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Reuters: Nintendo shares soar as new Pokemon mobile game captures hearts

1

1st Course

Member
(Reuters) - Shares in Japan's Nintendo Co surged on Friday as consumers flocked to try out its new Pokemon GO smartphone game, raising hopes that the company's long-awaited shift into mobile gaming will pay off.

Seeking to protect its console business, the Japanese group had for many years resisted introducing mobile games with its best-known characters such as Super Mario Bros and Pokemon, finally yielding to investor calls last year when it announced a tie-up with mobile specialst DeNA Co.
Click to expand...
But Wednesday's launch of Pokemon GO in the United States has seen the title shoot up to become the No. 1 free app in Apple Inc's U.S. iTunes store. It was also launched in Australia and New Zealand this week and is expected to be rolled out in Japan soon.

Many reviewers said they were keen on the game although they hoped that technical glitches would soon be resolved. Shares in Nintendo jumped 10 percent to their highest level in more than two months with the stock the most heavily traded by value on Tokyo's main board and giving the firm a market value of about $23 billion.
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http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0ZO059
 
M

Magwik

Banned
It will be interesting to see if people keep playing and downloading instead of moving on a day later like Miitomo
 
Andyliini

Andyliini

Member
Strange, as Pokemon GO is not exactly a Nintendo title. Good for them, though. Hopefully the rest of Nintendo's mobile projects help as much as this.
 
Acerac

Acerac

Banned
StaticJam said:
It will be interesting to see if people keep playing and downloading instead of moving on a day later like Miitomo
Click to expand...

Was Miitomo this big at launch? It seemed like an app for current Nintendo fans, while this seems like an app for lapsed fans. I'd imagine the latter market is far larger.

I'm just saying I'd be shocked if everyone I ran in to over the last day had a Wii U is all.
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
Andyliini said:
Strange, as Pokemon GO is not exactly a Nintendo title. Good for them, though. Hopefully the rest of Nintendo's mobile projects help as much as this.
Click to expand...

More like a Niantic title, which is so weird as Pokemon Co. isn't the publisher at least on Google Play. Why though?
 
Infinite_Daremo

Infinite_Daremo

Member
Seems like the next logical step is to port old ass Pokemon games to mobile. Surely Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow isn't gonna eat into handheld sales more than mobile already does.
 
R

Roshin

Member
StaticJam said:
It will be interesting to see if people keep playing and downloading instead of moving on a day later like Miitomo
Click to expand...

There is without any doubt a big demand for a proper Pokemon-game on mobile platforms, but yes, the question if people will stay around once they realize that this isn't quite that.
 
O

oti

Banned
dtm808 said:
Do they even need to at this point? You cant go on any social media site without seeing this game lol xD
Click to expand...


They could be reaaaly smart about it though. If they play the "this game makes you and your family healthier by making you walk" angle it could explode way more.
 
C

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
Not even a Nintendo game - wait for Animal Crossing to shatter records.
Lets see if popular mobile Title ala Go will get more people to try out maingame on consoles.
 
R

Recall

Member
cw_sasuke said:
Not even a Nintendo game - wait for Animal Crossing to shatter records.
Lets see if popular mobile Title ala Go will get more people to try out maingame on consoles.
Click to expand...

I think more people know what Pokemon is than Animal Crossing.

Isn't Pokemon one of those franchises that has recognition beyond its target audience?
 
R

random25

Member
Pokemon Go was already a day 1 hit even if it was not even officially released here lol. But good for them, nonetheless.
 
Robin64

Robin64

Member
tumblr_m77ovxRZ1k1qfyz1jo1_500.jpg
 
T

Torokil

Member
Everyone is playing it but I still cant fucking download it.

This bizarre release schedule has Nintendo's fingerprints all over it.
 
kraspkibble

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
i can't wait to try it out. it's not even out here in the UK yet. at least i can't find it on the play store.
 
C

Captain Smoker

Member
1st Course said:
Nintendo is a shareholder in the developer (Niantic). They invested like $20 mil in the company a while ago.
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"Nintendo, Pokemon Co. and Google Inc. will invest $20 million up front with the rest conditional on certain milestones, Niantic said."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-investment-pokemon-go-game-developer-niantic


Funny that Google earns with Pokemon (somehow) lol.


Since Nintendo co-owns the Pokemon Company and parts of companies that own parts of the Pokemon Comany themselve, this is complicated.
 
M

Mr. Pointy

Member
When they fix the bugs and get enough servers up and running, GO will be yuuuuuge.

Game Freak / Niantic / Nintendo need to find a way to get it to connect to Sun / Moon.
 
SinCityAssassin

SinCityAssassin

Member
Keyser Soze said:
They are basically back up to what they were three months ago, not exactly a surge..
Click to expand...

Considering this essentially erased whatever bad stock dealings happened for Nintendo through that few months (reactive stockholders from Financial briefings and Brexit) in a day, I'd say it's a significant surge.
 
D

Dirtyshubb

Member
Staying power will be key of course but i have faith that it will do well.

As for its popularity out of the at least 15-20 gyms i have seen on my travels only 2 havent been claimed plus i have seen the gyms being taken over by rivals so it seems there, and this hasnt even been released in the UK yet!
 
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