Guide: Everything We Know So Far About Nintendo's Deal With DeNA, Smart Device Plans and More

There, now peopl can stop complaining about Nintendo avoiding Smartphones...

Hmmm...

... back to GameCube for me, then.

I will go out of my way to explain that smartphone and tablet gaming is not HURTING video gaming, its just appealing to a market that would have probably NEVER BOUGHT A CONSOLE to begin with, or at least not bought it at launch.

Smart phone gaming, tablet gaming, and anything like it is a different branch all together. It would be like saying that MOVIES are going to replace books, or video games are going to replace movies.

Neither has happened.

Its not an issue of smart phones stealing customers, its an issue of smartphones making more money and nintendo/microsoft/sony all wanting a part of that action.

No, its not good business practice if you're thinking of loyal consumer bases, but it is good business practice if you're trying to make yourself rich(er).

This whole thing makes me so uneasy. This could be ugly.

Finally someone might make some ACTUAL games on smart devices. This is all news to me though. What did I miss?

I really want Nintendo to keep its free internet service.

This could actually be a good thing, if done properly. Imagine they release a mini version of MK8, with 3 tracks and 3 vehicles. You don't get any tournaments. Once people have finished playing, there could be an advert saying something like, 'If you liked this, you are going to love the FULL MK8 ONLY ON WII U'. It then goes on to explain what extra features the full version has.

Most of their current IP's just would not work on touch screen phones and tablets. Many games require that intricate control and precision. But, like I said, releasing mini versions of certain games, with adverts at the end showing what the full version offers, and that it can only be played on the Wii U could be a good way of getting younger, and older gamers, who mainly use their phones and tablets now, back into console gaming.

Hooo boy.
We'll see how all this works, then. I wouldn't make any big claim now...
TBH I'm a bit worried...

Wait... A new console is being announced in 2016 and it's codenamed... NX?

Games like that pokemon shuffle stack connect 3 would probably work perfectly on the iphone. However their next portable is definitely gonna be something to pay attention to!

NintendoLife staff:

Companies are not referred to as plural. It is so hard to read this article because it sounds like you're talking like cavemen. Please fix it. All of it.

http://www.economist.com/style-guide/singular-or-plural

So companies with different expertise are working together using each others strengths? Probably doesn't hurt anything as long as it doesn't go as poorly as the Nintendo Playstation or the CDi? Looks more like a way to improve their online infrastructure and make it easier to develop for the App stores.

As a marketing tool this is probably a smart move as long as they play nice together

@mustbepbs I can essentially guarantee that you're the only one bothered by that.

@akaDv8R
You hit the nail on the head.

Straight ports won't work. You'd have to lose all of your precision. Every game would need to follow the Pokémon Shuffle side. This is why I dislike mobile gaming. None of the games seem like they had any effort in them. All of the simple controls end up getting confused in the chaos. No game can work with it unless it's Clash or Flappy bird.

It wouldn't surprise me if Nintendo limited their smartphone output to some horrible Nintendo branded freemium clones. Fire Emblem or Advance Wars on iPhone would be nice.

So many are worried because they are entering the mobile space? Let me ask one question: why is mobile so bad without using the argument "I just don't like it"?

I get that some mobile games are bad, but at the same time there have been quite a few successes.

I was on pins and needles agonizing over that last question. Thanks, NintendoLife.

@thesilverbrick "What do Nintendo mean by 'Smart Devices'?" made me cringe too.

@AugustusOxy Nobody was worried about customers getting "stolen" anyways. As far as "HURTING" videogames goes, well, I'm sure tri-Ace and Mistwalker fans will be relieved to hear that ... Just saying.

I hope this is done not just well, but thoroughly. One way Nintendo has been struggling is that they haven't been a main player in popular culture, despite their properties that are so popular. I like this more aggressive approach, one that acknowledges the realities of smart devices while still understanding that more complex games require more than touchscreen input. This could go really well.

Or not. Who knows. I'm optimistic. This seems more like the desperate Nintendo that tends to hit home runs than the father-knows-best Nintendo that tells us what we like.

This should be okay, I suspect things this will shift the casual games to mobile leaving the systems with"core" games

If they want this to "drive" mobile customers to handhelds it will need a one way cross buy system. so all the mobile games appear on 3DS

@mustbepbs What the hell are you talking about? They refer to companies as singular throughout the whole article.
EDIT: Oh, I see. They refer to them as singular in the answers, but plural in the questions.

@RainbowGazelle "What do Nintendo mean", "Don't Sony own", "Who are DeNA" are not singular, they're plural. If you look at the quotes in other articles when Iwata refers to Nintendo as singular, it'll make sense. I don't know why journalists get this wrong all the time.

Infinity Blade its a godlike game (the only reason i miss my old iphone, THE ONLY)

and its a mobile game

Thanks for the Q&A Nintendo Life!

