Nintendo Goes Mobile, Pigs Not Flying Yet

It's true.

Not sure what to think of this. I don't see anything wrong with the odd companion app., but something within me (probably a fanboy bit) revolts against the idea of seeing Mario et al. on an iPhone. And then there's the possibility that Pokémon Shuffle highlights the way things are going.

I'm not preaching doom, but it's fair to say that I'm worried.

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I think this is a good thing. I don't see the problem or the downside. As they say, it will only be new, completely original games designed for the portable market. Where is the problem in that? I can only see what I have stated before and that is it is an opportunity to put their IP into more hands, a massive amount of hands, with games that do not detract from the rest of their business, one that will give them a good cash flow, with the high chance that some of the new gamers will be interested in a Nintendo dedicated console, for a full game experience. It will only grow their business.

The world as we know it is not about to end.

What about NX though - what do we think that is? A replacement for the Wii U or 3DS, or perhaps a completely new console? That is the bit that interests me.

There's a thread for that!

I guess my two main rational worries are:
1) In the short term, we'll see more free-to-play Nintendo stuff and almost throwaway games, that threaten to tarnish Nintendo and their IPs;
2) In the long term, if this is successful, Nintendo either adopting mobile approaches to their non-mobile games, or scrapping either their handheld or home console (or both) to concentrate more on mobile stuff. People have spewed about this for ages, but I dismissed it all as nonsense until this announcement. Now I'm on board the fear train.

Balladeer wrote:

There's a thread for that!

I guess my two main rational worries are:
1) In the short term, we'll see more free-to-play Nintendo stuff and almost throwaway games, that threaten to tarnish Nintendo and their IPs;
2) In the long term, if this is successful, Nintendo either adopting mobile approaches to their non-mobile games, or scrapping either their handheld or home console (or both) to concentrate more on mobile stuff.  People have spewed about this for ages, but I dismissed it all as nonsense until this announcement.  Now I'm on board the fear train.

Yeah, saw that after this.
1. I don't agree, but whilst it is possible, with Nintendo, I am doubtful.
2. Yes it may see the end of a dedicated home or portable console, but I doubt it, and if it does happen, you will be as old as me when it does and I will be dead. I think the train you are boarding is defective and stuck in the Tube.

The YouTube (comments), you mean?

Tech moves fast. I'd love to not see it happen in my lifetime, but I can't be as dismissive as you of the possibility.

I agree with OS on this can only see it growing Nintendo's market as how many smartphones & tablets are out there if in 1% off users then went out and picked up dedicated gaming device of Nintendo's that be a lot of people & money for Nintendo and at the end of the day there business that has been around for 100's of years. So they know what there doing.

Balladeer wrote:

The YouTube (comments), you mean?

Tech moves fast.  I'd love to not see it happen in my lifetime, but I can't be as dismissive as you of the possibility.

I had to Google The Tube just to make sure my reference was correct. Damn it is hard when you are trying to make a point to a bleedin' foreigner using references they will know, so easy to get it horribly wrong.

Balladeer wrote:

There's a thread for that!

I guess my two main rational worries are:
1) In the short term, we'll see more free-to-play Nintendo stuff and almost throwaway games, that threaten to tarnish Nintendo and their IPs;
2) In the long term, if this is successful, Nintendo either adopting mobile approaches to their non-mobile games, or scrapping either their handheld or home console (or both) to concentrate more on mobile stuff.  People have spewed about this for ages, but I dismissed it all as nonsense until this announcement.  Now I'm on board the fear train.

I don't think you need to be worried at this point.

1) It'll be free-to-play, but Nintendo is involved in the planning processes for the games. In Iwata's presentation, he mentioned that the goal of this new all-encompassing platform is to grow the market for Nintendo's NX premium device, while aiming particular titles at the right audience. I think Iwata has finally realised that the value of their non-gaming software this generation hasn't been realised, because those games' core audience has moved from DS/Wii to iPhones and iPads. And stuff like Pokémon Shuffle just felt out of place on 3DS -- put it where the audience is.

Furthermore, because of these long term aims of the service, I don't think either Nintendo or DeNA will be in position to abuse consumers with the games, because they need to build a long-term relationship with their customers to ensure repeat engagement with *all* of Nintendo's products -- the entire brand is hingeing on this.

Yes, there was Pokémon Shuffle, but I'm willing to bet that was The Pokémon Company's bidding, not Nintendo's. That it's listed as being published by TPC on the eShop is telling -- Nintendo's the publisher for Link Battle.

2) As in 1), they are doing this to grow NX. Iwata maintained that their hardware-software business is still very strong and goes good numbers, and it's here to stay. They won't be diverting lots of resources away from it.

He did note that the console market is on the decline, which I believe is wrong -- PS4 going viral and both PS4/XB1 selling faster than any other PlayStation/Xbox to date proved even the harshest sceptists wrong. But he could be talking about Japan, where Wii U does small numbers, PS4 does slightly less small numbers, and Xbox One does very small numbers.

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So really, I'm quite pleased with the outcome. I do see where the worry about the mobile games themselves comes from, especially as DeNA is given full access to Nintendo's IP. But again, it's a plan for the long term, so I'm willing to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt.

That's a good post, Fronk, albeit not as comforting as you probably meant it to be!

I'm still not entirely consoled about 1 - I don't want Nintendo, or indeed anyone, doing FtP without very careful balancing. I think it can work without seeming like a money-grubber, but that it's tricky. Interesting about the publisher for PS, though.

As for 2, that sounds very much like sacrificing the home console part of Nintendo, the way you put it! I reckon we've got at least another generation before that happens, though.

oldschool wrote:

I had to Google The Tube just to make sure my reference was correct.  Damn it is hard when you are trying to make a point to a bleedin' foreigner using references they will know, so easy to get it horribly wrong.

