Mario Time? Nintendo Plans Move Into Movies

Nintendo could be moving into making its own film content - more than 20 years after its most iconic characters appeared in the widely panned Super Mario Bros film.

The Japanese video game maker said it is yet to decide on the details, but had chosen to focus on filmmaking as an area for future investment.

Company spokesman Makoto Wakae said the project could result in a cinema release or a DVD.

Dr Serkan Toto, CEO of Tokyo-based game industry consultancy Kantan Games, suggested that Nintendo is not interested in producing live-action movies and is instead leaning towards animation.

However, in a series of tweets, he added that the first title would not be ready this year.

Nintendo's Pokemon characters were licensed for use in a series of movies, but it is not clear what character might appear in the latest in-house projects.

Nintendo, which makes the Wii U home console and Nintendo 3DS hand-held machine, recently entered an alliance with Japanese mobile game company DeNA Co. to develop games for mobile devices in a bid to boost sales figures.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) has also said its new game platform codenamed NX will be launched globally in March next year.

Nintendo reported a $216m (£150m) loss for January-March, bigger than that reported the previous year.

For the fiscal year ended 31 March it earned $148m, down 61% from the previous fiscal year.

Recent Wii U sales have lagged rivals Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 4 console and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox One, and films could revive interest in its franchise, which also includes The Legend Of Zelda.