First Wave of Nintendo Smartphone Games Will be Free

[Steven Bogos]

First Wave of Nintendo Smartphone Games Will be Free

The first wave of Nintendo smartphone games being developed with DeNA will be free-to-play titles.

Earlier in the year, we learned a bit about Nintendo's foray into smartphone gaming, with the announcement of it's first app: The Wall Street Journal [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/161220-Miitomo-Nintendos-First-Smartphone-Game-Announced#&gid=gallery_4940&pid=1] is reporting that at least the first wave of Nintendo smartphone games will all be free-to-play with microtransactions.

Nintendo plans to release five smartphone games by March, 2017, with Miitomo leading the charge this coming March. It is assumed that these initial five games are the "first wave" that is being developed in conjunction with smartphone gaming giant DeNA, and will all be free-to-play.

Nintendo did state in its reveal of Miitomo that future titles would be pay-to-download, but it looks like it will be a ways off before we start getting full games on smartphones.

It has also stated that it plans on building in cross-platform functionality with its smartphone apps and its hardware (the Wii U and the 3DS), as the primary purpose of these apps is to drive more users to buy Nintendo consoles.

Source: Wall Street Journal [http://www.wsj.com/articles/first-nintendo-smartphone-games-will-be-free-1447237490]

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[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Uh...neat??
Not like this will save Nintendo, but sure. I've always been a supporter of end of life choices.

 

[RicoADF]

How far the mighty have fallen. Free to pay games from Nintendo, I'm disgusted.

 

[McMarbles]

How far the mighty have fallen. Free to pay games from Nintendo, I'm disgusted.

You do know they've had a free-to-play game (Steel Diver) for years, right?

 

[flying_whimsy]

Remember, the first hit's always free.

I'm not looking forward to how this will go (the games nor the discussions).

 

[wetfart]

Here's a better idea, can you put all the virtual console stuff on my phone? I'd love to be on the bus and whip out Earthbound or Super Mario Brothers.

 

[synobal]

Oh boy I bet we get something along the same model as Dungeon Keeper.

 

[Luminous_Umbra]

Here's a better idea, can you put all the virtual console stuff on my phone? I'd love to be on the bus and whip out Earthbound or Super Mario Brothers.

"It has also stated that it plans on building in cross-platform functionality with its smartphone apps and its hardware (the Wii U and the 3DS), as the primary purpose of these apps is to drive more users to buy Nintendo consoles."

Give it time, it might just happen.

As for the announcement, I'm...apprehensive. While Nintendo has done some good Free to Play titles, like Pokemon Shuffle, the recent Nintendo Badge Arcade has...shaken my faith, to say the least.