I wish they would call the new console NX I like it

I wish they would call the new console NX I like it

Could NX be a smart phone

scared but excited, but mostly scared.

@andrew20 it'll unlikely be a smartphone or even multi-functional. With going to your existing iphone nintendo is acknowledging that you already have all of that.

Now they are certain to make nx about the games only. Which is a good thing - the nintendo phone/camera or whatnot is never going to happen and we're in the clear for getting great gaming delivered.

No smart device strategy would mean nintendo fighting for a place in your pocket it has already lost. This move means nintendo knows you're supposed to bring nintendo in for gaming.

It's reassuring that they figured out how to make sure their game focus is warranted with a good business model. They seem to have found a perfect form for the future.

The most interesting thing to come out of this presentation for me is: Nintendo really isn't ashamed of the Virtual Boy, is it?

The main thing I hope for the new console is that it is all Wii and Wii U controlers are compatible. Should be easy enough since they are wireless.

Well, i just googled just NX for shats and giggles...
Seems to be a remote desktop software by a company called "NoMachine".
Funny...it somehow even makes sense

Like the Q&A, nice to get a quick summary before I read the other articles later.

It would be interesting to see what games and genre comes out for the smart device. I remember back in the 90s there were Mario games on PC, granted they were mostly edutainment games but none the less.

As long as there is a real Nintendo system at the end of the rainbow, I'll be content. Maybe now they'll sucker all the phone game casuals into buying the next system. Could be genius, and help bring back 3rd party support.

Damn, big changes are coming. I'm excitet though. #Iniwatawetrust

My only comment is that for the time being I will be withholding all comments except for those that are strictly about the nature of the comments I shall be making.

This is starting to take a terrifying shape. If Nintendo is going to support the scam that is smart devices, I wouldn't be able to trust them anymore. It's not just a step in the wrong direction, it's the step in the worst direction, regardless of how Nintendo wants to go about it. Smart devices have nothing to do with dedicated gaming, and should NEVER receive any attention from Nintendo. The fact that they're actually going for it is just another sign that dedicated gaming might disappear sooner than I feared.

@AugustusOxy That's what you say. But when you look at smart device consumers and what is 'popular' on them, this simply cannot end well for dedicated consoles - smart devices are completely useless for anything related to core gaming. Two completely separate things are brought together for no sensible reason, and the whole business part of it makes no sense, either.
Smart device users might appreciate it, but people like me who still have enough common sense left not to fall for these overpriced surveillance bricks, inevitably feel sold out for a petty penny. I'm not part of the smart device community, and I sure as hell don't want them to become part of what they can't appreciate to save their lives.

@Kroisos I'm going to hire you to be my spokesperson.

@Kaze_Memaryu You did see the bit where they said they were't abandoning dedicated gaming hardware right? You're panicking for no good reason. The most I see gaming consoles being effected by this is being a part of a login system shared by mobile gaming apps.

And also probably reviews for app games featured on this site. Were still getting our games so no need for the doom and gloom conspiracies.

I may be misreading something but I don't think this is going to end up a path to mobile games...I think it will end up a path to mobile apps for nintendo services. this NX could be a tablet (which would pseudo circumvent the mobile argument and perhaps have an app on the other stores to mimic the NX os. I'd say that this thing is likely the 3ds successor primarily. I always felt the n3ds was designed to get about an additional 2 years of life out of the brand.

I'm not sure I like the idea of Nintendo IP's on mobile, I think mobile gaming is a blight on the industry so much shovelware and freemium crap and clones of other games it's like the atari 2600 generation all over again and we all know what happened there

Not what I expect, but hey as long as Nintendo stay true to itself and not follow the other guys they will make this work.

@ThomasBW84

I would like to say one thing about this article.

WELL DONE. A++

Fantastic compilation with just enough own insight and commentary along with the facts known at the moment.

Best article I've read about the whole thing and one of the best journalistic pieces in a long time.

Excellent job Mr. Whitehead

With not a ton of information (all considering), I'm prepared to wait, but any delving into the wretched pool that is mobile "gaming" is worrisome.

I'm a bit uneasy.

@The_Dude_Abides Then why are you even on this website?

I don't know what to think yet. But what I do know is that Nintendo can't support 3 platforms. By 2018, they will be down to 2. My guess is it will be the WiiU successor and whatever NX is, the 2nd edition will replace the 3DS.

@TeeJay I've seen too many things get absolutely ruined by smart devices ('social' networks, web design, IT companies, mobile business, grammar, proper communication between people) to believe Nintendo can simply escape its destructive influence.

Nice to see this compilation article come out, saves me from having to read and post on all the others this morning, though I have perused a couple.

