Nintendo Mobile Games may not be quite what you think.
As soon as the news came out that the Nintendo will produce mobile games, in partnership with DeNA, and there were already people celebrating that they were finally going to play the old Big N games, people imagining that it would be some kind of emulator app and so on. But it is necessary to inform that the thing will NOT be well yes!
CELL PHONE WIN! Nintendo surrenders to mobile games
– So, what will the partnership between Nintendo and DeNA look like?
The partnership between Nintendo and mobile game producer/publisher, DeNA, will only be for the production of NEW GAMES. That is, the use of images of Nintendo characters by DeNA is allowed, but only in new games! During the press conference held this Tuesday (video link here), Nintendo President Satoru Iwata made it clear that there will be no ports or remakes of old games on mobile phones.
In the field of business, the partnership involves a small exchange of shares. DeNA buys 1,24% of Nintendo and Nintendo buys 10% of DeNA shares.
DeNA will be in charge of the development of the games, and Nintendo will only act as the rights holder for Mario and company. This is currently happening with other companies that DeNA has partnered with, such as Square-Enix and anime production companies. In addition to a brilliant idea, Nintendo's new bet shows how the company is attuned to the growing mobility market. There in Japan, all anime practitioners already have their mobile game, whether on Android or iOS.
[ERRATA]
It will be a joint team between Nintendo and DeNA that will be in charge of the development of the games. According to a TIME interview with Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata.
– What kind of games will they be?
So what can we expect are casual games, most likely free-to-play, with mechanics that resemble card games, Puzzles, turn-based combat games and even clones de Clash of Clans. There may also be games with mechanics that resemble old Nintendo games.
Right away, I can already imagine a mixture of Smash Bros com Mario Party, with online resources and much more. Another great possibility is the release of RPG games from the series Pokémon (although not from the main line-up, it is one of the great exclusives of Big N), which would be very interesting.
– Why shouldn't I expect great things from this partnership?
However, it is worth remembering that Nintendo's interest in the mobile platform is not to supplant the demand for the Nintendo 3DS. On the contrary, the intention is to attract consumers of other products and call them to the “N” side of games.
“We have no intention of porting existing games from dedicated platforms to smartphones,” said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. "Because if we can't provide our consumers with the best experience possible, we could ruin the value of Nintendo's franchises."
So, I wouldn't expect much, like a paid Legend of Zelda and with all the features that would make a Nintendo DS or 3DS version jealous. Or even a simple 2D Mario with no in-app purchases. In fact, what's coming are games made by DeNA Nintendo/DeNA with a focus on the mobile market. The target audience is definitely not anyone who already owns a Nintendo 3DS or Wii U.
What makes me more upset with this news is that I really expected Nintendo to launch something like the partnership between SNK and DotEmu, with old games emulated and a serious bet on the mobile platform, but it seems that everything will be a small affair.
And you, what do you think? Leave your opinion in the comments.
