Nintendo Will make games for Smartphones (DENA)

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/en/2015/150317/index.html

Iwata: Nintendo and DeNA will jointly develop and operate gaming applications for smart devices in global markets.

With this alliance, new entertainment that utilizes Nintendo’s IP will be provided globally via smart devices.

As for which Nintendo IP will be used, we do not intend to make any exceptions. Potentially, any Nintendo IP could be used in our smart device software. On the other hand, as I just said, games on smart devices require ever-evolving services rather than just being a finished product. A combined effort will be necessary to operate them. People’s attention would only be dispersed if we simply increased the number of the titles we simultaneously released, and we could not expect to expand our business. Accordingly, we will narrow down the titles for development and operation to some extent.

Nintendo and DeNA expect to develop a new core system compatible with a variety of devices including PCs, smartphones and tablets as well as Nintendo’s dedicated video game systems

To ensure the quality of game experience that consumers expect from this alliance of Nintendo and DeNA, only new original games optimized for smart device functionality will be created, rather than porting games created specifically for the Wii U home console or the Nintendo 3DS portable system.

In order to create completely new game experiences for smart devices, all Nintendo IP will be eligible for development and exploration by the alliance.

Nintendo and DeNA also plan to develop an online membership service that is accessible from smart devices, PC and Nintendo systems, such as the Nintendo 3DS portable system and the Wii U home console. The membership service, which is targeted to launch in the fall of 2015, will be built on DeNA's extensive experience and capabilities in online membership services.

As part of the long-term relationship and commitment by each company, Nintendo and DeNA have also agreed to form a capital alliance. Under the capital alliance, Nintendo will acquire 15,081,000 of DeNA's treasury shares, which corresponds to 10.00 percent of its total outstanding stock, for a total of approximately 22 billion yen. DeNA will simultaneously acquire 1,759,400 of Nintendo's treasury shares, which corresponds to 1.24 percent of its outstanding stock, for a total of approximately 22 billion yen. The payment is due April 2, 2015.

Already a thread.

http://abload.de/img/28lrsudw.jpg

Nintendo and DeNA also plan to develop an online membership service that is accessible from smart devices, PC and Nintendo systems, such as the Nintendo 3DS portable system and the Wii U home console. The membership service, which is targeted to launch in the fall of 2015, will be built on DeNA's extensive experience and capabilities in online membership services.

Yeah, good move on their part. They need to expand the reach of their brands, and this is as good a way as any to do that. Sony actually got this right- when they released the LBP game for smartphones. Even Miecraft got it right.

Hopefully this helps them out.

Minecraft is/was a multiplat IP though.

@Captainqwark10: I meant in terms of the stripped down mobile version to create awareness of the full game.

Just as with Sony's LBP game for iOS.

This is a thread linked to the press release with the actual details. The other thread was just talking about a joint conference.

But not, as it says above, nintendo will not be porting or gimping games they will be making original new games for their IP for quality purposes.

@Captainqwark10: That is exactly what I am saying. Create a mobile game with their characters to create awareness with kids, use that awareness to leverage their actual games with their IP.

Okay. A new thread whenever something new gets announced/

@charizard1605: Uh but this IS their "actual" games. This isn't like Minecraft or LBP, If they release a Zelda TP remake on the next Nintendo portable they will work from the ground up to have virtually the same game on mobile if they chose to use that game, or even a NEW zelda game as smartphones will probably already be way past the power of the next portable.

That's a shame. It's gonna be shit games

@Captainqwark10: They never said they will put their actual games on mould. All they said is they are licensing their IP.

Nintendo's in house games will be exclusive to their hardware.

Except in the link provided it says Nintendo will also create games as well as in partners so I'm pretty pretty sure that yes, they are putting their actual games on phones, in house.