I don't think a PS+ like service is being announced in any of this, more of a cross-play cloud save experience, but not a monthly price to play a selection of games like Netflix. Some comments were along the lines of a subscription service.

For those who maybe don't know, Sony has been doing this for a couple of years now w/ Little Big Planet, Knack, Ratchet & Clank and Sly Cooper. I'm sure some people will argue that this helped kill the Vita, but it certainly hasn't hurt PS4 sales any.

http://toucharcade.com/2014/09/04/run-sackboy-run-announced/

I think Nitneod is just looking to have an "app" store like Playstation Mobile has in Android and iOS

https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=PlayStation%20Mobile%20Inc.&hl=en

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/playstation-mobile-inc./id912472174

Hmmm.... This could be intresting

You know fire emblem would work good on a mobile. ( older versions of course). Tetris attack, Dr. Mario, VC games for sure, and MK8 all the way. I don't think I would buy any of these, because phone/iPad games kinda suck. If it sells to the masses so be it.

Now I'm confused. Nintendo announced the QoL programs and all we hear so far is that there is some sleep monitor thing. Now Nintendo announces that it will start with Mobile interaction.. But knowing Nintendo is this just a dedicated app or something that will only show case games as in videos or what?

Anyway, Nintendo Korea will have a Direct on the 19th. I hope it'll mean US and Europe too!

@outburst Say what? Lol hopes for US too..

My only concern is the name of the new console. I have played MapleStory in North America for at least a couple years. Anyone else that also has, probably already realize why I don't like the name =P.

Not sure how I feel about this.

They better mean iPhone and iPad when they say Smart Devices. I'm not buying an Android or a Windows device.

Still, this might be just what Nintendo needs to do in order to keep their spot in the gaming world. Everyone else seems to be moving on to tablets and mobile devices for handheld gaming. A better account system would do them good.

I love my Wii U but I'm done with it, glad they are revealing a new console/handheld next year 10million sales in 3 years is NOT healthy.
The future is exciting ^^

Hohoh...can't wait to see how this turns out. XD

I believe this is actually a really sound business move. The fact is that technology is becoming very commoditized now, so that most companies don't maintain their own infrastructure/support services but outsource them to specialized companies. Nintendo is making moves to invest some of their war chest in the e-commerce and mobile space instead of trying to do it all in-house. Of course, they have been doing this for years with game development studios. I wouldn't be surprised if the Nintendo of 10 years from now looks very different from the Nintendo of today, unrecognizable even.

Someone post the "it's a bold strategy Cotton" gif.

http://imgur.com/l7ps1Kf

What I'd like to see is that the delivery of streamed games to smart devices along with device agnostic controllers. Conquer these two things and every smart TV becomes a games console. Hardware becomes irrelevant as the architecture is offsite. All hardware manufacturers become purely software publishers/controller makers as clients do not need hardware anymore beyond their smart device. I think this is the (near) future of gaming and I would love to see Nintendo be the trailblazer.

No.

@AugustusOxy I think some of it is also a squeeze on mid-level games, where investment money is going to the free-to-play market rather than a traditional video game. That's where mobile makes a difference in the games landscape.

I do also think Nintendo found the right niche with that market segment before it took off. Many of them were the people who bought the DS and Wii. The smart devices market hadn't matured yet as it has now.

I do worry about their pricing of smartphone games...

First you were all like "dude" then he was all like "dude" then she was all like "dude" then I was all like "dude" then we were all like "dude..."

Not too terribly surprised about this since they've been saying for a year or two now that they've been looking in to smart devices, although I am a little surprised that their already teasing their next piece of hardware.

I'm not all that worried about how Ninty's mobile venture is gonna go, because even if it's not Nintendo themselves developing the games (in this case it's Dena), they will always be there to supervise and make sure that the games have the same Nintendo charm and quality about them. Hyrule Warriors is a perfect example of this, while the game was being developed by Koei Tecmo, Nintendo was still there to make sure that it met their standards, and it turned out to be one of the Wii U's best surprises last year (at least in my opinion). The only thing I'm nervous about is if they only support the Apple OS, given the iPhone is increasingly popular in Japan, where Nintendo is based. As someone who much prefers Android over Apple (and some instances, even over MS Windows) I hope Nintendo throws Android phones/tablets a bone so that their games can be accessible to all of the smart device market rather than a single branch.

Well dudes this can be exciting or it can be terrible for Nintendo fans or Nintendo themselves.Let's wait and see how Nintendo messes up i mean succeed.

@mustbepbs You're from the US, right? Because it bothers me too. But you should realize that there are differences in the way American English and British English handle subject-verb agreement for collective nouns. As stated in the article you posted: "There is no firm rule about the number of a verb governed by a singular collective noun." The two dialects just differ in where they draw the line (and it varies by person too). It bothered me throughout the World Cup coverage too with the European and Australian announcers saying "Germany are marching down the field!" but that's just the way it works.

