Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition is more of the same for Nintendo

An upcoming 3DS game combines Mario with one of the top-grossing mobile apps in the world, but don’t mistake this for anything more than what it is: Nintendo using a popular mobile game to help its own hardware.

Late last night, developer GungHo Online Entertainment revealed that it is working on Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, which is due out in April in Japan. This is the latest adaptation of the company’s megapopular Puzzle & Dragon mobile game, which has made nearly $1 billion in each of the last two years. This mashes up Mario art and characters with the gameplay of GungHo’s app, but it also signifies Nintendo’s strongest partnership yet with a mobile developer. So after years of begging from investors, is this a sign that Nintendo is finally softening up to the idea of making mobile games?