For several years now, the Japanese multinational consumer electronics company Nintendo has kept Mario as well as Luigi out of the mobile game arena. However, now the company is working to push the release of five smartphone games in the coming few years.

A recent report in IB Times says that Nintendo will be launching its first smartphone game this year, and the company is planning to release four more by March 2017. While this may be a very small number considering the several hundred titles released on its 3DS and Wii U platforms, on Friday, Nintendo CEO and President Satoru Iwata explained the reason behind the company's latest move.

Speaking during an earnings call, Iwata said, "You may think it is a small number," adding, "But when we aim to make each title a hit and because we want to thoroughly operate every one of them for a significant amount of time after their releases, this is not a small number at all and should demonstrate our serious commitment to the smart-device business."

While Nintendo has not revealed the precise intellectual properties it will be tapping for the company's first mobile game, the company stated in March that nothing in its catalog, counting the likes of 'Super Mario' and 'The Legend of Zelda,' is ruled out.

In fact, in March Nintendo disclosed its intention to make mobile games in collaboration with Japanese mobile developer DeNA. IGN reported that it is expected that these games will be developed under the supervision of 'Mario Kart' producer Hideki Konno.

Meanwhile, Nintendo is hoping that its entry into the mobile market will help to attract new customers while it will be using smartphones in the form of bridges to its own dedicated console systems. In order to make this easier, the company plans to introduce a new online membership service encompassing its 3DS and Wii U systems, the in-development NX system, mobile devices as well as personal computers.

eMarketer says that the timing of Nintendo's entry into the mobile market may be appropriate for the company since U.S. mobile-game revenue surpassed $2.6 billion in 2014 and is expected to increase by 16.5 percent to over $3 billion this year.