I am EXTREMELY pleased by how Nintendo is handling this. It truly makes it seem like they know what they're doing (for once). Integrating smart devices while continuing their own hardware is a very smart move, and segregating what type of games appear on each platform is part of that. Instead of being left behind like they always are, Nintendo has finally taken strides to become relevant once again.
However, one thing still irks me:
"but the current infrastructure of NNIDs and content management on current generation hardware may still be tied to hardware."
**** YOU NINTENDO
WTF YOU BE DOING?

You're finally starting to modernize your infrastructure AND YOU STILL CAN'T FIX THIS ISSUE?
Give control of the accounts to their owners. Don't hold them in an iron grip.

@Kaze_Memaryu I'm super glad that you are not in charge of any decision making at Nintendo. Your closed-mindedness about smart devices is definitely a fault and would not help the company in the long run.

Everyone needs to be cool. It's going to be just fine. Nintendo will surely create a strong smart device presence that will earn revenue and compliment their dedicated gaming platforms. This will only make Nintendo stronger.

Okay, I think it's great for business that Nintendo are branching out into mobile platforms/ QOL, I don't like it though, part of me wants this to succeed, so, y'know, Nintendo can do well.... But, another part of me realises that, talking realistically, if this ends up really successful, they may slowly begin to move away from dedicated gaming platforms, despite what they say, I could only ever really see another 1 or 2 console generations before it all crumbles to the ground due to mobile gaming, but to me this feels like it will speed up the process.

Now, I will concede that they are handling this remarkably well and they do seem to know what they are doing with this, as they are partnering with a company who seem to know what they're doing rather than just going alone, which would almost guarantee a train wreck, and I imagine this will go down well with the majority of Nintendo fans, but not for me personally.

@Kaze_Memaryu So just because Nintendo is doing mobile games as a side project means you can't trust them as a company? There are a lot of things that should make someone dislike Nintendo, but this is not one of those things.

Think about it. The majority of today's kids aren't growing up with Nintendo anymore. They're playing games on smartphones and tablets, not dedicated game consoles. If Nintendo wants their IP to thrive, they need to stop trying to be so different and actually put their IP on popular touch points. I would argue that this is one of the most respectable and forward-thinking decisions Nintendo has made in years. They're a incredibly late to the mobile market, sure, but at least they're finally doing it.

Stocks are +20%

Seems like it was a great idea afterall

I like how other people are so concerned for a company that makes more money than they make blood cells. Nintendo will be FINE in this en devour. They've partnered up with a pretty respectable online giant and they'll be focusing on the one thing they do most, game development. It's a win win situation. My question is, how thin can they spread Shiggy, Anouma, and Tezuka and would that affect the quality of the games.

I wouldn't be surprised if the NX is a combination console/portable. Way too early to tell but wild speculation is the order of the day. =)

"It would appear that DeNA will concentrate on the technical/online "
I hope it didn't end like Gamespy .
No unifed account on this generation. I will take something which comes from end of my back and threw to you NIntendo if you made jokes on users.
You are mature company and no good online structure yet?
Shame on you.
I wonder why they hacked Playstion/Xbox online and Nintedno not.
We all love Nintendo so much? Maybe we wouldn't?
I'm confused.

@TingLz the controls are awful. Unless Nintendo makes an adaptor for me to use a GCN controller on a smartphone, I doubt I'd be interested. The only games smartphone controls work with are puzzle and tower defense type games. And I dont just want a bunch of Mario and Zelda-themed match-three games.

Something I don't think people have mentioned - most phones have NFC, so Amiibo support on these mobile games isn't impossible.

How the Nintendo NX is presented will be the only deciding factor for me in regards to whether or not I should jump ship. If I even get the slightest hint that they've compromised their dedicated hardware then it's off to Sony I go. Looking forward to more NX details.

Im completely ok with this and am looking forward to it. I'll love to see a Nintendo app that has offical screen savers, ring tones and text notifications.

Plus all the little kids in my family (besides mine) are always saying how they wish they can play mario kart on the ipad after leaving my house. This is a perfect way to make it work the other way around and push Nintendo systems awareness to families. At a price tag of $129 for a 2ds for the kids that has all their new favorite games from the ipad it could really benefit Nintendo.

Plus we can finally have something to play on our phones. The reason I dont play mobile games is because I cant stand all the adds and micro transactions let me give you $3-5 and let me play in peace. We can have games like a Mario endless runner with platforming, a super monkey morph ball type game, Kirby flappy game, fire emblem clash of clains. So many things they can do and I'm excited for it!

