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Nintendo announces its highly anticipated first smartphone game ‘Miitomo’ for iOS

Screen Shot 2015-10-28 at 10.47.14 PM

As was reported earlier today, Nintendo tonight has taken the wraps off of its first mobile game during a press event with investors and the media in Japan. The game, called Miitomo, will be available in March of 2016 and is the first of five games the company plans to release by March of 2017 (via WSJ).

Nintendo says that Miitomo will be free to download with popular add-ons that will (presumably) be available to purchase via in-app purchases. The game will allow users to create their own Miis – or avatars – that can communicate with one another in a virtual world. While this doesn’t sound too much like a game, but rather just another way to communicate, Nintendo brags that it will help “to encourage people who are hesitant to talk to share things about themselves.”

Nintendo says that the reason for the game’s delay into March of 2016 is it wants to fully educate and make people aware of what Miitomo is and does before releasing it. For the upcoming holiday season, however, the company would rather focus its marketing efforts on other games currently in the pipeline.

nintendomiitomo

It’s unclear what the other four mobile games Nintendo has in the pipeline are, but we’re hoping there’s more of a gaming aspect to them. The company said that the other games will be pay-to-download as opposed to in-app purchase based.

Nintendo made no mention of Apple TV support for any of its upcoming games, which is to be expected considering the company’s resistance to support any non-Nintendo hardware.

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Comments

  1. Um.. Where is the Mario franchise based games?

    • link (@loz_world) - 8 years ago

      Why would you say this? These are only the first few games that will be released. So don’t get to exited for any games based on your favourites because Nintendo has many more games planned.

  2. robertsm76 - 8 years ago

    That’s going to be a horrible flop. all Nintendo had to do was make a decent Mario game for the ipad and change $.99 for it. They’d make a killing. instead they release this junk.

    • lex05 - 8 years ago

      You obviously don’t know Nintendo! They aren’t going to devalue Mario to a &.99 app, if they ever do bring a major Mario game to iOS I couldn’t see it being under &19.99. Look at Final Fantasy as an example. Plus Nintendo shareholders, like myself, would be pissed if they ever sold a Mario title that cheap. Even at $.99 if they sold 30 million copies that’s a drop in the bucket for Nintendo and way less then any Mario title has ever earned.

      This is just the, getting their feet wet and I’m sure they will add to it or possibly tie it into the Mii’s on there Wii/DS systems. I will as,it I’m not excited about this at all but don’t think the US is their target market, this seems more targeted toward Japan.

      • lex05 - 8 years ago

        Ugh… Some reason I hit “&”instead of “$” a few times. Also in the middle of the second paragraph where I put “as,it” it is supposed to be “admit”.

      • iSRS - 8 years ago

        I agree. Bring me a $19.99 or $24.99 Mario title. This game looks like it is to appease those that are clamoring for Nintendo to “embrace” mobile. Put out this app and when it does nothing, say “See?”

    • link (@loz_world) - 8 years ago

      Nintendo already has the most money in the game industry, do you really think they need to make a Mario game just to get money?

  3. Um.. Where are the Mario franchise games? All this wait for a silly game that will only probably be a hit in Japan!

  4. Charlypollo - 8 years ago

    Come on Nintendo. Put Super Mario Trilogy at 10 dollars, and watch the money flow like the rivers of the ancient Babylon.

  5. o0smoothies0o - 8 years ago

    It’s sad how bad a company Nintendo is. It’s okay though because within 5 years they’ll be selling only software. They still haven’t released a new Zelda game for their 3 year old Wii U, I mean they genuinely are clueless. Declines yearly for the past what 5 years? They’re hopeless.

    • jaredmn - 8 years ago

      I’m with you. I bought a Wii U mostly because I have an emotional attachment to Nintendo. I certainly didn’t buy it for the Miis. I still believe that Mario is one of the best game franchises and I would gladly pay a premium for a decent side-scrolling Mario game on my phone. Instead, they give us this crap. They need to wake up and go after the millions of iPhone users who have grown up and have disposable income, but still feel nostalgic about Mario and the like.

    • link (@loz_world) - 8 years ago

      have you even thought why Nintendo takes so long to release stuff? They’re the only video game company that hasn’t gotten lazy!

  6. feonix2014 - 8 years ago

    A mario game would make a killing it could be anything from £0.79 – £4.99 just like he minecraft and a like apps and would sell very well.

    • banzboy - 8 years ago

      Theyll never do that, selling a Mario game at that price isn’t good for the Mario brand. You’ll devalue the Mario brand. That’s why most first party games from Nintendo almost never drop their price even after a few years.

      • Jerry Fill - 8 years ago

        Banzboy is dead on, they dont need to devalue their Mario brand. Its not like their hurting for cash, as they have enough cash surplus (about $10 Billion), to screw around and still be fine, all thanks to the sales of the original NES system, when they had no competition. (And to put that into perspective, Sony has $1.2 Billion in surplus for their entire company).
        http://www.gamesradar.com/nintendo-doomed-not-likely-just-take-look-how-much-money-its-got-bank/

      • When your choice is to devalue the Mario or brand or lose so much money you need to become a software only company, I think the choice is clear. That being said, nobody said they have to devalue the Mario brand, but a “Mario Kart” game at $10 wouldn’t be devaluing the brand, it’s not a Super Mario title with a great Single Player experience, it’s a Kart racer and would have generated Millions in revenue.

