Nintendo’s Mobile Gambit
Nintendo finally said yes to mobile. For years, Satoru Iwata was clear: Nintendo games on Nintendo hardware only. But they announced a loss, and suddenly the company was open to phones.
Not open open. What Nintendo actually did was put previews on your phone—trailers, mini-games, just enough to make you want the real versions. The strategy is obvious: let someone feel how good Mario is on their iPhone and they’ll buy the hardware to actually play. It works.
Can’t fault it. For a company that doesn’t want to compete on mobile, it’s the smart move. You get to sample the game without Nintendo spreading themselves thin across every device.
But it’s not what anyone asked for. Fans wanted to actually play these games on their phones. Instead they got a very long advertisement for hardware they have to buy anyway.
Is it what I wanted? No. Is it better than another year of refusal? Barely. But it’s something.