During the strategy briefing for investors Nintendo finally revealed some details about the upcoming mobile game that will be the first result of their joint venture with DeNa. Not to be released this year as was predicted, but it will see the light of day March 2016. The name for the app will be MiiTomo, and to be honest, I hadn’t expected the kind of game it will be. I had expected a strong IP, one of Nintendo’s most famous ones. One that would draw in people who wanted to experience Nintendo but didn’t have one of the current Nintendo systems to play those games on.
Instead, MiiTomo will be an app that focuses on the social side of app gaming. What little we have been able to read about it makes me think of what I’ve seen in LINE Play and in some of the apps you can play tying into Facebook or other social networks. Your Mii is your representative in the app. You answer a couple of questions about your Mii (and thus, about yourself) and you make a friendliest: one that shares the friendliest in your 3DS, and like in that one, mutual registration is needed. When you then connect with your friends and get a friendly conversation going, and others on your list can join in too. Of course the way they will earn money here is by having all kinds of dress up, decoration, stickers and whatnot available in the app. Expect to see a crossover with games played on your Nintendo consoles and rewards earned too, which might make it interesting. ( Read more about the app on NintendoLife)
You might ask yourself why Nintendo took this approach, and not making the first app a real game. I’m sure there will be a lot of people who don’t agree with this first app, but I am fairly certain Nintendo might just have made an excellent choice. Think back to what I wrote earlier this evening, that Nintendo is claiming that appealing to women in Japan is crucial to maintaining momentum with the 3DS sales. And some months ago I read in the media that the mobile gaming market is dominated by women: 52% of the gamers who play mobile games are women.
I feel this MiiTomo game will especially appeal to women and kids, and this might just be what Nintendo needs. Take over the casual gaming market again, much like they did with their Wii and the casual fun games that took over family homes. They don’t have to be a competitor for Facebook, but they can attract the crowds like LINE Play has. An app to check in your lunch break or during breakfast with a cup of coffee! The second smart phone game can still be a Mario or Zelda related app.
I’m looking forward to seeing more of this first app game! How do you feel about it?
A bit like PokeKolo and Mini Me
I’m not expecting Nintendo to do mobile games based on their big franchises like Mario and Zelda. It’s always been part of their business model to keep their own franchises exclusive to Nintendo consoles – otherwise there’d be no reason for people to buy Nintendo consoles, which is the main way they make money. Pokemon is an exception I think. But who knows!? This is uncharted territory.
No, I didn’t expect a Mario or Zelda game either, but I did expect an app related to either one or another strong IP.
Still this might be a very good choice, as we have to remember that Nintendo wants to bring in new audiences, not just cater to their current fans.
Not my kind of thing, but then again I am in the 48% male minority. If Nintendo wants me to play their mobile products they will have to release something more substantive like a Zelda title or Fire Emblem.
Who would have thought, there’d be a 48% male minortiy eh? Still, there will be four more app games, I’m sure we will see more soon!
I am not very interested, but – just like you – I was surprised to learn of the game’s nature. I was expecting Nintendo would bring out their big guns.
They might still, there will be four more games. But as I said, they aim at getting non Nintendo fans interested, so I feel they’ve made a good choice. Still, time will tell!