For hardcore game fans, the concept of playing Nintendo games on a mobile is as alluring as it is unlikely, with the Japanese giant steadfastly refusing to license its titles or get involved in development for third party hardware. Indeed, it had seemed that we'd have to wait until the
much-rumoured Nintendo phone arrived before we'd get to take Mario mobile.
Now, however, it appears that could all change with the arrival of Fly mobile's new MC100, the first handset to support both Java games
and classic Nintendo gaming platforms, including NES, SNES, Game Boy and Game Boy Color.
Whilst this obviously does exclude everything in three dimensions from, say,
GoldenEye on N64 up to
Super Mario Galaxy on Wii, there's still an incredibly rich heritage of old skool titles featuring the likes of
Mario,
Metroid and
Zelda that have yet to make their mobile bow.
What's more, to ensure that the games can be enjoyed as intended owners of the MC100 will find special gaming keys on the top of the handset, as well as a sturdy joypad which appears to be designed with a subtle nod to D-pad styling.
Other features of the entertainment-themed phone include a special Yamaha chipset for high quality audio output, in-built e-book and email client functions, a two-megapixel camera and a microSD card for storing games and music.
Before you get too excited however, there are two reservations to bear in mind. First, the phone is currently only available in the US at a price of $270 (£137).
Second, and perhaps more pressingly, the question remains as to exactly how legitimate these games are (and how much Nintendo knows about the set-up). The official press release states only that "games (nes/smc/gb/gbc) can be freely downloaded from the Internet and set up in your Fly MC100".
Although we haven't yet received official confirmation from the company, we can only assume this refers to ROMs rather than officially licensed games. If that is the case, then we wouldn't entirely be surprised if Nintendo's legal department gave Fly a buzz themselves in the next couple of weeks.
Suffice it to say we'll be monitoring developments very closely and hopefully getting our hands on an MC100 to see if we can put the maker's claims to the test in the next couple of weeks.
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