Nintendo: we're not making a phone, we swear
By Laura June 
posted May 27th 2009 3:26PM
posted May 27th 2009 3:26PM
posted May 27th 2009 3:26PM
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orly?
Did anyone ask them to?
Does anyone really care?
I would be all about a DSI phone that you dialed rotary style on the touch screen.
at least you wont need to buy any games for it since there is already a hack to play downloaded games
just throwing it out there >.>
My personal opinion, Nintendo is the only company who could take down Apple. They should make a smartphone.
I agree, and I'm sure Nintendo doesn't want to stay strictly in the gaming business for much longer.
I think a phone would be a terrible idea for Nintendo. All they do is games. Even the Wii, which is capable of some basic media stuff, doesn't do any of it. They're well known for not having good support for online play. Why would we want these people in the cell-com business? All their aptitude is geared toward making good, fun games. Not necessarily fancy games, just fun ones.
Oh yeah. I would buy a cute, white Nintendo phone with red, yellow, blue and green buttons....
I bet it will have a GBA,NES,SNES emulator by default.
Several years ago I played with the DS VoIP software they had running at E3. The software was running a Wario face which would mouth what the other person was saying, and the person you were speaking with had another character that would mouth what you were saying to them all over WiFi.
Nintendo doesn't need a phone, they already have a device that can make VoIP calls, they just need to release that software and it would be free to call other DS friends like Skype.
I agree. Every kid in 1st grade has a cell phone now ... Nintendo would be making bank.
I don't really think they need to make a phone so much as spend the time and money actually increasing the hardware and design of the current model. I know it's worked int he past such as the Gameboy to the Gameboy color etc. etc. but it doesn't work these days, people want huge specs, and design refreshes every 2 -3 years (min.) With mobile (smaller device) technology evolving the way it is, i see no problem with it.
The DS is big worldwide, the PSP barely even occupies it's space, but I think Nintendo and Sony both need to step up their gaming in this mobile gaming area, or all in one devices like the iPhone/iPod Touch are going to start cutting into their market.
I don't mind carrying more than one device, infact I carry my iPhone and a Flip Mino HD, and I have room for more, I would love a PSP but they are lacking in games and not to mention are expected to release a revision very soon. The DSi is a barely there revision to the DS so I can't see replacing it. Not for a couple of cameras and a store.
??? w/your, "...love a PSP but they are lacking in games..."
Must ask, what year are you from?
@required
"??? w/your, "...the PSP barely even occupies it is space..." "
the "it is" is "it's" which is showing possession. When you say John's coat, you aren't saying, John is coat.
I was saying that the DS is huge, and the PSP barely even occupies it's space in the market. When you look at sales worldwide the PSP is really a niche gamer market where as the DS is practically all gamers.
@required, again.
"??? w/your, "...love a PSP but they are lacking in games..."
Must ask, what year are you from?"
the PSP has quite a few great games, some that are probably worthy of buying the system over, but when compared to the DS's library the PSP really doesn't have that many games, much like you would say the PS3 doesn't have that many compared to the Xbox 360.
I tend to like a huge broad library of games for a system I am paying full price for, if not I can just wait and buy a bulk lot of mostly sealed games off ebay or amazon in a year or two for half of the price they currently are and still enjoy the same gaming experience.
@7egend
the possessive of "it" is "its".
The contraction of "it is" is "it's"
"but it doesn't work these days"
You're talking about a device that's been through one design overhaul and a comparatively minimal overhaul (Lite -> DSi) and still has the potential to outsell every other console on the market in a good week. The Wii still outsells the 360 and the PS3, and we all know the story about hardware capability there.
Apple will never take a serious bite out of Nintendo in the gaming market in my opinion, for two reasons:
a) They don't have the developers and support that Nintendo do. Nintendo make a lot of money from their in house brands - i.e. metroid, mario, zelda and the like. They are guaranteed sellers and most of the time are very well designed games. Similarly, producers like EA are more likely to focus their development onto the major brand consoles, as Apple doesn't have that large a userbase.
b) The iPod Touch is much more of a niche product than the DS. It's almost double the price (nearly triple for the 32GB) for starters. Nintendo are far more ubiquitous, and have done a ridiculously good job of widening their user demographic to unprecedented levels. The iPod is seen primarily as an MP3 player - as it should do, the number of households with DS's dwarfs the number with iPod Touches. It is not, by any stretch of the word, a console. It can play games, yes, but it's not that optimised for it.
