Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata confirmed that a small dedicated team will be approaching smartphones and tablets.
Iwata started his talk on Nintendo's approach to mobile content by stressing that "if you report that we will release Mario on smart devices, it would be a completely misleading statement", with the company's main intention to release an application on smart devices this year that is "capable of attracting consumer attention and communicating the value of our entertainment offerings."
However, that said, Iwata has "not given any restrictions to the development team, even not ruling out the possibility of making games or using our game characters," he stressed. With that in mind, there may well be Super Mario Bros. themed software on mobile devices going forward, but not as players know it on 3DS or Wii U.
Iwata feels that simply churning out core games on mobile devices isn't the solution and that the company needs to "provide something truly valuable that is unique to Nintendo."
The Nintendo president did also acknowledge that this shift towards using mobile platforms as a tool for promotion "is not easy" given the huge volume of content already out there, and that porting games "just as they are on smart devices would not provide the best entertainment for smart devices."
"I would encourage you to see how our approach yields results," Iwata concluded.
What do you think of Nintendo and Iwata's approach to mobile-driven content? Sensible or wasted opportunity?