Leveraging the strength of Nintendo's intellectual property (IP) and game development skills in combination with DeNA's world-class expertise in mobile games, both companies will develop and operate new game apps based on Nintendo's IP

@Captainqwark10: Interesting. We will see what it turns out like. For now, I can only say jt seems to be an exciting development.

Think Candy Crush meets Diddy Kong...........so yeah it will suck.

@Captainqwark10: also, per Iwata, Nintendo is challenging themselves to redefine what a Nintendo platform is.

“Also, until now, when we said, “platform,” it meant a specific video game platform. Now that we are going to release games on smart devices and make use of globally widespread PCs and smart devices for our new membership service, we would like to offer more consumers with software that is suited to their tastes. In other words, we are challenging ourselves to redefine what “Nintendo platforms” mean.”

Hopefully nothing goes wrong.

Issue with this is that if they can't get at least a decent foothold with this plan they could get hit really hard. Especially since they are also keeping there core business at the same time.

Ah yes that is what is missing in life.. More shit and shallow mobile games to suck money out of the bored or stupid.. Seriously, mobile gaming is based around convenience and boredom, and 99% of the games are made for that specific mindset rather than any actual quality.

Exactly.

This is a bad idea for Nintendo and I'm really surprised they are doing this.

Same here. I can't believe they fell into shareholders bidding like the Empire giving into the Thalmor just events before Skyrim.

That is because the industry is ran by a bunch of board of directors and executives with no knowledge or real care in video games what so ever.. The only thing they care about is the bottom line in making as much money as possible as easy as possible.. It is no surprise we saw all these companies jump onto the wagon when they saw Candy Crush and Clash of Clans explode in popularity.. The industry has been turning into this the past 8 years, it is why the indie community has exploded these past few years.. Too much money is corrupting the industry.

Without a real control scheme (buttons, d-pad, circle-pad, anal sticks, etc), I think the only thing we'll see is more touching/swiping games. So I wouldn't expect many (if any) direct ports from what we're seeing on the 3DS and such. Unless of course that changes.

Yup.

Disappointing. Baffling even. They have a vast back catalog of titles to draw from and a public eager to hand over their money to play them on their devices. So after years of dismissing the idea and a couple more struggling internally with the concept they finally....

...license their characters to a Mobile developer with a history of taking well known IPs and turning them into f2p trash. This doesn't address their consumers' (or their investors) desire to see Nintendo games on other devices at all! Instead, it will cheapen their brand. Instead of getting kids excited for actual Nintendo gaming, their gonna stick Mario onto a tower defense game, or a Zelda themed endless runner, a Clash of Clans in the Metroidverse.

And the dumbest thing is Iwata and his bunch of clueless yes men will point to the middling reception these games get in a year or two and say "see? We told you Nintendo games on mobile wouldn't work!"

This is how you mismanage a gaming empire into ruin.

Stripped down games using there properties to get the kiddies to buy there consoles. It's actually genious, I'm seriously thinking about buying loads of Nintendo stock.

By the way, in case anyone was wondering, here are some of the mobile games DeNA has made before, according to a NintendoLife article:

In partnership with Disney:

2012: Social game called Disney Party, later called Disney Fantasy Quest.

2013: Marvel: War of Heroes, a freemium card battle action game, with in-app purchases.

2014: Star Wars: Galactic Defense, tower defense game.

2015: Marvel Mighty Heroes, real-time co-op brawler with Marvel heroes and villains.

Not the most exciting games by any stretch, but as long as the games related to Nintendo IPs are not utter crap and aren't too good, (though most mobile games aren't anyways :P) as both of these could hurt brand loyalty or taint the image of Nintendo's IPs to newcomers. Otherwise this should turn out well.

It's not the games that are important from DeNA, it's the consultation and infrastructure. Nintendo has little to no influence in the market, so its not a bad idea to enlist in experts in the very field they are trying to get into.

Overall this is something I've been wanting forever. Hell I even took it a step further back then and said they could make a freaking smartphone hybrid system as well. I was kidding... kind of (at least for the smartphone part), but overall this should help them.

