The video game world rejoiced yesterday at the news that Nintendo is finally backing down on its anti-smartphone and tablet stance, and is working to bring its most beloved franchises to Android and iOS.

But gamers aren’t the only ones celebrating!

Nintendo shares shot up 21 percent in the 24 hours after the company said it was teaming with Tokyo-based mobile company DeNA to develop smartphone games. The result was Nintendo’s value on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rising to its best closing price since June 2011.

The company’s stock price has sunk more than 60 percent since June 2007, when Apple first debuted to its iPhone, which signaled a change in the way mobile gaming takes place. This new strategy by Nintendo hasn’t yet gotten the gaming giant back to its previous high, but does at least mean that some investment analysts are now classifying the stock as a “buy” once again.

“The world is changing, so any company that is not coping with the change will fall into decline,” Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata admitted to a Tokyo news conference on Tuesday.

Although Nintendo has been open about the fact that its mobile games are going to be new touchscreen-optimized titles, rather than ports of classic games, the fact that we can finally expect to see (legal) versions of Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong is cause enough for us to be excited.

And, hey, if you’re a Nintendo investor, the news is even better.

Source: AFP