Nintendo to Finally Bring Games to Mobile With DeNA

Japanese game maker Nintendo will develop smartphone games with DeNA based on its properties. What this means is, you can expect Nintendo games from franchises such as Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Metroid among others on mobile phones. The announcement was made at a press conference held by both companies on Tuesday in Japan.

Both companies are planning a multi platform social gaming network that will roll out globally in fall 2015. In addition to this Nintendo will buy 10 percent of DeNA for $181 million while DeNA will possess 1.24 percent stake in Nintendo as reported by VentureBeat. All details falling under this deal will be signed on Tuesday and the payment for stock transfer will happen on April 2, .

While Nintendo has stayed away from the mobile space for the longest time, this marks an interesting turn around for the company which has seen tremendous success with its 3DS handheld console - which is now in its third iteration. The company had in an earnings release in January announced that the last nine months of 2014 were a mixed bag. Its revenue slid 11.3 percent compared to the previous year, reaching JPY 443 billion ($3.8 billion), the company reported. While revenue was down, Nintendo was able to reverse its fortunes a bit, boosting its profit by 484 percent year-over-year to JPY 59.5 billion. Most recently, its US sales for the 3DS have been strong, and was found to be the best selling console in America in February.

Hopefully the focus on mobile means emerging markets like India don't get left behind when it comes to receiving Nintendo's games. Something that's happened way too often in the past.