Weirdly enough I hate mobile games with a passion. Like... by a lot and I've tried to play a good amount of them. Only emulators for me. I still think this is great though only because of the business implications of it.

I think people really are missing something here.

People who think of mobile games seem to have it in their heads that they somehow by default incorporate and sustain the LCD of garbage gaming. I can only attribute this to ignorance of what mobile gaming entails and is capable of, as any who has partaken in it easily knows that it extends past trivial, 5 minute time wasters such as Angry Birds and Candy crush, and there are many games on mobile that are full fledged (Apple has actually introduced something called "Pay once and Play" in the App Store) where all games that don't use MTs or IAP exist, and are usually in the $15-20 range. So this dispels the myth that all mobile is a sewage pit of greedy, shell titles simply there to nickel and dime us to death. There are great game a plenty if you look.

Secondly, I think it's important to keep in mind that the interface (or lack thereof) that so many gamers find so abhorrent about mobile gaming has actually been in use by Nintendo for many years now, starting way back with the DS. Nintendo's previous two handhelds have had touchscreens, and have also had games exclusive to their usage. This is nothing new. Did it just comfort you that there were buttons there while forgetting you weren't even using them? Nintendogs? Warioware? Advance Wars? Train you Brain? Nintendo doesn't need to prove it will be capable to produce competent software in the mobile sector tech, because it already has. Nintendo's long past history has shown that they are fully capable of designing software around unique and different hardware. This concept is what they've based their business around.

Thirdly and most vitally, Nintendo has always held a lot of integrity in how they handle their software. Their DLC packages have (so I've heard) been abundant with content and worth the value. They value their software and make sure to make it the full package. They've been largely resistant to MTs and exploitative business practices within their software. We hear these praises to their brand all the time, from so many who say that's what makes them great to have in the industry.

These points being made, why is everyone all of a sudden so scared that once Nintendo starts developing games for mobile, they'll immediately turn into EA and start producing games like Mario with awful virtual buttons that don't work, in games that are filled with MTs and IaPs to proceed playing? On what historical precedent Nintendo has set is there a solid foundation for this fear? The tendencies of the mobile market are not going to dictate to Nintendo what types of exploitative policies they put into their own software, or even what type of software they'll produce. Nintendo, as always, is going to do their own thing.

Because the way I'm seeing it, people are not giving them enough credit here. If anything else, Nintendo's a company with tremendous pride, who holds great value in what they do, and have the integrity, desire, and devotion to back it up. Their quality of their games is their identity and soul. If you guys honestly believe that by Nintendo entering mobile, they'll automatically "sell" that out to detestable practices to succeed and betray over a century of their core values.....well.....I can't say you'd be wrong and I'd be right in that they won't......but I'd be HEAVILY shocked if that were the case. I suspect Nintendo is going to approach the mobile and PC frontier with the same respect they do all their software. It's in their (De)NA.

gg nintendo

It's a good idea. Fans who aren't interested in mobile games can ignore. Kids might enjoy them and then look into proper Nintendo products. If an advert comes on for a new Mario game and they have already played and enjoyed the IP in some way they are more likely to take note.

I don't think they will port full console/handheld games but I'm sure they won't allow any old tosh to be released.

Nintendo has been making mediocre games for the last 15-20 years. So it makes perfect sense why they want to get into mobile gaming. They are a perfect fit. And it wont hurt any of their brands when they are horrible to begin with anyway.

Nintendo never evolved in making 3D games. They still make the same N64 games but in HD gamecube graphics. It has been painful to watch.

They are better off making mobile games because their fanbase don't care about quality anyway and will buy anything with a nintendo logo on it.

Mobile phones are already more powerful than the 3DS and WiiU, they're gonna be third party developers for PC, Sony, MS and Mobile gaming when they realize it's better than scrapping for pennies on the WiiU.

