In early 2015, Nintendo surprised gamers
around the world with an announcement few would have expected from the
company: they'd be bringing their popular franchises to the iPhone (and
other mobile devices) in the very near future. Further, these games
wouldn't be made by Nintendo exclusively, but would be the result of a
partnership with the Japanese mobile games company DeNA, best known for
free-to-play offerings like Rage of Bahamut and Blood Brothers.Details were slow to trickle out after that initial announcement, but it was eventually revealed that the first five Nintendo games on mobile would arrive before April 2017. Nintendo further added that the games would be original titles rather than re-releases from their existing library, and that these new games would be based on existing properties.
To put it plainly, you won't be getting Super Mario World, but you'll probably be getting Super Mario something.
Nintendo's
first release on the App Store will be Miitomo, which appears to be
less a game and more a simple social network. But while Miitomo was
first revealed on a Nintendo investors' call in October 2015,
the app's full details were not made public until today. Miitomo will
be released on the App Store (as well as Google Play) in March 2016, but
those interested in getting in-app bonuses can pre-register beginning
February 17th.What is Miitomo?
Powered by Nintendo's Mii characters (the player avatars that first debuted on the Nintendo Wii), Miitomo is described by the company as a "social experience" that lets players interact with friends, asking them a series of family-friendly questions.
Examples provided by Nintendo include “What song
has been stuck in your head lately?”, “Do you believe in aliens?”, and
“If you saw a nose hair sticking out of your friend’s nose, what would
you do?”
Users will also be able to take and share photos with the
"Miifoto" feature, and connect the whole experience to their My
Nintendo account.What is My Nintendo?
Launching alongside Miitomo this March will be My Nintendo, a new service that will replace the recently retired Club Nintendo rewards program. Nintendo are currently focusing on the rewards aspect of My Nintendo, describing it as "a more comprehensive service that rewards users for interacting with Nintendo products and services in a variety of ways." Miitomo will be able to connect to a user's My Nintendo account, and it seems safe to assume that future Nintendo iPhone releases will be able to as well.There's good reason to speculate that My Nintendo could grow into something much more than a simple replacement for Club Nintendo, however. In addition to their forthcoming games and apps, DeNA are working with Nintendo to develop the My Nintendo service. As a company, DeNA have a tremendous amount of experience with user accounts and social interaction, having acquired ngmoco in 2010 and turned it into the Mobage network -- an early leader in social connections on iPhone prior to the launch of Apple's Game Center. Combine this with the frustration that some have experienced over the years with Nintendo's attempts at social play, and it seems like a brighter future for connecting with friends could theoretically be in store. Especially if you can connect through apps like Miitomo on your iPhone.
After Miitomo...
You can expect a game that will feature "one of the company's best known characters," according to The Wall Street Journal. In speaking with Nintendo CEO Tatsumi Kimishima, WSJ learned that “the second game won’t be another communication app, and we plan to adopt one of our characters that fans are very familiar with.”There's no confirmation on which character Kimishima is referring to, and with a stable of characters ranging from Mario to Kirby, I suppose anything is possible. In the meantime, Nintendo fans can also look forward to another iPhone game related to their properties: the augmented reality game Pokemon GO from develop Niantic is also slated to debut in 2016.
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