I see this as a win win situation for Nintendo and consumers. Nintendo has always lagged in terms of network infrastructure and DeNA could be the fix. As far as gaming on mobile, I personally don't care for it much, but again I don't think there is much to worry about. Don't plan on buying and playing Mario 3D World on mobile anytime soon. Nintendo has too much invested in dedicated gaming systems and won't abandon them anytime soon. I mean the only way I could see playing Mario Kart 8 on mobile would be if you were streaming it from your home console or Nintendo's servers, and that would be a huge stretch, mark it in the "won't happen" category. If anything I see mobile games like Kingdom Rush but themed for Fire Emblem or Mario. We could possibly see some Virtual Console for old platforms but that's hard to see. Nintendo understands that smartphones and tablets have their place and investors want Nintendo to sell more products, make more revenue. Gaming on these devices isn't the most fluid gameplay for most of Nintendo's library, but if it's IP can added to that of what works on mobile, why not? This just means that you can have a few extra Nintendo games in your pocket at any time you need.

I'm a bit worried about this. From my experience, the average mobile consumer is a cheapskate. They don't want to get anything with a price next to it on the Apple Store, but are pulled in by microtransactions that promise to enhance mediocre gameplay(but doesn't). If Ninty doesn't adapt to that model, they won't have much success outside of already present Nintendo fans. It seems like they're trying to pull in a new audience here, but it may not be easy without shifting their outlook. They want things like Pokemon Shuffle. However, there are still ways they could do things, such as offering demos of games debuting on other consoles, or having an app that has videos of upcoming games on it. Maybe a NES remix game, except it's free and offers VERY limited parts of NES games, but then you have the ability to buy them in full.

There are definitely ways to do this right, but I'm worried that they'll keep on the same as they always have.

Chances are Nintendo is using mobile to release waterdown version of games that would be release for 3DS, Wii U, and NX with promotional ads in those so casual people could get the full game on the actual system. I sense this is Nintendo's way of trying to get the casual audience back to playing the actual systems again. Imagine if Nintendo release a Super Smash Bros. 5 game for mobile with just six characters, tons of ads, and minimal contents for the mobile version. If casuals wants the full experience with the full 40-50 character roster, more stages, stage editor, story mode, online play, trophies, and more contents, they had to get the NX version or the Wii U version or wherever Super Smash Bros. 5 will release for. Well at least this will shut many analysis up about Nintendo not supporting mobile, either way Nintendo gets their money.

Not really shocking. They already announced they'd be looking at new ways to leverage and sub-license their IP. And it looks to me like the development work for smart devices will be done by DeNA so it won't distract from Nintendo's core business.

Like a few other folks above, I think the NX may be a home console/portable hybrid. Imagine a Wii U where you could take the tablet/gamepad with you on the go. If not that, some other kind of integration for sure, with Smash being an early test of a title interacting with both systems.
The smartphone news is welcome. It seemed inevitable, really, that Nintendo would need to address the shift in attention by making simple yet dedicated smartphone apps and games to introduce some consumers to Nintendo titles.
All in all, really great news, if nothing else it heavily points to a unified account system. Though I'd LOVE to see a Nintendo smartphone.

I can't make my mind up on this, my only real concern is that dena's influence on nintendo becomes too great. They only have 10% at the moment, I'd just rather it didn't increase past that.

@potatomage7 I think Nintendo is simply just using the mobile platform to help them promote their games. If anything Nintendo is making miniature versions of their games on mobile so the casual crowd will have a chance to experience what a Nintendo game will play like and besides the mobile platform is an advertising billboard for Nintendo. They could just spam ads in their mobile offering in an attempt to persuade the casual crowd to play the actual full games on their dedicated systems (Wii U, 3DS, New 3DS, NX) or release waterdown version of full game so to persuade them to try the full version on their dedicated systems. Also Nintendo is not pulling in new audience here, these same audience were those that once game with the Wii, Nintendo simply invade their platform in an attempt to bring them back to gaming and making waterdown version games for them may persuade them to come back. Something like this:

What Will happen in the future (10 years) for Nintendo will they become like Sega I hope not but at the moment it seemed like a great idea.It does make me feel uneasy about the future.

@Syrek24
What's disgusting are those who judge people based on their beliefs. Have a good day, stranger. Don't let the horse hit you on the way out, he's been feeling a little cranky lately.

Eh, as long as they keep at it with their main handheld and console, then do whatever.

@Syrek24
Ah, the utter arrogance of the opinionated as well.
Nice attempt at demonizing me and generalizing the gaming community at large. Good show, good show.
In fact, have a great week!

Don't get too excited if you are, we're only going to get some games like Candy Crush, just with a Ninty feel to it.

I am interested to see what they do. The only part that concerned me was the quote about making fewer games for each platform. That is the one thing they don't need to do.

@Syrek24 Hahah dude, Nintendo has been making strange decisions for years. @AVahne is right in saying this is one decision that actually makes logical sense for Nintendo.

