Nintendo Reveals 'Mario Kart TV' Web App in Financial Results Briefing

Cool I guess

MK8 might be a game I have to buy just because I'm impressed with the creativity of course excluding pink gold peach (which is the dumbest thing I've seen in the series)

Awesome. This is a great way to use smartphones/tablets to benefit them, without having to compromise the integrity of their IP's.

It seems that Nintendo is starting to pick up, maybe the Wii U will recover this year after all

It would appear Iwata has brought in some western market advisors, because we're starting to see alot of moves that make proper sense. He's a good leader and the right man for the job, but like he said he didn't really understand the western markets. Fortunately, that is not an unsolvable problem. Bring advisors on board that can coach him on what's in demand here, and take it from there. Evidently that's exactly what's happened, because these announcements are hitting the nail on the head imo.

Ugh... I understand the point of this, and I like the general outline. But I still hate this decision - it effectively encourages even more kids to scream for mobile devices (which legally only belong in the hands of adults), and thus alienates large groups of children from a social environment.

This is pretty brilliant in my opinion.

@2Sang you will have to buy a wii u first

@shinokami I think it will, I just read the Wii U is no longer selling at a loss things can only go up from here.
http://playeressence.com/the-wii-u-is-no-longer-selling-at-a-loss-for-nintendo-plenty-of-games-to-show-at-e3-2014/

Bring it to 3DS

Webapp?? It's a wrong way, according to me. A dedicated app (for ios or android) would be much more visible than a web app that needs to be reached via a web browser. They should make their mktv more visible to smartphone users and make it a viral app so that the users wants to buy and play mk8... and so a wii u.

I'd prefer an app, but I guess Nintendo doesn't want to hire anyone in to create those. I like the idea though. About 8 years behind everyone else, but a step in the right direction.

@Psyclone - Is that story about the Wii U no longer selling at a loss confirmed by an official Nintendo spokesman?

I'm pretty sure the Wii U still sells at a loss. I know tech always goes down in price over time, but I'd look for official verification first.

Why just a Web app?

Both this and Miiverse would benefit from having an actual AppStore/AndroidStore app.

@Action51 Not saying it's 100% true but from the looks of it, he was translating little bits of information about the meeting, so ill take my chances.. check out the rest here..

http://twitter.com/gibbogame/with_replies

I'm not good at smartphones, but could this be a proper app which would stay there on your dashboard and start directly?
Even if it must use the web browser I mean, could this be an automatic process?
Oh I'm a bit excited today, my english is poorer than ever

@dwuuuu @Kaze_Memaryu Its a web service meaning it can be viewed on 3ds, tablets, other consoles or PCs not just phones. An app would exclude other consoles from using the service.

@Peach64 @DrSlump Someone will make an unoffical app a week or two after release trust me. Nintendo wants PS3/4, X360/1, wii, vita, with does mobile owners to be able to access it hence the web browser.

Making it an app would mean to reach these ppl Nintendo would have to ask Sony and MS if they can plug their products on their systems, thats not going to happen.

As I read that Mario Kart TV will be a smartphone ap I was lik:"YEAH!!!" and was rocking so hard I nearly fell out of my chair ^^" . . . but THIS is the kind of smartphone presence nintendo has to have, not some stupid little mario games which in-app-purchase ^^
Thanks Nintendo

I would have preferred an actual smart phone app but alas it's still good news.

@JaxonH
yeah, finally he's starting to learn, they have to create buzz, they have to be creative with their advertising and create a Nintendo frenzy.

hmm....i probably wont use it... i just want to race.

Why don't they just make a Nintendo Network app? Have all this stuff in one easy to reach location and then a Miiverse app. Happy days for everyone.

This is a good start as it shows Nintendo do get that people want companion apps and to do peripheral stuff around their gaming on their phones (like the rankings and stats stuff).

It's good as well that you can share to Youtube, as that suggests they are aware people want to tap into existing social networks rather than being forced into just using Nintendo -only stuff like Miiverse. (Not that Miiverse is bad, but it's good to have the option of sharing wherever you like).

