Nintendo (NTDOY) has suffered an extended, gradual decline that has gone on for years. In fact, the stock has lost over half its value in the past five years. For a long time, Nintendo was king. But over the past decade, Nintendo has seen its console market share steadily erode to competitors like Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox, as Nintendo lost its innovation in gaming hardware. Another reason is that Nintendo pursued a different software strategy than its competitors, which was to focus on pumping out as many family-friendly games designed for young children, rather than more costly, time-consuming games with complex storytelling and superior graphics. The end result was that hardcore gamers ditched Nintendo in droves and flocked to the PlayStation and Xbox instead. Today, Nintendo stands as a small remnant of its former self. Throughout its crisis, Nintendo has resisted the urge to allow its games to be played on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, insisting that it could turn things around. But that has finally changed. Nintendo recently announced it will finally develop games for mobile devices. This is a fantastic way to leverage Nintendo’s legendary titles like Mario to regain the gamers it lost long ago. Nintendo plans to develop an online membership service, expected to hit later this year. If this goes well, which is highly likely, Nintendo may have just saved itself.