Iwata Explains Nintendo’s Absence from Smartphones, Denies Future 3DS Price Drops

Looks like we won't be seeing Super Mario iOS anytime soon.

In an interview with Japanese newspaper Nikkei (as translated by Andriasang), Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata expressed an firm belief that sticking with the traditional approach to portable gaming is the right move for the company, despite stiff competition from the iOS App Store and Android Marketplace.

When asked whether Nintendo had any intentions of releasing its own software for smartphones, Iwata replied, "This is absolutely not under consideration. If we did this, Nintendo would cease to be Nintendo. Having a hardware development team in-house is a major strength." The CEO did concede that releasing software for phones would likely yeild short term profits, but stated that abandoning first-party hardware would be detrimental to the company in the long term.

This hardline stance on smartphone gaming is far from surprising. Iwata's remarks fall squarely in line with the company's previous statments, which include repeated claims from Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime that cheap mobile games devalue full length experiences and damage the market as a result.

During the interview, Iwata also confirmed that August's 3DS price drop, which lowered the MSRP of the system from $250 to a considerably $179.99, is not a move that Nintendo plans to repeat.

Although Nintendo's share price took a tumble following the announcement of the price cut, global 3DS sales have increased dramatically in the weeks since. Iwata hopes this trend will continue into the holiday season, bolstered in part by the robust lineup of games the company announced during their Tokyo Game Show press conference.