I was reading an article in Edge about how Apple has revolutionized mobile gaming and is gaining more and more of the market that used to belong to Nintendo, and it got me thinking…What if Nintendo made iPhone games? Wouldn’t that be awesome? There are plenty of incredibly designed games out there in the iTunes market, but Nintendo still has the ability to create some of the best games on the mobile platform. So is the solution just to buy a DS? Not for me. I don’t want to have to carry a DS around with me at all times and even if I did I doubt I’d find the pocket room.

To me mobile gaming is about having quick access in times of need, say on a bus ride or in line at the store. I don’t want to make the conscious decision, ‘Hey I need to bring my DS in case I end up with some free time’, rather I want my games readily accessible in a way that doesn’t create any unnecessary burden. Therefore having a phone double as a gaming device is the perfect solution. I always have my phone and it has plenty of practical uses other than gaming.

The iPhone is as capable (well I’m no technical expert, but from what I’ve seen) as a Nintendo DS. There are some games with pretty decent 3D graphics that run and play well on the device. Grand Theft Auto III is a great example, it’s a PS2 game that looks nice on the iPhone. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is actually a DS game that is ported to the iPhone, and again it works just as well as it did on the DS.

So why can’t I have New Super Mario Bros. on my iPhone? We all know the answer, Nintendo wouldn’t do this because they want you to buy a Nintendo DS to play their games. The problem is there are thousands of gamers out there who would gladly shell out for quality Nintendo titles on the iPhone who have absolutely no interest in purchasing a Nintendo DS. Is there any middle ground here?

Microsoft has announced it plans to bring its Xbox Live marketplace to the iPhone and Android devices which had previously been exclusive to Windows phones. They realize there’s plenty of money to be earned selling games to those who have no interest in the Windows phone platform.

Nintendo is losing its hold on the mobile gaming market faster than ever, and I think the solution is to sell its games on other devices. Maybe they could release a DS app for the iPhone for say an initial price of $50 that would earn them some money to make up for people not buying the DS hardware, and then inside that app sell the DS games for let’s say $15-30 a piece. They’d easily dominate the top 10 charts which have been dominated by the $0.99 Angry Birds for what seems like forever. It’d be win-win, we as gamers would get access to some of the best mobile games out there, while Nintendo would earn some money in what is becoming one of the largest markets in video games. That’s right, not just in mobile gaming, but in video games period.

I know this will likely never happen, but a guy can dream can’t he? What do you think?