Hmmm... this news definitely caught me off guard. I'm a little uneasy about the whole thing, but here's my biggest concern:
Nintendo is already "spread thin" trying to develop games for both 3DS and Wii U. So now they are going to add even more to their plate and develop phone games, too?
And if someone else is developing the phone games, they will probably be much lower quality.
I'm not a business major and I don't know all of the details, but at the moment, the whole thing just makes me nervous... especially since they basically said they weren't going to make games for phones.

Interesting...

@FlaygletheBagel

Nintendo not having the kids is a big point--because it's true. Nintendo spends almost all their time now banking on nostalgia because they don't have new audiences and don't know how to get them. This not only won't work forever (personally, I'm tired of it), but it means eventually they don't even have an audience.

My kid has a 2DS, but usually wants to play games with me on the PS4--stuff like Nidhogg, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Towerfall, and Injustice (which I also have for Wii U, but the PSN+ version has all characters). He has no attachment to Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon. Earth Defense Force, on the other hand? Probably.

Parents these days seem more inclined to buy a tablet for their kids as they can do a lot more than just playing games, so they can justify it for education and books and whatnot. Nintendo moving phone and tablet-side would allow them to reach kids they aren't getting the old fashioned way.

@Quorthon
To be fair, I still see tons of kids with Nintendo t-shirts, and even more with 3DSes. Kids definitely play Nintendo.
That isn't to say this won't bring in more... but it is definitely NOT all adults with nostalgia goggles.

@JakeOfAllTrades Same. They haven't said anything whether or not it''l be free, but let's hope so. They only mentioned the rewards/loyalty program.

@AugustusOxy

How is making your company stronger bad for the "loyal consumer bases," now?

There are a lot of iffy questions around this stuff, but finding a way to spread the brands is not one of them. That needs to happen.

@ggnorekthx

Obviously there is--I never said anything absolutist--only that Nintendo's "get the kids" focus is not as strong as it once was, and given that the average "gamer" is an adult in their 30's, the company is banking more on nostalgia than new recruits.

We have evidence of this to the huge number of remakes and ports Nintendo regularly delves into, and the bizarrely ravenous sales of the Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask remakes. Nintendo has a huge audience that is living in the past. In the meantime, the rare new titles they try to make barely make a dent in the public consciousness. The Direct where MM3D was revealed also had information for Splatoon and Codename STEAM. Nintendo fans had no interest in those at all--because they were more interested in playing a game that is 15 years old, and already playable on the Wii and Wii U.

@Quorthon

Fair enough. In all honesty, I'm guilty of playing older games also... although I like to kid myself that that is because they are better games. Overall, I do feel that a lot of the best games are 10-15 years old now.

That said... Splatoon looks freaking awesome and I intend to play the hell out of it

@Quorthon

"The Direct where MM3D was revealed also had information for Splatoon and Codename STEAM. Nintendo fans had no interest in those at all--because they were more interested in playing a game that is 15 years old, and already playable on the Wii and Wii U."

For the record, I've always been interested in Code Name STEAM and Splatoon ever since their announcements at E3. I know, I know, this is an exception to the rule, because...

...Unfortunately you are correct. People don't want to branch out and I have no idea why. If Code Name STEAM doesn't do well, I'm going to cry. Despite a few qualms, it is a really enjoyable game. It's nice to see Nintendo try something new.

@CosmoXY Well, good thing your opinion is ultimately just as meaningless as mine.

Let's all just hope for the best.

My sense is that we don't know nearly enough to draw conclusions yet. Myself, I am glad to see Nintendo taking online and networking seriously, if only because people like it so much. Mario Kart, Smash, and now Monster Hunter 4 have finally dragged me kicking and screaming into the world of online play, and I generally like it when properly executed. It greatly extends the replayability of games. The more serious Nintendo takes its networking the better, because once the creativity of Nintendo's developers is unleashed in the online world more fully, I suspect they will develop some neat gaming ideas around it.

However, I am apprehensive about the smartphone thing. I've played the cheapo Sonic-based pay-to-win endless runner/Doodle Jump clone games and thought, "Oh Sega. You used to be better than this." I would hate to see Nintendo water down its brand that way. I would rather see companion apps that allow you to do some minimal aspects of gaming while on a phone. For instance you could review collected information from a game, like read your scanned information from a Metroid Prime game; manage inventory in a Monster Hunter type game; View characters' current status/activity in an Animal Crossing game; View maps, etc.; view friends online and current favorite games.

More likely what we'll see will start as just a kind of account management/Miiverse app where you could view/buy on the eShop from a phone or tablet. It will be awhile before games and things actually hit the app stores and Nintendo refreshes its network and accounts. I suspect most of this will move forward slowly and conservatively alongside the next platform, which I fully expect to use a unified iPad/iPhone-type architecture for a mobile and console system. I think "NX" will be more of an operating system than a piece of hardware.

