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Nintendo: Our second iPhone game will feature a ‘very familiar’ character

When Nintendo first announced that it would finally be launching an iPhone game, it’s safe to say, many of we children of the 90’s got a little excited. Sadly, excitement turned to bemusement once the company revealed it would be launching a weird game called Miitomo, which wasn’t exactly a game, but rather a social network.

Following its disappointing Q4 results, Nintendo has confirmed that its second title would include a “very familiar character”, and won’t be another social network attempt. It did, however, stop short of confirming exactly which character we’re going to see.

“The second game won’t be another communication app, and we plan to adopt one of our characters that fans are very familiar with,” Nintendo CEO Tatsumi Kimishima said.

While we can only hope that Nintendo releases iOS versions of Mario Karts, Donkey Kong and Zelda, it’s being predicted by analysts that the company’s smartphone games will tie in with its next rumored physical console. Dubbed the Nintendo NX, it’s predicted that the iPhone/iPad titles will combine somehow with the NX games, blurring the line between mobile and console gaming.

With Sony and Microsoft dominating the console sales market with their respective PS4 and Xbox One consoles, Nintendo needs to adjust its strategy, especially after seeing its profits drop a massive 36% last quarter. Bridging the gap between smartphones and consoles with a new set of mobile games could help the company create a stronger ecosystem, but it’s unlikely to directly bring in any major revenue for the gaming giant. Analysts predict Nintendo will avoid an aggressive in-app purchasing strategy in order to keep its long-standing fans happy.

Eventually, Nintendo will see mobile gaming as a ‘pillar’ of its company. But until the first true game arrives on iPhone we’re yet to see if its attempts at taking on the mobile gaming industry will be successful.

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Comments

  1. sword2pen - 8 years ago

    Please be Mario! So keen 😍

  2. AeronPeryton - 8 years ago

    Wii Fit Trainer

  3. rahhbriley - 8 years ago

    Apple is supposedly taking gaming seriously. They go after exclusive music and video content deals. Apple, surely your premium brand and deep pockets are enough to negotiate us an exclusive iOS Super Mario?!

    • rnc - 8 years ago

      Don’t you people understand that’s a mistake?

      If Apple pays one, they need to pay everyone.

      Why not Bethesda, CD Project Red, etc.?

      • Robert Nixon - 8 years ago

        And? I don’t think he’s arguing that they should *only* try to work out deals with Nintendo.

  4. Jake Becker - 8 years ago

    Nintendo needs to just get it together…they were always the Apple of gaming for me, but if they don’t reverse the spiral soon….

  5. Hans HT - 8 years ago

    Please give us Super Mario bros. for apple tv and iOS

  6. iSRS - 8 years ago

    Hell, just port and enhance (for touch screen/accelerometer/gyro) Mario kart DS and charge $14.99. Boom.

  7. If they release an iOS and tvOS version of Super Mario bros, I’d happily pay for it. I mean, real gaming money, not just app money. £9.99 for a tvOS version of Super Mario Bros would be well worth it.

  8. The fuck is a mario karts

  9. Joe Ho - 8 years ago

    make an official emulator app for Apple TV and sell each ROM for 1.99 .. come on~~~~~

  10. Charlypollo - 8 years ago

    They are idiots. Just release the mario Nes trilogy for 10 bucks and they will be swimming in money. Their pride is obstructing them.

  11. o0smoothies0o - 8 years ago

    I absolutely love seeing their profits drop massively. Sorry but when you have incredibly stupid people running a company, making abysmal decisions, you deserve to lose everything. They need to stop making consoles, and start making games. They don’t even make games for their own consoles now. The Wii U has been out for over 3 years I think, and it has no Zelda game. That’s truly hilarious. They deserve to go bankrupt for that.

    Nintendo had one thing, and one thing only: software.

    • No Starfox game for Wii U or even the previous Wii, even though it was one of the highest selling games for the Nintendo 64. It’s really beyond understanding at this point.