[esmevane]

So Nintendo has not chosen to take their world-renowned franchises and use them to crop-share on iOS, and we're calling this a failure to capitalize on an opportunity?

I don't think I could disagree more.

These franchises are a tremendous draw and guarantee a large amount of device lock-in for Nintendo, presently. They have made the games Nintendo produces a renewable resource, where oftentimes the company can re-release game content with a newly polished engine and be critically acclaimed for it.

If Nintendo gives Apple any amount of access to these franchises, then the lock-in is diluted and so, consequently, is the Nintendo brand.

Not to mention that in exchange for diluting their brand and sacrificing their lock-in, they will also be diminishing their profits by 30%.

This is effectively just handing it over to Apple even though there is no obvious marketing or distribution advantage to having their applications available on iOS.

After all they'd lose from the arrangement, it almost feels ludicrous to suggest that Nintendo pay Apple for the honor of diminishing its brand, don't you think?

[ashray]

Not only that. Imagine Super Mario with just touchscreen controls. It would be a disaster. That would hurt them too!

Nintendo makes gaming hardware and software. Apple makes multipurpose hardware and software. These two worlds are meeting right now with some intersections that are great i.e. Cut the Rope, Tiny Wings, Ridiculous Fishing, etc. - but the really great titles have all been very 'casual'. Eventually these worlds will probably collide but Nintendo's firmly decided that now's not the time for that, for them.

I don't have any trouble with that as long as they keep producing great hardware. And has anyone seen the handheld console business lately ? They are ruling those numbers these days, so why the criticism ?

[joezydeco]

I also don't have a heart attack when my son drops his DS and it goes skittering across the pavement. iOS devices are nice, but they are not durable enough to be owned by children. Nintendo puts the work in to make their devices withstand being used as, for lack of a better word, toys.