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Nintendo Going Mobile: Smartphone Game Deal with DeNA [First Games Fall 2015]
- Thread starter TheGreatDirector
- Start date
So basically, those who prefer physical copies are fucked? Well, that sucks...
The Hermit
Member
Of course I don't mean full fledged VR as in Valve, Oculus and even Sony, but I honestly had absolutely no hope of Nintendo wandering in this kind of water even in 5 years because of how high the technological threshold for a real VR is.
Now, even as a "proto-VR", I think they might wet their feet sooner than I though, but it still might take a couple of years at least.
They already are...
in the long term, options will be reduced yes
Hopefully they hire more talent so this doesn't eat too much into their development resources. Growing takes time, though.
I'm sure we won't see full-fledged games on mobile like FE or pokemon RPGs. At least not until Nintendo is willing to exit the handheld space.
Put me in the camp that's kind of skeptical about a blockbuster success. I'm sure they'll profit, but none of the top-selling phone games tell me that quality or originality are particularly good indicators of success in that market.
I'm sure we won't see full-fledged games on mobile like FE or pokemon RPGs. At least not until Nintendo is willing to exit the handheld space.
Put me in the camp that's kind of skeptical about a blockbuster success. I'm sure they'll profit, but none of the top-selling phone games tell me that quality or originality are particularly good indicators of success in that market.
Dr. Kitty Muffins
Member
I'd love to see a Fire Emblem game on Smartphones.
For me, this means less resources put into good games on a real game system. Yes I own an iPad and an android tablet, but never have I felt the experience of a game benefited from being on it over a real gaming system.
This was done purely to shut up investors and I bet Nintendo's heart isn't really in it. Just being honest. I could be more optimistic but nah.
This was done purely to shut up investors and I bet Nintendo's heart isn't really in it. Just being honest. I could be more optimistic but nah.
Systems built for gaming first and foremost.
More_Badass
Member
iPad/mobile in general is a real gaming system. When I can play great games like Monument Valley, Dark Echo, Jet Car Stunts, and Wayward Souls and ports like FTL, Papers Please, KOTOR, XCOM, etc., that's a real gaming system. It's a thriving platform with cool indie releases every week and more ports coming all the time. This War of Mine, Rex Rocket, Lumino City, Prison Architect
Is PC a "real gaming system"?
F2p Nintendo titles that advertise their home systems and games to the millions who will download is a great idea.
I want to see an endless Mario runner that ends(when you die) with a setup to the story of the new Mario game. So...you're running and jumping and when you lose it shows how bowser nabs peach and then advertises the new NX Mario game where you set out to save her.
I hope they use mobile games as adjunct advertising opportunities
I want to see an endless Mario runner that ends(when you die) with a setup to the story of the new Mario game. So...you're running and jumping and when you lose it shows how bowser nabs peach and then advertises the new NX Mario game where you set out to save her.
I hope they use mobile games as adjunct advertising opportunities
AcademicSaucer
Member
You know the minute NX starts to fail, they will leave the console market and go full mobile.
Their mobile games would need to prove more profitable than Nintendo's entire hardware business, though. I can't see that happening, I doubt they'll ever launch a system again that is not profitable from day one.
That doesn't make a machine a gaming machine. If that was the true definition then arcades would be the only thing to satisfy it 100%. It's a fucking spectrum of systems man, from PC to console, to calculators and handhelds and consoles.
Can't see this ever happening. It means we'd never get another mario or zelda game, unless you can pair a controller with your phone.
That transition will probably take another generation or two so your ok for a while yet.
More_Badass
Member
You need to jailbreak, but yeah, you use a Dualshock with an iPad. And there are iDevice controllers already
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
so this means advance wars in the dual strike style on an ipad for definites right?
because that's how I read it and I'm ok with this future.
because that's how I read it and I'm ok with this future.
