The gaming industry and gamers in general are split on whether Nintendo embracing mobile games is a good thing or not. It certainly opens up the company’s IP to a much wider audience, but at what cost? Well, we’re sure to find out over the next two years as Nintendo has confirmed it has not one, but five new smartphone games in development, all of which will be available to play by 2017.
Nintendo announced that it was going to develop mobile gamesback in March. CEO Satoru Iwata also made it very clear these games would be free-to-start, not free-to-play. Now, during a meeting with investors, Iwata has stated that there’s five mobile titles in development and you’ll be able to play them all on a smartphone or tablet before the end of March 2017.
Iwata also pointed out that to some, five titles may seem like a very small number of games. However, Nintendo is apparently focusing on quality and long-term support rather than quick, forgettable games that carry the Nintendo IP. Remember, there will be no existing games ported to mobile, these are all brand new titles specifically for mobile devices.
Mobile could be highly profitable for Nintendo, and therefore for Apple/Google/Microsoft as well when they take their cut of the profits. The key is how Nintendo handles mobile, though. If they can produce titles that somehow entice gamers to switch to Nintendo hardware as well as spending a bit of cash then it will be a winner. If it just leaves them wanting more Nintendo games on mobile devices, then the company has a (short-term) problem and a potential transition to a software-only company in the years to come.
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