Never one to bite his tongue when he can poke a competitor, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has gone on record to suggest he's worried the prevalence of cheap games on mobile app stores is having a detrimental effect on the industry as a whole.

Speaking to GameTrailers, Fils-Aime said some of the games on offer on mobiles undoubtedly have value, but the constant 'race to the bottom' most publishers are engaged in is resulting in a dangerous change in public perception.

In short, the cheaper games get, the less willing consumers are to pay more. It's a trend that arguably threatens the success of the traditional boxed model practiced by Nintendo, with games priced at $30 or more.

Angry Mario

"I actually think that one of the biggest risks today in our industry are these inexpensive games that are candidly disposable from a consumer standpoint," he told the site.

"Angry Birds is a great piece of experience but that is one compared to thousands of other pieces of content that for one or two dollars I think actually create a mentality for the consumer that a piece of gaming content should only be two dollars.

"I actually think some of those games are overpriced at one or two dollars but that's a whole different story."

Down on digitalThough Fils-Aime is by no means the first to highlight the potential industry-wide problems with pricing on app stores, his account is likely coloured by Nintendo's failure to have its own digital marketplace – 3DS's eShop – ready for the handheld's launch.

Instead of rolling out on day one, the eShop won't make its debut via a firmware update until May.

This follows on from what's widely regarded to be the failure of its predecessor, DSiWare, to make a mark on consumers and developers alike, despite the availability of cheap games. The minimum of 200 Nintendo points equates to $2.

Within its first year, Nintendo's platform boasted a roster of 150 games – a paltry total compared to the estimated 34,000 games that sat on Apple's marketplace at the time.

[source: GameTrailers]