AcademicSaucer
Member
they wouldnt care because money
I thought licensing it to DeNA to make the games would actually free up Nintendo's development teams to focus on a single upcoming console of their own (Project NX ?). They may serve as the publisher of those DeNA games and do some quality checks, but I don't think their own internal development team would be working on those mobile games, no ?
The actual Pokemon devs never had any qualms against making games for smartphones.
Neither did The Pokemon Company.
And well, I think everyone in charge of the franchise can agree on one thing now...
Neither did The Pokemon Company.
And well, I think everyone in charge of the franchise can agree on one thing now...
Calamari41
41 > 38
Nintendo is making the games, DeNA is providing the back-end systems that Nintendo has no experience with. There will be overlaps for sure, but that's the basic arrangement.
been thinking long and hard about all this and can't help but feel a bit ecstatic at the moment. It might be one of the best decision a gaming company has ever made, businness wise, and I'm not worried at all about the quality of their output suffering from this. Whether it will be a success or not, who knows, but I love when Nintendo subverts expectations like this
I would be surprised if any of these apps wasn't f2p, at which point your data can just transfer through the back end.
Ah I see. Well, Nintendo already has split developments between 3DS and Wii U now anyways. If they unify their consoles to a singular one (Project NX) and also develop for smart phones, then I guess it's not really that different from the current state of things.
I guess we are skipping the 3rd party developer phase altogether.
Calamari41
41 > 38
Duh, of course. Thanks, I feel even better now.
You're absolutely right, streamlining of console and handheld games into one development pipeline will allow them to increase production on all ends. And really, Nintendo has been making what would be successful mobile games for a long time now anyway. Mario vs Donkey Kong, Pushmo, Pokemon Shuffle, the entire Touch Generation line, and on and on.
Someone had the idea earlier to make the Pokemon training minigames from X/Y into mobile apps, where you draw your team in from the cloud and train them up while you're waiting at the dentist's office or whatever. I could see something as simple as even that being huge.
James Scott
Banned
Needing a dedicated controller to play a mobile game is kind of bad. Not everyone has one of those, not everyone that has one of those is willing to buy your game, basically limits the market.
Might as well keep types of games on consoles/portables.
Iwata said as much. No direct ports, expect games built for the platform instead.
Might as well keep types of games on consoles/portables.
Iwata said as much. No direct ports, expect games built for the platform instead.
Outtrigger888
Member
You think apple, google, and ouya will be fighting for exclusives?
Nintendo made 2 zelda games that use pretty much just they stylus. They will figure out touch controls.
Nintendo made 2 zelda games that use pretty much just they stylus. They will figure out touch controls.
boiled goose
good with gravy
Seriously? No really?
True account system was the best outcome of this.
Sarcasm right n
Right but the hope with the whole unified OS thing was to improve the current state of things in terms of output, not keep it the same. Though I think this is where DeNA comes in: they handle most of the actual development while utilizing Nintendo IPs with Nintendo oversight so that N can focus 99% of their dev staff on NX (though I'm sure some of their mobile games will be on NX as well.)
One thing I'm especially concerned about is performance.
Nintendo is known for the rock-solid technical performance of their games. From my experience, mobile games run wildly differently based on what device you're running them on, with 3D games rarely running properly smoothly on any device.
How will Nintendo get around this? Will they be strict in terms of the minimum requirements a device must meet in order to download one of their games? Will they make games with very few technical demands? This isn't really something they've ever had to deal with before (optimising for multiple devices). I'd hate for a bunch of people to get a shitty Nintendo experience because they're on the iPhone 5 or Galaxy S3 instead of the iPhone 6s or Galaxy S6 or wherever we are at this stage.
Personally, I hope my iPod Touch 5th gen can run most of their games, but I'm not totally confident in that. I really don't want to have to buy a proper smartphone and contract, but Nintendo may finally force my hand. My boss would be happy, I guess.
Nintendo is known for the rock-solid technical performance of their games. From my experience, mobile games run wildly differently based on what device you're running them on, with 3D games rarely running properly smoothly on any device.
