Oh, don’t be upset. You knew this day would come. Nintendo announced today that the company has entered into a “business and capital alliance” with Japanese online giant DeNA. UPDATED.
UPDATE: Nintendo also revealed that the company will remain in the “dedicated video game hardware business”, and that their next gaming platform is code-named the NX.
As part of this alliance, the two companies will team up (a press release specifically mentions “joint development”) to release “gaming applications for smart devices”.
These games will use Nintendo IP.
Basically, there will be new games for smartphones (and tablets) that will use Nintendo’s characters and worlds. From a DeNA press release:
The alliance is intended to complement Nintendo’s dedicated video game systems business and extend Nintendo’s reach into the vast market of smart device users worldwide. Under the alliance, DeNA will also be able to strengthen its gaming business at a global scale by leveraging Nintendo’s IP. To ensure the quality of game experience that consumers expect from this alliance of Nintendo and DeNA, only new original games optimised 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.
So Nintendo and DeNA make new games for phones that they hope/expect will lure customers to buy more Nintendo games on Nintendo systems. DeNA gets a chance to improve its reputation as an online provider. There’s also mention in Nintendo’s press release of a “new multi-device membership service”:
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, and are to jointly develop a membership service utilising this system, with a launch targeted for the fall of 2015. The companies expect to further enhance their customer relationships through the membership service.
Maybe that’s why Club Nintendo went away?
Comments
26 responses to “Nintendo Will Make Smartphone Games As Part Of New Deal”
*Pay 5 bucks to make Mario jump higher for one life*
Mario Jump, Peach Run, Toad Virtual Vet, Bowser Cake Maker, Angry Yoshis, Mushroom Ninja, Words With Lakitu…..possibilities are endless.
ow.. no please.. ow
Hopefully this is some sort of VC cum Netflix hybrid that will work on PCs
Well. Huh. Didn’t see that coming.
Can’t wait for the Peach endless runner, Dr. Mario match 3 game an Donkey Kong match 3 game where all the pieces are bananas.
A Peach endless runner I could get behind, running away from bowser which, upon failing requires you to play as mario in an attempt to best your high score to save the princess.
I’ll belive it when i see it.
I swore I’d never do this… and I can’t remember who said I was wrong and this would never happen… but over the last few years when people told me this would never happen because ‘Nintendo would never need to do this’… neener neener neener 😛
You can’t blame Nintendo for something their investors forced them to do.
Nintendo aren’t making mobile games they are licensing their characters to DeNa. People still won’t be seeing all those old NES & SNES games they want on their phone.
We’re going to see the same BS mobile time gated/pay gated stuff with a new Mario paint job.
Horses for courses, either way Nintendo stuff is coming to mobile phones. But yeah, most likely the same timed/paygated stuff.
I have to admit it’s shocking news even if I think it’s the same old BS crap that mobiles are famous for. When these knock off and repeats don’t make a ton of money I see Nintendo pulling the plug.
When people say they want Nintendo games on their phone they mean the classics like Pokémon not a Pokémon themed town building game or card game.
I agree with @neo_kaiser, the shareholders are finally getting their way. But as somebody who loves games the closest thing I found to a real game on mobile is Spaceteam, and that’s more like a board game where I yell at my friends to adjust some sort of control and pray I’m not the idiot yelling for the quarks to be stabilised and having the button on my own screen. And yes this game is way more fun than it sounds.
Oh I dunno, Nintendo games + Smartphones? I think you’re going to see them possibly be some of the most succesful games on smartphones to date. While I haven’t been overly thrilled with the WiiU’s selection, if they can go back to the bitesized games of the NES days or even the SNES days in comparison, it sounds like a perfect fit to some degree and an industry pairing that might just actually work out. I mean, if they were to release a Mario Bros. collection on the iPhone (I own a Galaxy S4 myself, but still), the amount that game would sell, despite touch screen controls, would be sick.
The only Nes/Snes games I’ve played on my phone and enjoyed have been FF games. Have tried platformers etc, they control TERRIBLY with a touch screen. So unless I had a dedicated controller (which I don’t yet…) I would prefer games tailored to smartphones.. which yeah probably means shovelware crap. However my current addiction to Trials Frontier makes me wonder if an excitebike reboot with licensed characters may work lol.
On a side note – I did want to play NES etc games on the go, I managed to pick up a PSP 2000 in excellent condition for $30 off gumtree, excellent for (most) PSX and earlier games.
Hey maybe they would innovate and bring something different to the table and NOT charge ridiculous amounts for it. Squarenix I’m looking at you….
Mario Maker on tablets… Kgo!
I’m actually hoping for Mario Paint 2 myself…. or even some of their seemingly forgotten frachises. Advance Wars on a tablet come at me bro!
Try Great Big War Game in the meantime.
Can’t be worse than that Halo game for tablets.
I think the big question is how long will they stay in there? Nintendo don’t work well with others. If everything went perfectly and this was an absolute dream scenario I’d still only give them three releases before they find a way to kill it. Mario’s hair will be a slightly lighter shade of brown in some promotional material and that’ll be enough of a reason to burn their relationship with DeNA to the ground.
Nintendo themselves make all the big decisions.
It’s an act of desperation. This would never be considered during the height of the reign of the (awful) Wii. But now the 3DS is losing market share – compaired to the DS and mobile – as well that the Wii U is a sales disaster, no need to blame investors. Blame Nintendo and their fanboys.
As well, why deny a huge segment of ‘casual gamers’, Nintendos library of games
Well none of those casual gamers will get any of the library. Why deny them? Because games that require a controller don’t work on touch only devices very well.
Good thing they aren’t porting anything.
This is about money, not compatibility. Some games will be forced, some are a better fit for mobile, looking forward if the new games are a success or failure.
Because companies bringing their Playstation and Xbox IP’s across to mobile platforms is an “act of desperation” too, right?
I for one can not wait to see all the CD-I licenced games rereleased for mobie devices. Anyone up for Hotel Mario?