Nintendo to begin development of mobile games

[Firewind]

FUCKING. CALLED. IT.

Nintendo to develop mobile games

Nintendo is collaborating with Japanese developer DeNA to create new games for smartphones, it has been announced.
The gaming giant said that existing games built for other Nintendo platforms like the Wii U and 3DS will not be transferred.
While the emphasis will be on making new games for mobile handsets, all of Nintendo's intellectual property will be "eligible for development".
This includes popular game characters such as Super Mario, Zelda and Pokemon.
The two firms also announced plans to launch an online membership service in the autumn of 2015 which will give members access to their accounts across multiple platforms, including smartphones and PCs.
"Nintendo's decision to partner with DeNA is a recognition of the importance of the games app audience to the future of its business," said Piers Harding-Rolls, head of games research at analysts IHS.
"The Nintendo-DeNA alliance is a good fit and offers up a number of important synergies for two companies that are no longer leaders in their respective segments."
Last year, gaming apps were worth $26bn in consumer spend but handheld console games accounted for just 3% of that market, according to IHS figures.
"The main challenge will be knitting together the cultures of both companies and aligning the speed of development and iteration that is needed in the mobile space with Nintendo's more patient and systematic approach to games content production," added Mr Harding-Rolls.
"How the new games are monetised may also provide a challenge considering the general differences in models used in retail for Nintendo and through in-app purchases for DeNA."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31923811

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Nintendo to begin development of mobile games

Uh, did you read the article and other news?

Nintendo is letting DeNA use thier IP to make games. This is as much Nintendo making mobile games as it is them making M rated ones - they're getting someone else to do it for them - and now having the second largest share in DeNA means they get a ton of control over what DeNA does. Meanwhile Nintendo focuses on thier business and DeNA also builds the unified network Sony fanboys have been crabbing about for so long.

I don't think anyone called that. This is Nintendo being Nintendo as usual. DeNA got senpai to notice them after five years of trying, Iwata gets investors to STFU about mobile games and Nintendo just does what they always do.

I just hope DeNA and Nintendo don't do what Game Freak did and release an abhorrent piece of F2P piece of shit like Pokémon Shuffle. It's like an investor got to design the game.

Also, FFXI is going portable. I called that :D

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Nintendo to begin development of mobile games

I just hope DeNA and Nintendo don't do what Game Freak did and release an abhorrent piece of F2P piece of shit like Pokémon Shuffle. It's like an investor got to design the game.

You know they will.

Actually, this reminds me of the last time Nintendo let somebody else use their IP. I wonder what Ganon was up to back then . . .

(This week seems to largely consist of Japan giving a giant middle-finger to the west.)

[Icemage]

Re: Nintendo to begin development of mobile games

Unsurprising and frankly necessary in the current market environment.

I'm not sure I'd be trusting DeNA to build the network infrastructure, though. There's a big difference between the demands of a console-connected network vs. a smartphone-conncted network. Still, they probably can't do any worse than Nintendo has done themselves. Let's not forget that the last time they worked with someone on their online services, it was Gamespy, and that resulted in a huge number of Wii and DS games losing online connectivity last year when Gamespy shut down and took their servers down with them.

Still, this is a move in the right direction for Nintendo, and is to be applauded. It's probably not where they need to be for the next generation of gaming, but it's more than they've done in years.


Icemage