How will Nintendo get around this? Will they be strict in terms of the minimum requirements a device must meet in order to download one of their games? Will they make games with very few technical demands? This isn't really something they've ever had to deal with before (optimising for multiple devices). I'd hate for a bunch of people to get a shitty Nintendo experience because they're on the iPhone 5 or Galaxy S3 instead of the iPhone 6s or Galaxy S6 or wherever we are at this stage.
Personally, I hope my iPod Touch 5th gen can run most of their games, but I'm not totally confident in that. I really don't want to have to buy a proper smartphone and contract, but Nintendo may finally force my hand. My boss would be happy, I guess.
Maybe they'll be fighting to buy Nintendo.
Not sure if trolling.
James Scott
Banned
OUYA will start the kickstarter for that.
I guess it would be interesting to see if Apple/Google will jump on this...I'd rather not have to buy two phones to play Nintendo's games though
SkeptiMism
Member
I wouldn't say it's automatically Supercell numbers (the Supercell numbers are something extraordinary), but I'd say it certainly has great potential to make a lot of money. Well known brands on mobile tend to do that.Excite Truck, though
Investors are in for a reality check. I'm still not sure why so many people think Nintendo + mobile = automatically Supercell numbers.
I don't think the potential success of mobile games for Nintendo is really going to affect Nintendo making hardware. I mean... Think about this... companies like Amazon and Valve are focused on having hardware out there despite having successful digital platforms themselves. Despite everyone going multiplatform, Apple themselves have been successful enough to have much of their software continue to be tied to their hardware. Despite how bad Nintendo is doing at the moment, Nintendo fortunately already has a hardware business that they can leverage as they modernize their company. Nintendo's talk about their next platform here is reimagining what the meaning of a Nintendo platform means, and prior talks about dedicated hardware had Nintendo call them sisters and hint that games might be cross-compatible,
What if Nintendo and DeNA's partnership is really just a lead up to it and that the NX is exactly that... The software platform which all of Nintendo's future hardware efforts will now use. I mean it is codenamed the NX with the N logically meaning Nintendo but using the letter X afterwards which could have many meanings. X can be used to represent 'cross,' as in cross-platform. X represents something unknown or an unknown variable, which can serve to represent all hardware that plays Nintendo's games. It could be that we will get an NX Portable and an NX Console as replacements for the 3DS and the Wii U which share the same general platform and many of the games, but could also expand to having an NX Stick like a Chromecast or a Fire TV Stick, an NX TV as a microconsole, and an NX Tablet which is like a tablet or a replacement for the 3DS XL which would share the same NX platform and many of the games as well. In essence, by Nintendo partnering with DeNA and gaining experience on how to make games for a variety of different hardware through simply making mobile games could lead to Nintendo not just reaffirming their hardware business but expanding upon it while allowing themselves not to be stretched too thin in regards to software support since all their hardware could support the same software. I mean, it would be a Nintendo that has modernized and took the better aspects of mobile gaming like cross compatibility among a variety of hardware, but also would still keep their core values intact.
It is exciting to see how Nintendo will change, and Nintendo will change, but hopefully, Nintendo's change will be for the betterment of video games as a medium of entertainment.
What if Nintendo and DeNA's partnership is really just a lead up to it and that the NX is exactly that... The software platform which all of Nintendo's future hardware efforts will now use. I mean it is codenamed the NX with the N logically meaning Nintendo but using the letter X afterwards which could have many meanings. X can be used to represent 'cross,' as in cross-platform. X represents something unknown or an unknown variable, which can serve to represent all hardware that plays Nintendo's games. It could be that we will get an NX Portable and an NX Console as replacements for the 3DS and the Wii U which share the same general platform and many of the games, but could also expand to having an NX Stick like a Chromecast or a Fire TV Stick, an NX TV as a microconsole, and an NX Tablet which is like a tablet or a replacement for the 3DS XL which would share the same NX platform and many of the games as well. In essence, by Nintendo partnering with DeNA and gaining experience on how to make games for a variety of different hardware through simply making mobile games could lead to Nintendo not just reaffirming their hardware business but expanding upon it while allowing themselves not to be stretched too thin in regards to software support since all their hardware could support the same software. I mean, it would be a Nintendo that has modernized and took the better aspects of mobile gaming like cross compatibility among a variety of hardware, but also would still keep their core values intact.
