http://www.wsj.com/articles/nintendos-mobile-partner-dena-says-the-game-has-just-begun-1450899005
But the pairs initial announcements have disappointed gamers and investors who hoped for a smartphone adaptation of a legendary Nintendo franchise, such as Mario the plumber. Many investors and analysts are growing impatient and questioning whether DeNA gives Nintendo the edge it needs to break through in the competitive, hit-driven business of smartphone games.
The lack of details surrounding their partnership has also fanned concerns that the two may not be working well together. Some analysts were surprised when Nintendo this year struck a separate agreement with a partner company, Pokémon Co., and San Francisco-based Niantic Inc. to develop a game for mobile phones.
Mr. Moriyasu said the partnership is going smoothly even after Nintendos longtime president, Satoru Iwata, died in July of cancer.
Nintendo declined to comment on its partnership with DeNA.
Under a deal unveiled in March, Nintendo took a 10% stake in DeNA, while DeNA acquired 1.24% of its partner, giving Kyoto-based Nintendo the upper hand.
At this point its unclear whether they will succeed, Hitoshi Sato, senior analyst at InfoCom Research, said. There are countless smartphone applications and games being produced globally, and DeNA is still relatively unknown outside Japan.
Mr. Moriyasu says the pair are still on track to release five titles together by March 2017. All of the games currently in development with Nintendo are free to play, meaning that in-app purchases will be needed to generate revenue. For Miitomo, he said users will be able to buy clothing for their avatars.
Mr. Moriyasu said he has been testing Miitomo on a specially installed iPhone kept under tight security in its headquarters.
But investors and analysts are growing restless.
Im sure DeNA has a lot of ideas about mobile games they could create for Nintendo, said Serkan Toto, a Tokyo-based game consultant. The question is, is Nintendo listening?