Nintendo hints that it may release smartphone controller

Nintendo has started to explore the mobile games market and has now hinted that it may develop a controller for smartphones.

At a recent shareholder’s event, senior director Shinya Takahashi said, "Physical controllers for smart device applications are available in the market and it is possible that we may also develop something new by ourselves."

Following this, he went on to discuss the difficulties of developing action games without a physical controller. This could indicate the type of games that Nintendo will be looking at further down the road.

This hint follows in the wake of Microsoft’s announcement that the new Xbox controller will be able to connect to smartphones as well as the console and PCs, as the PlayStation Dualshock 4 does.

Nintendo's first mobile release was Miitomo, and Pokemon Go is out today on Android and iOS.