Nintendo Says “No” to iPhone and Android Development

Despite earlier reports surfacing this week regarding Pokemon Tap, a new Pokemon-based rhythm game that will make its debut on smartphones later this summer, Nintendo has stated that they remain firm on their plans to continue to push handheld games solely on their first-party hardware products and not expand onto smartphone gaming.

“(Nintendo) hasn’t changed and won’t change,” said Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa to Bloomberg news. Why then would a Pokemon title be released on one of Nintendo’s “competitors”? Simple. Nintendo only owns 32 percent of the Pokemon Company and is thus able to remain independent and release their own products without having to be published by Nintendo.

Before announcing their decision to remain dedicated to the development of pushing games across Nintendo 3DS bundles, Nintendo shares took a small hit after rising by 4.9 percent in Japan after the announcement of Pokemon Tap.

For a lot of investors, having Nintendo change their stance in regards to developing titles for smartphones would represent the next logical step in the evolution of the company as it would suit the lifestyles and playstyle of many gamers.

According to a number of media outlets, Pokemon Tap will be a rhythm-based smartphone game where players will be tapping Pokemon cards to music and will be available for free on both the Apple’s iOS AppStore and Android Market.