Nintendo: 'no desire' to make a mobile phone

You can still answer your phone 'Itsa me, Mario!' if you want
You can still answer your phone 'Itsa me, Mario!' if you want

Nintendo is not planning to make a mobile phone, according to its American President.

Speculation has been rife that the much-loved gaming company will foray into the smartphone market, particularly since its two main rivals, Microsoft and Sony, both have.

Nintendo's American President, Reggie Fils-Aime, dispelled the rumours succinctly, saying: "We have no desire to get into telephony.

"We believe that we will earn our way into someone's pocket without having to offer [phone capability] as an additional factor."

Pocket monsters

Nintendo is already in a whole bunch of people's pockets after a hugely successful Nintendo 3DS launch; it sold out in Japan 24-hours after release and was pre-ordered by over 120,000 people in the UK before it went on sale on 25 March.

The Nintendo 3DS comes with Wi-Fi connectivity, but falls short of offering 3G or voice signal, to the infuriation of anyone who wants to consolidate all their portables into one handy device, a la the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play.

Nintendo has considered entering the phone space, though, with Nintendo 3DS platform producer Hideki Konno quoted as saying:

"It's not that I'm uninterested. However, I look at the business model, and I see so many additional costs that come into play."

Fair play, Nintendo. We'd rather see you cranking out great games consoles than average phones.

From CNN

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.