Don't worry, you got the reference right, especially 'cause I'm a Londoner. I can confirm that trains do get stuck in the tube all the time!

I really couldn't care less. Nintendo are not going to release compromised versions of their games. All we'll see are spin-offs or well suited touchscreen games which will take in some extra cash for the company and give me more options to play Nintendo games on the go. Where's the downside?

If Nintendo's mobile games go down the F2P route, I will be unnerved. Far prefer what the App Store is now calling 'Pay Once And Play' games: you buy it and it's yours. As long as we get POAP games, I'm in. To be fair, even if they're F2P, I'll probably get 'em. Nintendo games are normally very well-produced and there's no reason, as yet, to believe that that will change when they go mobile.

I will probably not buy any F2P games. Unless, I dunno, the nightmare scenario happens and the next Zelda is somehow free-to-play.

Drunkalilly wrote:

I really couldn't care less. Nintendo are not going to release compromised versions of their games. All we'll see are spin-offs or well suited touchscreen games which will take in some extra cash for the company and give me more options to play Nintendo games on the go. Where's the downside?

Their development time, it would seem.

balla wrote:

I will probably not buy any F2P games.

You don't have to buy it that's why it's F2P.

Tell you what, I'd be all over the likes of Yoshi's Fruit Cart and Captain Falcon's Twister Race (from Nintendo Land) on mobile. All over it like a rat up a drainpipe.

Original stuff like they introduced on DSiWare would be good value too. When I was redownloading my eShop games on my New 3DS XL is was a bit surprised to be greeted by the likes of Birds & Bombs and Aura Aura Climber - I'd forgotten about them. But they were good.

It's almost certain that Nintendo will produce the right kind of games for smartphones. All the noises they're making suggest that genuine button input games, that really don't work very well on touch screens, will not appear. Nintendo really get their own hardware to sing, so they should be able to do the same - albeit with a little help! - on smartphones.

Other points I wanted to make today include: a), they'll surely do a mixture of F2P and Pay Once And Play games, and b), whatever happens, it will get more money flowing into Nintendo's coffers. The super-ideal scenario is a sustained increase in sales for the 3DS and Wii U - that's less likely than Vinny Jones becoming President of Mensa, though.

Iwata said this on the types of games In the digital world, content has the tendency to lose value, especially on smart devices. We finally found solutions to the problem. We will not merely port games developed for our dedicated systems to smart devices just as they are—we will develop brand new software which perfectly matches the play style and control mechanisms of smart devices.

And I trust Nintendo will do that, will I play any of them very unlikely as I sooner play on a dedicated games system but for casuals it could be good and might bring them into Nintendo.

@Fronk PS4 has started to turn around in Japan now it's been Number 1 for the last few weeks thanks to content like dragon quest & yakuza but it is a shirking marker for consoles in Japan where mobile & handheld seem to rule.

Personally, I think it is a bad idea. It has already got my friends expecting that Nintendo will move to PS4/XB1. When I say "that won't happen", they say "a week ago you swore blind that Nintendo would never make games for mobile."

Basically, IMO, any minute spent making something on mobile is a minute better spent on their own consoles.

You did tell them Nintendo have already confirmed a new console and mobile means nothing, MS & Sony have games on mobile doesn't mean either of them are bringing game to each other.

Balladeer wrote:

That's a good post, Fronk, albeit not as comforting as you probably meant it to be!  

I'm still not entirely consoled about 1 - I don't want Nintendo, or indeed anyone, doing FtP without very careful balancing.  I think it can work without seeming like a money-grubber, but that it's tricky.  Interesting about the publisher for PS, though.

As for 2, that sounds very much like sacrificing the home console part of Nintendo, the way you put it!  I reckon we've got at least another generation before that happens, though.

Fair points. I think Nintendo will at least do F2P 'right' where applicable. Collectible Badge Center and Rusty's Real Deal Baseball at least shows that in-house Nintendo knows (and was learning!) how to do it fairly, and Iwata hasn't ruled out any particular business model on mobile, instead stating that it will all be considered on a case-by-case basis. And from a game design point of view, I think we're sorted. As Phillips mentioned, so many Nintendo-like minigames are a great fit for smartphone hardware. Iwata himself seemed very confident about the matter, having (rightfully) stated how Nintendo led the way for touchscreen games with Nintendo DS.

I'm a bit wary too if I'd be honest. While the move has the long term interest of Nintendo at heart, the results could differ massively depending on a best or worst case scenario. I'm also a bit worried that Iwata plans to have some sort of mobile game released this year. I was always under the impression that this effort was going to be integrated with NX, when everything (including this global Nintendo Network that will span PC, mobile and handheld/consoles) was ready. I'm not quite sure what a few mobile games will do to push 3DS and Wii U...

...especially when NX was announced for 2016/2017. That's the ironic part of it, I suppose. Iwata had to announce a new console/handheld because we'd all be thinking Nintendo was going mobile-only otherwise. But it's clearly going to have a negative impact on how people view the Wii U, and whether indies will even bother targeting it now that its replacement is on the way soon.

fronkhead wrote:

...especially when NX was announced for 2016/2017. That's the ironic part of it, I suppose. Iwata had to announce a new console/handheld because we'd all be thinking Nintendo was going mobile-only otherwise. But it's clearly going to have a negative impact on how people view the Wii U, and whether indies will even bother targeting it now that its replacement is on the way soon.

I don't believe the NX is the Wii U replacement at all. I am pretty sure they have made it clear it is something new, not a replacement for the WiiU or even the 3DS, which is the more likely scenario should a replacement be the actual outcome.