It is exciting to see how Nintendo will change, and Nintendo will change, but hopefully, Nintendo's change will be for the betterment of video games as a medium of entertainment.
I would be super surprised if the NX didn't play all the games Nintendo and DeNA are making with Nintendo's IPs. It doesn't make any sense for it not to as the only needed input would be a touch screen and the rest is just making sure the system can run those simple mobile games.
JordanN
Banned
Phones are more powerful than 3DS.
Unless Nintendo targets Wii U visuals, but the budget and audience on smartphones would make that pointless (since they have to sell games at 99 cents and not $60).
Dog Problems
Banned
No, PCs are for spreadsheets.
super metroid
Member
Games have changed. Nintendo needs to adapt to stay relevant. A large part of that will be implementing and controlling a more cohesive ecosystem, as a means of both encouraging engagement and securing loyalty. They've been making attempts at this for a while, but haven't presented anything nearly as comprehensive as what they announced yesterday. I'm sure their version of "games as service" will be characteristically Nintendo, but I don't foresee them expanding on the idea in any meaningful way. Their decision to move forward with this at all, however, is meaningful. Whether or not this is good for the industry depends on your general opinion of the new standard.
Regardless, I think Nintendo will feel out the mobile landscape, see how DeNA performs with their properties, and make strategic decisions about the specifics of the next generation later on. I'm guessing they'll keep things separate for the most part, tied together by a platform-spanning ecosystem.
maquiladora
Member
E3 is gonna be fascinating.
I disagree. I would actually be very surprised if they automatically made their next dedicated hardware play all the games they have available for smart devices. It's not just about input. If Nintendo is serious about designing games to fit platforms, then we should not assume that anything they make for smart devices are also automatically best suited for a dedicated gaming device or console. Not to mention different infrastructures, and not wanting to split a social userbase too much. If they have already built up a base of users on iOS and Android, they might see little reason to have those titles on a third platform.
I wouldn't be surprised to see some titles cross over, just like how it wouldn't be surprising to see franchises like Animal Crossing, Tomodachi Collection, Brain Training, or Rhythm Heaven cross over to smart devices relatively intact (even though they won't be "ports" but original entries), but I definitely don't think 100% cross-play is on the cards.
shinra-bansho
Member
I doubt it will either.
External shifts are what threaten the current model, not just of Nintendo, but of all three vendors.
That is true, although my biggest worry is that mobile or well, the horrid F2P, Microtransactions, Energy Bars, Timers, Skinner Box implementation of mobile consumes all that is fun and good about video games. I think that is a valid worry of those who like consoles, handhelds, and PC Gaming. Do note that mobile games that don't do that are fine in my book and there should be more of them, and games that do have good implementations of F2P with Microtransactions are also fine in my book. However, if there is any company who could actually change mobile gaming as a whole for the better, Nintendo would be one of the top choices.
Only if their mobile games will be very successful. But in the end this is the market trend and mobile has already eaten a lot of the handheld market, so practically will be an income source shift adapted to this market shift.
And if the income sources change it's logical that the resource allocation to happen, accordingly.
I'm feeling it mr krabs!
Impossible to tell if Nintendo will spread themselves thinner before we know how many and what kind of platforms Nintendo plans to release in the future (and how much resources they'll need).
And no matter how many or few hardware platforms Nintendo may launch, the thing we know that they'll all share the same platform architecture to speed up development:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/140130qa/02.htmlIwata said:
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