Report: Nintendo Under Pressure to Ditch Hardware, Embrace iPhone

Nintendo is facing calls from investors to ditch hardware development and instead create Mario and Zelda titles for mobile devices such as Apple's iPhone.

According to a report on Bloomberg, stock owners are worried about the consumer apathy surrounding the Nintendo 3DS as more people play games on iPhones, iPads and social networking websites. No doubt the announced price cut for the stereoscopic handheld did little to calm nerves either.

Fund manager Masamitsu Ohki said, "Smartphones are the new battlefield for the gaming industry. Nintendo should try to either buy its way into this platform or develop something totally new."

It's not the first time Nintendo has seen calls to become software-only. Towards the end of the Gamecube's life cycle, many had predicted a grim future for the Japanese company, urging to push its valuable IP to other consoles. This was, of course, before the Wii was released and changed everything.

CEO Satoru Iwata has denied any such calls in the past by vowing to create games for Nintendo platforms for as long as he remains in charge. It is unlikely that he will budge on calls for iPhone development - a spokesperson for the company declined to comment further.