Nintendo is looking at mobile as a new business model following poor sales of its Wii U games console.
Last week, Nintendo slashed its Wii U sales forecast in dramatic fashion from nine million units between April 2013 and March this year, down to just 2.8 million. It also halved its forecast for games sales from 38- to 19 million.
See also: Why you can't get Nintendo games like Mario on iPhone and Android.
The firm will have received a boost over the Christmas period with the launch of Super Mario 3D World but titles including Mario Kart 8 and Zelda Wii U are still to arrive. The battle with the Xbox One and PS4 has been a tough one with 3- and 4.2 million units sold respectively at the beginning of January.
Furthermore, the fairly popular 3DS handheld console has also missed target with Nintendo expecting to report profits of $240m instead of $527m.
"We are thinking about a new business structure. Given the expansion of smart devices, we are naturally studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business," Itawa said.
"The way people use their time, their lifestyles, who they are have changed. If we stay in one place, we will become outdated."
However, Itawa went onto say: "It's not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone,"
What this means for the iconic gaming firm is unclear at the moment. Some believe that Nintendo will develop new titles specifically for smartphone and tablet platforms such as iPad and Android while others suggest that it may even launch its own devices in a similar way to how Microsoft has Windows Phone 8 and Sony has its own range of mobile devices.
E3 2014 is likely to be when we hear more from Nintendo about its future.
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