I'm VERY cautious and concerned, but I've been a Nintendo observer since the '80s, and I'm still a huge fan, so if nothing else, they've earned some patience from me in making judgments.

I just don't want to see VC games on smart devices. I've been very vocal about that from the beginning. If they want to make interesting apps, fine. If they want to do little mini games, fine. That said, I think it's a mistake if they do full fleshed games on iOS, but that doesn't seem to be the goal, at least the way I'm reading it. I think they need to draw the line at VC and keep them on whatever hardware they have at the time. Isn't this mainly, supposed to be an outreach to kids anyway? I don't think they'd be interested in playing a 30 year old game, am I right? Someone please tell me I'm right about this.

Overall this is a smart business venture. It's good to know that Nintendo was big enough to admit that they need help with online infrastructure. Club Nintendo anybody?

fanboys used to claim NIntendo putting their IP on phones was a bad idea, now that they're doing it, of course all fanboys thing its the smartest thing ever..... That's what Nintenfanboys do

@TingLz I believe it has something to do with focusing less energy on consoles

@DualWielding it takes a lot of huevos to come and say that here.

@The_Dude_Abides gee that is something a troll would do with any company. Android fans with Apple as an example. Vise versa. Funny thing is that you have been here for almost a week and your are already famous without much effort. Nice.

@DualWielding

Yikes. Good luck with that comment. That seems like something I would read on IGN.

@The_Dude_Abides lol yeah that's a great business plan right there. Undermine your own hardware sales by releasing games on an unaffiliated companies program.

Bad troll. Very bad troll >

@DualWielding lol I noticed that too.

I'm not sure about this... Hopefully Nintendo is there to supervise the games' development so that they are not like the trash currently on smart devices.

Most exited for the unified acct system. Glad Nintendo has an outside party directing this effort. We'll see this first, before any mobile games.

Unified account system sounds cool I hope this makes some franchises like Starfox and Kirby more recognizable to todays children. I'm scared but hopefully it works out.

Thank you. This was a very helpful article.

Here are the facts:

• Nintendo hasn't announced any plan to remove region locking
• Nintendo hasn't announced any plan to add shared purchases across platforms
• Nintendo hasn't announced any plan to add game purchases to an account, not tie them to a single console
• The Virtual Console on 3DS has been none existent for the past 4 months or so. When Nintendo move their efforts elsewhere, they disappear from wherever they were before. When this is the case for a service of emulating 20 year old games, I have little faith it'll remain in other more prevalent areas.

I don't believe this will have any advantages for the current Nintendo gamer. Best case scenario it's just products for a new market and we get the same we always did. Prove me wrong Nintendo, and start by actually giving us some good news.

Welp I guess this told me pretty much all I needed to know. I do want to hear more about the new loyalty program, but that will likely be saved for E3.

I have a bad feeling about this.....

Meh. Boring news...Why should we care?

I'm worried...

Go for it Ninty. Get some revenue and let them COD loving haters know what you're made of. Develop a infrastructure for the casuals and get the kiddies back to your platform. Advertise the heck out of your games. Mario is back and he is really P.O.ed. Or so I hope. This is the sign of the times and it's time for them to evolve. No one needs to worry.

Nintendo is totally doomed, bros.

@DualWielding Are you related to Quorthon?

Quite frankly, I hope the smart device games are crap as can't really afford any more amazing Nintendo games other than on WiiU and 3DS. Hope the overall deal goes well for the Big N.

Well, it's certainly new. Leave it to Nintendo to try something seemingly crazy. Hopefully they come out on top for it. I'd hate to see my favorite company go down just for this one.

Now that it's all comprehended, it seems like a wonderful business option. The Club Nintendo successor is interesting, but smartphone compatibility and new console just sound so exciting! Tbh, I really didn't want the smartphone compatibility in the first place, but it was likely due to its popularity and opportunities. Also, the new console chance of combining the two sounds amazing, but their really isn't much to say now, just have to wait and see....

Yeah, this is a complete 180 degree turnaround from their previous messaging. Nintendo is not as consistent with their focus today as they used to be. I'm not quite sure what to think about all of this yet, but it's not a good feeling. I don't think it's the beginning of the end, but I'm not thrilled with this sharp change in direction. I'm worried that Nintendo's executives might be succumbing to the temptations of the modern market.

DeNA is a company that specializes in free to play titles with lots of monetization- a type of game library which is very different from Nintendo's traditional offerings. I am not looking forward to the possibility of FTP model business tactics and DRM-laden antics to follow. Since DeNA specializes in the free to play monetization model, their style of designing and marketing gaming atmospheres and products have traditionally run directly counter to Nintendo's marketing and gaming strategies, and indeed, as many have argued in the past of the mobile phone and tablet arena, run counter to Nintendo's core methodology of game design. These two companies are incompatible from a traditional stand point. A big shake up behind the scenes was probably necessary to make this deal happen.