The next big thing will be twitch integration and rolling this kind of functionality out to other games and third party developers

@SanderEvers app doesn't have to be offline.... Most apps in iOS and android are simple web based (html5). The point of an actual app is to make it visible to people without a WiiU/MK8 but do have smartphones when they visit their App Store and see it near the top if various lists.... By just having a link nobody but WiiU owners will check it out.

Isn't "web app" an oxymoron or something? Either it's a website or it's an app. Could be both I suppose.

Meh I more than likely won't even use it but it's cool I guess.

Very nice! As I've mentioned before, I am a fan of video game tie-in websites and apps... so I'll be able to access this from work until I can get home and play it later. Looks sweet!!!

If i knew Japanese it probably wouldn't look so confusing to me. _{I hope so at least.}

I prefer an Android/iOS app, but ultimately this is a smart move on Nintendo's part. With a web app, they don't have to worry about compatibility issues that crop up on phones with different OS versions and particularly in the case of Android, an app might be buggy depending on what phone you have. This is probably why we don't have an official Miiverse app yet.

@rjejr "Web app" is not exactly an oxymoron. A web app is software that's created in a browser supported program language, like HTML5, Javascript and such... Think HTML5 games, or Google Apps in the Chrome Browser. The U even has a web framework tool set in which to build games/applications from.

@SanderEvers
For convenience. Same reason YouTube or FaceBook has one. It's bothersome to have to use the web browser to enter it. It would also manage to grab more peoples attention. I doubt even 2% of phone users know about Miiverse, having it appear on the store would make it more noticeable. Especially since its free.

I'm not saying they should scrap the web app. It's good for computers & stuff. But not having a downloadable app is a bummer to me. I've stopped using it on my phone.

@JQuest - "Think HTML5 games, or Google Apps in the Chrome Browser."

Yeah, I know this, I was thinking more along the lines of the general public commonly accepted knowledge. W/ HTML5 making evil Flash go away I know programmers consider these to be "apps" w/in web pages, but for the general public if you tell them to go to a web page and use an app there you're going to confuse a lot of people.

Personally I hated the word "app" for years. Would start screaming at every Apple commercial on tv, but once I got an iPod Touch, then a tablet, now I prefer "apps" over webpages. And on a related note Travelocity stopped using ".com" in its commercials, so that's a start w/ that suffix going away.

Really Nintendo needs to just have both, an app and a website. And even if it's app in a website people are just going to keep calling it website.

Mmm... I guess this is decent. I don't have a Wii U but if I did and bought Mario Kart 8, I wouldn't ever use this (although I'd be more prone to utilizing the MKTV features if they were perhaps included in the actual game itself). Whatever. We'll see how the masses take to it when it's released.

@SanderEvers - Yeah thanks, I know, see my reply to a previous post a couple above this.

@rjejr Ahhh I follow you now. My apologies. I misinterpreted the tone of your comment.

@JQuest - My comment was supposed to have one of these at the end but I wasn't awake yet and I was rushing out the door to get my kid to the bus stop, you certainly don't owe me any apologize for my ignorant sounding comment.

I really think Nintendo should have an online service/community similar to Rostars Social Club, but better.

So yeah, Mario Kart Channel lite. I can approve.

@JaxonH Yeah, a lot of people saying fire Iwata, but the problems he has are fixable. Many things that Nintendo's been doing/revealing over the past few days have been steps in the right direction/good news. (MKTV app, NFC, Wii U not sold at loss, Bayo 2 and Hyrule Warriors in Summer in Japan, e.t)

@Emblem Oooooooh! Okay, forget what I said! ^_^!"

I would rather have a dedicated app, but this will be sufficient. I heard Ninty were working on a smartphone app that will allow users to pre-order (maybe pre-load) digital titles, and various other things like the Playstation one that's existed since day 1 of the PS4. I haven't heard anything about it for a while.

Since I'm going to be spamming my Wii U-less friends with my MKTV replays, this is good.

It's a start I guess but if anyone can take advantage of a smartphone's features it's Nintendo I think they need to make original IPs on smartphones, with the Nintendo brand people will eat it up.