Super Mario Smartphone on the Way?

In a recent LA Times article, it was reported that Nintendo has posted its first loss in over 30 years (about half a billion dollars). This has been mainly due to competition from the rise of purchases in smartphones, tablets, XBoxes and Playstations, coupled with the fact that sales of the Wii and DS consoles have been on the decline. Because of this loss, there have been reports that analysts are calling for Nintendo to take their popular game franchises such as Mario, et al, to other platforms such as smartphones and tablets. I STRONGLY disagree with this assessment!

If Nintendo were to take their most prized franchises and make them accessible to other platforms, what would be the incentive to buy Nintendo systems and hardware? Sure, there are Nintendo loyalists (like myself of course) that would buy the Nintendo systems and play the games on that hardware, but for fans of the Xbox, Playstation, smartphones and tablets, what would be the "push" to buy a Nintendo system? I think Nintendo would take even greater losses in the future if they made this move.

Sure, the 3DS had a slow start and less than projected sales, but I honestly think that had more to do with the

fact that they did not release enough "popular" titled games with the system release. I have no doubt in my mind that if the 3DS was launched with Kid Icarus Uprising, Luigi's Mansion 2, Paper Mario 3DS, Mario Kart 7 and Animal Crossing 3DS readily available for purchase, the systems would have flown off the shelves, and there would probably have been more demand than supply. Hey, they are allowed some missteps, right? I mean come on -- this was their FIRST loss in over 30 YEARS -- they must be doing SOMETHING right!!!!

I also just CAN'T imagine Mario, Zelda, Kirby, or Pokemon games, etc., on any other system than a genuine Nintendo system. Remember playing Mario games on the PC or CD-i system? Did you get the same "warm and fuzzy" feelings you got when playing on the original Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo or Gameboy Advance? I didn't think so. The Nintendo systems are user-friendly, beautifully crafted, and hey, I GREW UP with them. You will NEVER erase the sentimentalism attached to my beloved Nintendo systems -- don't underestimate it!

Nintendo is great at making mini-games (love the Mario Party series!), so if they just want to expand on that and make "lite" versions of those type of games to play on smartphones and tablets, that may not be such a bad idea; they just have to be sure to keep the fully-featured, mouth-watering, eye-popping games exclusively for Nintendo systems -- there, problem solved.

Additionally, if Nintendo wants to EXPAND their existing system line-up to include a Nintendo-created smartphone or tablet, I'm in -- just tell me when and where to purchase it and I'm there with money in hand!

Stay strong Nintendo!