Uh Nintendo will be making games for mobile THEMSELVES as well.

Remember when Nintendo dind't need a stylus to, oh they did? But wait, remember when the DS was out how popular those stylus using Windows Mbile and Palm devices were? They weren't? So ths comaprison is bad? YES!

Don't forget Nitnendo is also making games it's not all external and I have no idea how people are getting that after reading the slides.

For some reason people seem to immediately assume that if Nintendo will support mobile phones, it will be
A) their core games.
B) to **** people over like 99% of the mobile phone market.

It's like people still don't know anything about Nintendo. I'm sure they will eventually dabble into the dark side to see what that's like but man... it's like you guys are mistaking them for MS or Sony.

So.......what's you're point? That now everyone will be happy that they can use their fingers instead of styluses? Great, I won't argue against that, as it went towards my overall point.

My point is your DS comparison to mobile gaming is nonsense.

Further confirmation Nintendo is making the Smartphone games.

http://time.com/3748920/nintendo-mobile-games/?xid=tcoshare

Development of smart device games will be mainly done by Nintendo

Hopefully they put good IPs on the phone, like Advance Wars, so I can play them in HD.

Your point, at best, is that somehow a stylus separates a lot of the type of DS games from mobile......because people hated styluses?? What does that have anything to do with my comparison of the games, even if it were true and not a generalized assumption? You select units in Advance Wars with the stylus, you'd select units in Advance Wars with your finger. You play Warioware with the stylus, you'd play Warioware with your finger.

My point is, the games are the same in design interface. The way the game is interacted with is a moot point, so a stylus (or absence of one) doesn't negate my comparison of the types of software at all to nonsense. The only thing a stylus is is an intermediary between your finger and a non-capacitive screen, of which the DS used. It's a relic of obsolete touchscreen technology. Nearly all cell phones today have capacitive screens.

Forgive me if I'm failing to see this incredible leap that distinguishes the two platforms and that makes my comparison nonsense.

I wonder if this will affect Nintys handhelds positively or negatively.. If their phone games are good, most people probably wont see the need for a handheld.. If their phone games will be like demos of their own games for their own hardware, it might be good..

Their mobile games apparently will be unique. No ports from their dedicated handhelds.

It's already bad enough you are comparing a stylus to fingers, a stylus on a resistiv screen, on a device that had games that use that a buttons, which you are excluding for no reason, and a device that gives you limited flexibility on touch. You are comparing that to smooth, full flexible finger tracking touch screen with no resist and acting like those would all work the same as a DS game. it's nonsense.

Phantom Hourglass on the modern phone of today would change how one plays the game quite drastically as one example. You're whole argument doesn't add up. The games you could play on Windows Mobile, HTC Windows, and Palm among others would nto translate to the modern phone at all well.

I'm not comparing the tech so much as I am Nintendo's proven ability to utilize and adapt their games to unique interfaces in fundamental design. Having played an abundance of both Nintendo's handheld games in addition to mobile, I don't see how resistive screens using styluses as opposed to capacitive ones using fingers makes games using touch (not the means to it) as a core mechanic so wildly different and incompatible.

If my comparison is such nonsense, then I'd like you to explain to me why Nintendo would be unable to make an Advance Wars on mobile the same as Dual Strike on the DS. Or again, Warioware. I'd like to hear specifics as to what problems a lack of stylus and replacement of a finger would introduce to the games as to make them "not translate to the modern phone well at all".

Wish they release a Mario bundle on Steam

"Bu... bu... the investors/shareholders wanted this because the gamers wanted this..."

*gags*

@nintendoboy16: Yes. Like i said, apologists will try to point to this as why Nintendo should never have tried to move away from their own hardware, even though this maybe the worst implementation of third party straegy ever envisioned.

This teaches us little, except what most already knew: Iwata is incompetent to lead the brand forward, and his replacement can't come soon enough.

......

I'd hope people aren't now finally coming to this realization.