        That aside, you could re-release Super Mario Bros. 1, 2 & 3 for $10 a piece or $15 for all three. These games are 30 years old at this point and selling them for that price would also NOT de-value the brand. Nobody should expect current Wii and Wii U games of Mario on a phone anytime soon, but they have a back catalog that would have been simple to recode and distribute. They aren’t shy about re-releasing them on every model of the DS for $10-$19 a pop, so why would it be different for the Mobile Market?

      • o0smoothies0o - 8 years ago

        Oh you’ll see them do it shortly after the NX is a disaster. It’s their last hope and believe me it will be an abysmal failure too. Even if it is as powerful or more powerful than a PS4, a year from now the PS4 and XboxOne will both be another $50 cheaper and the NX will be very expensive and no one is going to buy it because they’ll already have all of the potential third party games on their other consoles. Even if Nintendo has several good launch titles, which they didn’t do with the Wii U and won’t do for the NX, still no one is going to buy the expensive console with hardly any games when they can buy a much cheaper PS4 and Xbox One which will both have and already do have a plethora of games, which will only be great era year from now.

  7. Paul Andrew Dixon - 8 years ago

    This is a great game for the japanese market who are very shy and often poor at communicating what is really on their mind.

    But for the western market this is going to please little kids and thats about it…

    Things like nintendo dogs would have been great as this relies heavily on a touch screen — you just use your finger instead to select items or pet the dog etc.

    They also could have released a running game – sure it would have been a cop out, but these are popular and people would get to use their favorite characters – just like sega have done with sonic.

    I think if they released a mario game people would buy it for 3.99 — it just needs mini levels and touch the screen to jump – simple…

    The main issue with nintendo is that they sell DS games for around $30-$40 with graphics that are either on par or worse than many smart phone games and often with simple game play… they would probably sell a lot more and reach a larger audience on a cell phone BUT nintendo are heavily in denial and dont listen to anyone…
    They have only just manage to make a slight profit this year since 2012 (and that was because of software sales and not consoles)… the wii U is officially their biggest flop to date… they need to be more reasonable with their mobile platform games, stop region blocking stuff, and remember that the rest of the world is very different to Japan (i should know, i live in japan…lol)

  8. kjl3000 - 8 years ago

    They better do some really, really good marketing for THIS …

  9. what’s with this crap? they should have released Mario.

  10. o0smoothies0o - 8 years ago

    Their shares are down 9%. They are so out of touch with reality it’s sad. The company will absolutely be selling only software within 5 years unless they radically change their current horrible management.

  11. Are you kidding me? This is their first entry?? Do they even realize what gamers want anymore? How much would it have cost to have a company code the DS version of Mario Kart 8, for the iPhone/Android? As games like Real Racing, Angry Birds Go and other racing games have proven, racing/kart games work so well on Mobile platforms because there is minimal touching of the display to play them. A Mobile Mario Kart with an online component would have been very cheap to produce and would have easily sold for $4.99 – $9.99. This would have been a guaranteed success for them.

    This is really disappointing for Nintendo. Nintendo is now being run by people who made games in the 80’s and no longer have a grasp on what current gamers want or need. Just pathetic. I was 7 when the NES was released. I grew up on Nintendo, so it’s painful to see this company just making mistake after mistake. It was bad enough to see SEGA, for all intents and purposes, DIE, but watching Nintendo is even worse.

  12. Robert Nixon - 8 years ago

    Oh man, Nintendo. You used to be a company that defined gaming for generations. You talked a big game about your entry to developing mobile games. You had an opportunity to set a new bar for quality gaming on mobile devices.

    But this…this is just embarrassing.

  13. Doug Bixler - 8 years ago

    ZZzzzzZZzzZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz………

  14. pokecaptain - 8 years ago

    Here I was, so excited for a version of MarioKart or Super Mario or, god forbid, a Zelda game to show up. What do I get? A Mii “game” that seems to be solving a problem that seemingly exists only marginally in the U.S. So disappointed by Nintendo by their “game”.

  15. PMZanetti - 8 years ago

    What a joke. RIP Nintendo.

  16. xacwhite - 8 years ago

    They could have at least done their tennis game for the new Apple TV and charged money. I mean they gave it away for free with the original wii.

  17. Cassie - 8 years ago

    First off, I don’t know how this is a game. Second, encouraging kids (because let’s face it, that is who will be playing this game) to share more information about themselves to strangers is just crazy and dangerous. It’s just like social media, kids can get into trouble. Lastly, I don’t care if it is free, I would prefer to see them come out with a mobile version of Mario, any of the Mario games to be honest, and I would be willing to pay $4.99 for it!

    • o0smoothies0o - 8 years ago

      Absolutely. Social media in general is horrible for society, this is just weird and gross honestly. Like reading the statement given about it, that’s just strange as hell.

  18. Josh Taylor - 8 years ago

    Nintendo just does….not….get….it.

  19. Josh Taylor - 8 years ago

    Nintendo just does….not….get…it….

    • link (@loz_world) - 8 years ago

      You are the one who doesn’t get it. of course they’re going to release much better games. this only the FIRST game for them to make for phones. And Nintendo knows what they’re doing. There are many people who would use this

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Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

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