be sacrificed in favor of lower power consumption going forward)... So it might be quite some time until mobile chips reach Wii U or PS4/mid-to-high end PC like performance for an affordable price.

I'm pretty sure that during this past E3 Reggie let it slip that the NX was a home console. Either way if it were a smartphone I'd be tempted to get it as long as its reasonably powerful and doesn't have a dumbed down Android UI.

I would say that a hypothetical platform such as the one proposed by the OP should come with both a cellular SKU and a standalone handheld SKU. With that being said though, I very much doubt Nintendo will want to blur the lines between mobile and dedicated handheld devices, even though I personally think the time for such an action has come.

Oh gosh no. I def wouldn't be buying it xS