Ignoring the question of whether it's a good financial direction for Nintendo, would you personally like to see the company focus some of their development resources on making games for smartphones?

The way the question is asked, "yes" would be a natural answer, because it's tempting to judge things in a vacuum: "why refuse options", will the simple-minded say?

But in reality, it'd hurt their hardware, of course, and is completely at odds with their philosophy and pricing practices. We're talking about people that sold "Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise" at $40.

Of course. It'd be silly not to want that. I can take my phone to work and use it. Lugging around a big bulky handheld is a big no-no.

@Xbob42 I carry my 3DS everywhere! It fits pretty nicely into my pocket.

Zero said:

@Xbob42 I carry my 3DS everywhere! It fits pretty nicely into my pocket.

I second that! It actually fits nicely in ALL of my pockets! Even the little coin pocket!

Zero said:

@Xbob42 I carry my 3DS everywhere! It fits pretty nicely into my pocket.

Pretty much. It's a little thicker than the average smartphone, but it's smaller (length and width) than, say, the Galaxy S3 and Note II.

Though girl jeans are different. Women on the board, I have no idea how you function with such small pockets on your jeans.

@Zero It fits into my pocket, too, if we're talking about my jacket pocket. It's a big bulky piece of equipment in my pants pockets, and I'm wearing fairly loose slacks. My little smart phone fits beautifully into my shirt pocket which is exactly where I need it. It also happens to play my music, radio, videos, is a fantastic web browser, and can multi-task without closing other apps. The convenience factor is astronomical. Some high quality Nintendo games would be awesome. But apparently it would "hurt their hardware, obviously," with no empirical evidence that such a huge assumption is anywhere near true.

I hate having extra things in my pockets, especially my pants pockets. Even smartphones are much bulkier than I'd like for my pants pockets. Carrying around the 3DS is OK when I have a jacket but in the summer that doesn't fly. One of the reasons I basically use my 3DS to game in bed much more than on the go.

Xbob42 said:

@ZeroMy little smart phone fits beautifully into my shirt pocket which is exactly where I need it. It also happens to play my music, radio, videos, is a fantastic web browser, and can multi-task without closing other apps.

The 3DS can also multi-task without closing your game (friend list, web browser, game notes, and quick settings like adjusting brightness).

ludist210 said:

It's a little thicker than the average smartphone.

Say whaaaat? Here's my phone next to my 3DS.



Not exactly "slightly" larger...

I've owned portables forever but only started carrying them around with the 3DS, thanks in no small part to streetpassing. Here it's jacket or winter coat weather for half the year, and the other half, I've got a saddle bag on my bike. If I had to rely on jeans pockets, I probably wouldn't have started carrying it around, it IS too bulky. Hell, I find my phone too bulky as well.

I still wouldn't play games on my phone if it was all I had, because I find it to be a miserable experience.

My dumbphone is probably 1/8th the size of my 3DS. They both fit nicely into my pockets!

@Guillaume I agree about phones being too bulky as well. I want something super ultra thin. I was enjoying where phones were going with the RAZR back in the day, but obviously smart phones needed the bulkier body to fit in the extra goodness.

As for gaming on a phone, some people love it, some people hate it, some people just plain deal with it. For me, it totally depends on the game. So many people try to make "regular" games on smart phones that just don't fucking work and end up to be horrible experiences. I remember one had this big virtual joystick that you had to slide your thumb around on, I remember I had a long lunch one day and played it the entire time, rubbing my thumb against the screen for so long dried out the natural oils on my thumb and started to friggin' chafe it!

But then you get amazing things like Sword & Sworcery EP, designed from the ground up for phones so it doesn't suffer from any weird clunkiness or unnatural controls, Orbital, simple and fun, etc. Nintendo is brilliant with "unusual" control schemes, I think they could utterly and completely dominate the iOS/Android market if they got a small (all you need is a small team, iOS and Android games don't require years of work and tons of manpower!) A team together. And if it didn't work out, they could just leave it in the dust and stick with what they're used to.

Miserable. Experience.


Sworcery wasn't designed for the ground up for phones, btw. It was designed for iPad, then ported to phones. I don't find it very precise and just loathe having my fingers hide the area I'm touching.

I'm sure the game feels much better on an iPad.

@Xbob42

The thickness of my phone in its otterbox versus my 3DS (with a really cloth between screens) is pretty close. YMMV.

ludist210 said:

@Xbob42

The thickness of my phone in its otterbox versus my 3DS (with a really cloth between screens) is pretty close. YMMV.

Bro-fist.

It wouldn't matter to me if they did, but I wouldn't play them since I hate playing games on a phone.

@ludist210 An otterbox would cost more than my $50 phone... so I'll just buy a new one if it breaks. :p

@Guillaume Sounds like you need a phone stylus! My mom uses those because she, too, hates her fingers blocking things. They work surprisingly perfectly.

@Simbabbad

If I worded this in such a way that Yes is the natural answer, explain the poll results, then.

I worded it that way specifically because I wanted to see what the demand around here would be for Nintendo on smartphones, not because I wanted to listen to more people argue about whether it was in Nintendo's best interest as a business strategy.

@Xbob42

Where are you buying your Otterbox cases from? Mine cost $30, if that.

@ludist210 Any time I see them they're always in the $50 range at stores, could probably get one cheaper online, but why? I've never in my life dropped a phone or a handheld, so...