Wii U update to allow easy ports of smartphone games - rumour

Nintendo is working behind the scenes to bring popular smartphone apps to the Wii U, according to rumours out of Japan.

The Japan Times cites anonymous sources for word that Nintendo has approached app developers with "professional-use conversion software" - presumably a specific Wii U SDK - to entice them into making "smartphone games that can be played on Wii U".

The sources said Nintendo hopes smartphone games will help sell Wii U consoles, leading to larger sales of other software. It's also planning on making its own smartphone-style games, apparently.

According to the report, Nintendo is planning to "modify" the Wii U somehow to enable this, although this probably refers to a firmware update rather than hardware revision.

The whole shebang is couched in terms of Nintendo desperately struggling to turn around from some poor financial results the last few years. it will be particularly interesting if true as the platform holder has shown nothing but disdain for freemium and mobile gaming, claiming it cheapens quality releases. That said, the big N did a 180 turn on indie gaming recently, so it wouldn't be the first time it's eaten humble pie.

Thanks, Gamespot.