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Responding to the calls from investors to boost revenue, Japanese video game maker Nintendo Co Ltd. is going to do a solid venture into smartphone games segment by bringing the iconic gaming characters such as Super Mario to the players on its consoles.
The Japanese firm on Tuesday announced its plans to team up with online gaming company DeNA Co Ltd. for developing and operating gaming apps.
Nintendo is likely to face cut down in its annual operating profit by half, thanks to the weak sales of its gaming consoles.
Later this year, the two firms will be also launching an online membership service for mobile devices and Nintendo’s portable 3DS and existing Wii U console.
While talking to the reporters about the venture, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, said, “This will allow us to build a bridge between smart devices and gaming consoles. It doesn’t mean smart devices will eat away at gaming consoles, it will create an entirely new type of demand.”
Under the new parternship agreement, Nintendo and DeNA would be buying shares in each other worth 22 billion yen. Consequently, Nintendo will be acquiring a 10 percent stake in DeNA and later will make acquisition of a 1.2 percent stake in former.
Nintendo’s investors have been long calling for the shifting of focus to mobile devices as the company has lost its customers base to the rivals from both smartphone gaming application and console sectors, such as Sony Corp’s PlayStation and Microsoft Corp’s Xbox.
