Must Nintendo Make a Mobile Phone?

Hiroshi writes "Earlier this year Engadget uncovered a patent filed in 2001 for a Nintendo cell phone but as we all know, nothing came of it. Now CNET is highlighting the Nintenphone once more, stating that it must be built if cell phone gaming is ever going to get better. Interestingly, CNET Photoshopped a DS Lite with Android and a virtual keypad, and while this probably wouldn't be what a Nintenphone would look like, I can't help feeling like the DS would make an awesome phone."

meh

[ilovegeorgebush]

Listen, Nintendo saw the N-Gage flump too...

A little behind the times

[Spad]

The DS already has VoIP [gizmodo.com].

Good to have as a patent

[SlipperHat]

If the amount of regulation/hassle/bureaucratic red-tape associated with cellphones (read contracts / improper billing) disappears, then Nintendo might consider it.

As a few other posters have pointed out, Nokia's N-GAGE was somewhat cool, but didn't last. Nintendo is under no pressure to release a device with hand-held gaming and cellphone features. It's not a race yet, so why should Nintendo run?

That being said, Nintendo is company and has responsibility to be profitable for its shareholders. If a prospect is viable (possibly in the future) and potentially lucrative (yes if they are the first one's to market with a decent product), then they'll go after it (in the medium-to-long term).

Re:A little behind the times

[Krilomir]

Actually, there is no need to hack a DS to run homebrew software on it. All you need is an unofficial flash card to boot the software from. The most popular device is the Revolution 4 / M3. It stores the software on a microSD card and fits right into the DS game slot.

Re:Doomed to repeat history?

[Constantine XVI]

The Game Boy Color had a special link cable to hook up to your cellphone to play against other people in one of the Pokemon games (Crystal IIRC). It was pulled out in the US and EU releases, which Im guessing is for 1 of 2 possible reasons:
1) The cell network in America and the EU didn't yet have the horsepower to sustain the speed they wanted (keep in mind Japan's WCDMA network was/is very advanced compared to the GPRS, CDMA, and TDMA of the time)
2) It just wasn't very popular