Nintendo may as well have set the internet on fire overnight with the news that came out of their quarterly earnings call. They revealed a wealth of information that sowed more than a little bit of chaos onto the web this morning.
I woke up to a press release with all of the news this morning. Take a look below for snippets of the press release as well as my thoughts and feelings.
Miitomo
“Nintendo’s first app for smartphones and tablets has already crossed 10 million unique users worldwide. The free-to-start social experience app launched in Japan on March 17 and in a variety of other countries, including the United States, on March 31. In the United States, Miitomo reached #1 free app status in its various online stores shortly after release. Along with these outstanding user numbers, Nintendo also has, to date, sparked more than 300 million conversations in Miitomo. In addition, users can insert their Mii characters into photos to create unique “Miifotos” that can be shared through various social media. As of now, more than 20 million Miifotos have been created. To celebrate Miitomo hitting 10 million users, Nintendo will run a special 10-day “Celebrating 10 Million Users!” promotion April 29-May 8.”
Miitomo has been very successful so far considering that it has already reached 10 million users with less than six weeks on the global marketplace. The fact that it has 300 million conversations started within that same period of time is equally impressive.
The question still remains, however, whether or not there will be any staying power for the app. It could fall off of a cliff completely at some point. The good news for Nintendo is that probably doesn’t matter. It has already been an amazing trojan horse that has helped get a large number of people signed up for My Nintendo accounts and to get their emails into the system so Nintendo can market their other mobile titles to them.
Speaking of which…
Nintendo’s Next Mobile Apps
“Building on the positive consumer reaction to Miitomo, Nintendo announced that its next two mobile apps would be based on the familiar and beloved Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing franchises. Nintendo plans to release both of these applications this fall. As for the former app, while making it more accessible in comparison to the Fire Emblem games for Nintendo’s dedicated gaming systems, Nintendo aims to offer the great value of a role-playing strategy game. Nintendo will design the latter game so that it will be connected with the world of Animal Crossing for dedicated gaming systems. By playing both Animal Crossing games, users will find increased enjoyment. Both of these are pure game applications. Compared to Miitomo, they have more prominent game elements, and the game content will tie closely into Nintendo’s dedicated games business. Nintendo will provide more details about these applications closer to their launch period, and aims to have multiple types of apps that appeal to different audiences and different groups of players.”
The next two Nintendo mobile games will be based on Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing. These are both amazing properties that have a lot of potential as mobile games.
There are already a HUGE number of strategy RPGs on mobile devices as that style of combat is perfect on a touch screen. The press release states that it will be more accessible that previous entries in the franchise, which honestly isn’t all that tough considering the challenge level of the series. Also, there are a number of ways they could go that arent necassarily a strict turn-based strategy game. They could easily create some sort of hero focused tower defense game or a base building game of some kind. Regardless… I can’t wait.
The Animal Crossing app is interesting as well. The press release states that it will be connected in some way to Animal Crossing games on dedicated gaming devices. The question just becomes… how? They could patch some sort of connectivity into New Leaf or Happy Home Designer. But, it could be a sign that a new game might be coming later this year. That could be pretty awesome! Only time will tell.
The Nintendo NX
“Nintendo previously announced that it would release more information about its next system, code-named NX, this year. As the first announcement of any NX information, Nintendo confirmed that NX is scheduled to launch in March 2017. NX will not make an appearance at the upcoming E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles in June and will be unveiled later this year.”
I lost myself a bet here. I guaranteed that the NX would come out this year and made two bets with writers on other sites.
… And I lost those bets.
Honestly, though, this is not a bad idea at all. Pushing the NX out until 2017 gets it out of the way of any of the other upgraded consoles being rumored for 2016 and gives Nintendo more time to tighten the launch lineup.
The Legend of Zelda
“The latest installment in this classic franchise is scheduled to launch simultaneously for both Wii U and NX, and both versions of the game have been in development in tandem. Because developers need more time to polish the game, it will launch in 2017, but it will be the focus of Nintendo’s presence at E3.”
Delaying the new Legend of Zelda game definitely stung some fans. But, the delay didn’t sting as much as the fact that it will be simultaneously released on both Wii U and the NX.
E3 Plans
“Nintendo changes its approach to the show every year. This June, Nintendo will focus its attentions on the upcoming game in The Legend of Zelda franchise. The Wii U version of the game will be playable for the first time on the E3 show floor, and it will be the only playable game Nintendo presents at the show, in order to provide attendees a complete immersion. Additional information about Nintendo’s E3 plans will be announced in the future.”
E3 is coming up very soon and it is easily the noisiest period of the year. Competition to “win” the event in the eyes of the gaming press and the fans is insane based on the number of games and pieces of hardware shown. Nintendo leaving all of their console news until after the event and leaving The Legend of Zelda to fend for itself is actually a pretty savvy move. People will be so excited to get their hands on the new game that it will definitely garner a lot of attention. They might not need anything else to dominate a lot of headlines and build interest. They can then follow up with a Nintendo Direct a month or two later with a bunch more game announcements and not even have to worry about the E3 noise.