Nintendo - a well-known video game brand around the world. Who created this image? they show the Virtual Boy, the Game Boy Advance SP (along with the original design), the DSLite (again along with the phat model), the N3DS (...) and even the budget priced red Wii, but not a single image of the original Game Boy or Game Boy Color? What gives?!

@AshFoxX It must be a sign!

it's probably gonna end yup, being NES and such games on smartphones, and a few tittles tailor made for "app" gaming, trying to get some money from casual gamers again, and the big triple A experiences gonna keep being exclusive to their platform(s)

@Morph
DeNA got a little over 1 percent on Ninty stocks. Nintendo got 10% of DeNA

And those yelling out that Sony owns more stocks. Wikipedia shows it's not the most reliable source, since Sony sold their shares back in 2013.

@ThomasBW84

Then give my thanks to him too. I have to admit that NintendoLife has become my favourite Nintysite even if it isn't always the first to report things. You can usually find good articles well written and thought out if you just have like 12 hours worth of patience. Which most of us of course don't have

To be honest, I didn't expect this with Nintendo continously re-iterating that they would not bring any game software from its IP onto smart devices. Although considering the deal they have made, it may turn out for the best considering there won't be full size titles like on 3DS or Wii U coming out on phones.

Hopefully they are just byte-sized games which appeal to the general public but are small enough to entice curiosity in the main Nintendo consoles. We will have to watch to see how this turns out.

What I don't like is the possibility that Nintendo is going to work on the smartphone games themselves, hence reducing the amount of work done on Wii U and 3DS. Unless DeNA is making the games, this move is not really that great considering the sparse release schedule of the 3DS this year and barely enough games on Wii U.

I like the concept of the uniform online system. Hopefully this can bring the account system we have been asking for so long with purchases possible on PC, phones, etc. using the eShop balance.

NX might just turn out to be a 3DS successor considering the 3DS has been out for 4 years, it has around 2 years till it becomes 6 years old, the typical length of a Nintendo gen.

I am neither on the extremely pleased side or the extremely disappointed side. I will have to wait before I start hating or loving this move. Till then I am on the fence.

"it's likely they will be companion or simple games to popular franchises and will serve as a tool to get new consumers interested in Nintendo IP."

Indeed, if that's the case, it wouldn't be too different to the small, simple games they've had on their various official websites ever since they've been on the internet.

Pokemon Shuffle

As long as this doesn't effect the quality or quantity of games released on their next home or portable console, than for strictly selfish reasons I should have no problem with this. I don't enjoy mobile gaming, therefore I won't participate. Simple as that.

But aside from that initial concern, a deeper, non selfish, fanboy part of me feels like this is cheapening the brand of Nintendo. As if they're pimping out my beloved characters to a scummy market of low quality games for easy cash.. It doesn't feel right. Will also be quite upset if they attempt some type of forced integration with consoles. Or even reward/dlc perks along the lines of amiibos.

I think this is so unsettling because I really have no clue how Nintendo is going to handle this. Their games of late have been top notch and I love them for that. But their disconnect with the fans as is getting a bit hard to stomach. Throw this into the mix and it can go 2 ways in my eyes. They pull it off, creating a sub market that remains relatively detached from their future console plans. This partnership earns Nintendo all sorts of money, they finally capture a demographic they were failing to reach before, life goes on and everyone is happy. Or they go against everything their loyal fans have been screaming at them, loose their core audience, and either crumble or become a shell of what Nintendo used to be. The latter so terrible to imagine its put us all on edge while watching this go down. Lets all just hope for the best!

If nothing else, we're now going to hear the phrase "Nintendo does mobile gaming right!" (regardless of whether they actually do or not) a lot round here. Joy...

This is a smart move from Nintendo. It is going to complement their console business very well. It will give Nintendo some much needed visibility among casual mobile gamers.

A few year ago, all children played on a Nintendo console, but now many use mobile and tablets instead. Nintendo does not play any role for these children, and that could really hurt them in the long run. This initiative will bring Nintendo back on the radar.

I think we're going to see some small mobile spinoffs with Nintendo characters, like SEGA has done with Sonic Jump and Sonic Dash. Games that fit the format.

"Rayman Jungle Run" is also good example of what I think we're going to see from Nintendo. It is a really good runner game, made for mobile and tablets. It is using the same artwork / style as the console game "Rayman Legends", and you really want to play "Rayman Legends", after some time with Jungle Run. Nintendo will probably try something similar with Mario, Kirby, Donkey Kong etc.