Nintendo Denies Report of Plans to Release Demo Games on iOS

A Monday report from Japanese business newspaper Nikkei claimed Nintendo is planning unveil an iOS app to market content for its Wii U and 3DS, with the app allegedly featuring information about new games from Nintendo and the mobile initiative potentially also including playable demos of console and handheld games. In a statement provided to Engadget today, however, Nintendo has denied it is planning to offer such minigames on smartphone platforms.

nintendo-logo

"Nikkei's article contains information previously stated by Mr Iwata during past press conferences, including statements which relate to Nintendo's willingness to make use of smart devices to promote our products.

However during such past announcements Mr Iwata has also stated that Nintendo's intention is not to make Nintendo software available on smart devices and as such, we can confirm that there are no plans to offer minigames on smartphone devices."

Nintendo is at a crossroads as mobile gaming makes gains on both the console and handheld market. The Japanese game maker reported its third consecutive annual loss and adjusted its forecast to reflect a 35 billion yen ($335.76 million) operating loss, instead of the previously projected profit of 100 billion yen. The company also slashed it sales forecasts for the Wii U from 9 million to 2.8 million units and cut its estimates for the 3DS from 18 million to 13.5 million units.

Many investors and Nintendo fans have called for the legendary game company to embrace mobile platforms, but the company's executives have so far remained steadfast in focusing their valuable game franchises only on Nintendo-branded hardware.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....

Top Rated Comments

rudychidiac Avatar
155 months ago
Your pride will be your downfall
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
koban4max Avatar
155 months ago
if nintendo CEO doesn't do anything about it quick, Mario is going to end up working as a plumber.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Reason077 Avatar
155 months ago
So, in other words, Nintendo just don't get it. They're doomed.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
theydonotmove Avatar
155 months ago
this would be a good move for Nintendo, demos for the mobile sphere, and save your real games for your devices.

If Nintendo steps into the mobile gaming market they will waste a lot of energy trying to compete in a whole new area of gaming. they will be developing new software or porting old software to two new platforms (android and iOS), that are fragmented over different types of hardware, and competing with developers who have been there for many years already.

Go play Super Mario 3D world and then tell me you can replicate that on a phone. I'm sorry but you can't.

Nintendo's place is in the living room or a mobile device of their design, not your smartphone.

The next Smash Bros,. and Zelda, and Mario Kart, and other 1st party titles will be a shot in the arm for Wii U sales, the console will likely go the route of the Gamecube, which was not a success but was still profitable by the end of it's run.

Nintendo's next move should be as the recent rumors have pointed to; a console/handheld fusion device with backwards compatibility to Wii and Wii U, support from Nintendo's online market, and specs at least somewhere in the ballpark of the current offerings from Microsoft and Sony.

A seamless mobile and living room gaming experience.

Did mac clones help Apple? No.

Then why would Nintendo commit suicide just so you can play Mario on your iPhone?

Aside from top notch game making and an earned reputation for making some of the best games in the business, the most valuable thing Nintendo has is its catalog of retro games and its intellectual properties.

Putting those games and/or properties on other devices is like throwing money away for Nintendo.

When you buy a game on Nintendo's virtual console they earn 100 percent of the profit, if they were bleeding them off onto other devices they would be earning less than if they sold it themselves.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pichael Avatar
155 months ago
This is what happens when the same company develops hardware and software.

Are you kidding me? What does Apple do? I'm pretty sure they make hardware and the software that runs on it.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
polterbyte Avatar
155 months ago
Iwata's actions, if true, look like the Germanic tribe response to the Roman army in the initial scene of "Gladiator".

The dialogue between Quintus and Maximus at that moment is also very appropriate:

Quintus: People should know when they are conquered.
Maximus: Would you, Quintus? Would I?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)