What i do agree with is the timeline of releases. The DS has been, to be frank, milking it for a while now, and it would be nice to have a proper upgrade. I've had my DS Lite for well over two years, and my DS Phat since the release date. Graphics i'm not too worried about, a good upgrade would have the ability to play N64 games without too much difficulty (and that's not that much of an ugprade - remember the first game out on the DS was Mario 64 - i want Ocarina of Time dammit!) What they should work on, i think, is increasing their pixel density and making higher resolution screens, and increasing their colour depth (i.e. you can view photos on your DS, but it's not *that* good).
Nintendo have said time and time again that they're not bothered about making consoles that can play Crysis, they put effort into the gameplay and innovation when they can - and it has paid off rather well for them so far (and i don't see it letting up any time soon).
Yes because Nintendo America has the final say on every move the whole international Nintendo Corporation makes.
True.
Nintendo should buy palm.
There is absolutely no reason for Nintendo to make phones.
I'm not so sure. I can actually foresee Nintendo making 1-976-MARIO
I thought his number was 8675309. anyways, why does everything have to be a phone and why does a phone have to be everything?
Because everyone is supposed to have a phone so the guberment can track you with GPS. That's why I prefer to make all my calls with two cans and a string.
I agree, and I also think Nintendo wouldn't make a good phone anyway. Their games are great, their consoles pretty good, but their system software sucks and I don't think they could make a powerful OS. And a phone is just not in their core competency.
I'm hoping for skype on the dsi still
who brought the idea of a nintendo phone up anyway thats stupid, a psp phone maybe but not a DS phone
the PSP has had skype (software telephone) for awhile now
Why would they have to call it a phone? They could call it something else like "skype"
i laugh when people say nintendo would sort out apple, when its actually happened the other way round. Apple gave us what we wanted, good graphics & decent, easy to download games and most importantly priced in a open competitive market. THats what cooking mama cost my girl £24.99 and me £4.99 on my iphone.
laughing out loud at them, nintendo got what they deserved, along with sony who let microsoft steal their shine - tragic!
the DS should have been downloadable games like the apple app store!
yeah...silly bastards...making tons of cash....selling systems....They sure got what they deserved...
I don't think folks will be using the term phone in the near future. Phones are what old-timey folks used.
If I had a time machine, I'd buy your dad a condom.
I'm from a test tube you loser.
LMAO
I think that they should make a phone, or partner with phone makers to offer the Gameboy archive for download (like a VC portable) as Apps, on Android or something. But the second option is not like Nintendo, thats like offering their games on the Playstation.
So do like apple did, a Nintendo-phone would be killer. Hours of gaming (unlike the iPod touch), access to the the Nintendo store, and talk/text friends.
Or, as someone else said, offer 3G capabilities (ala Kindle) on the DS. Along with Skype and MMS. I think the DS2 would be brilliant in offering that.
I'd give my kid a DS phone, oh yes.
I'd also give up a full DS for the ability to play DS games on my current (HTC) phone.
Since Nintendo handhelds are more kid friendly both in game content and price, it would be a mistake for Nintendo to drop this segment of the market and go down phoney lane because this will only add to the price and require carrier bias in countries like the USA. The DSi doesn't really seem to care which carrier you are subscribed to in order to play ___________.
Is that like another word for garage?
U put "the the", even though u meant to put "then the".
"The company is however, considering offering devices with always-on wireless connectivity -- which would be way cooler the DSi's current, WiFi hotspot capabilities."
This does not mean that they are intending on making a phone. It is very hard to determine how someone could come to the conclusion that Nintendo would enter the cellphone/phone market from the above statement. With the DSi, Nintendo has expanded the capabilities of their hand held gaming device. Companies always consider various products, with most never being developed.