Nintendo IPs to Come to Smart Devices Through New Business Partnership

President of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, has continuously indicated that he would not move the company to smart devices, despite the number of consumers in that market. Gradually, he indicated that Nintendo was looking into the best ways to get involved in the mobile gaming sphere, but with a focus on making their home and handheld console presence stronger. Today, he has revealed exactly what this entails: a new business and capital partner for Nintendo, a new, multi-peripheral membership program and, most importantly, the presence of Nintendo IPs on smart devices through original games and applications.

The new business partner in question is called DeNA, and it is a video game publisher already well-versed in the sphere of mobile gaming. As the owner of one of the most popular mobile gaming platforms in Japan (called “Mobage), DeNA has been picked out as a partnership for this new business endeavor of Nintendo’s for its “world-class Internet service and operating know-how”, according to Iwata. This partnership is set to bring about both a brand new membership program -one which integrates Wii U, 3DS, PC, smart devices, and more – and original games for smart devices, utilizing existing Nintendo IPs and their respective characters.

As opposed to the idea of simply porting games for Wii U, 3DS, a choice which Iwata believes wouldn’t provide consumers with the best play experience and “ruin the value of Nintendo’s IP”, Nintendo will be developing completely new games – with the aid of DeNA – for mobile devices that are best fit to the devices themselves. As for which IPs will be brought to mobile gaming sphere, Iwata had the following to say:

As for which Nintendo IP will be used, we do not intend to make any exceptions. Potentially, any Nintendo IP could be used in our smart device software.

He was quick to note, however, that Nintendo will still aim to develop the best games they can on their gaming hardware. The specific IPs, characters, and games to come mobile devices, however, have not yet been disclosed, but are set to be revealed in future announcements.

Source: Nintendo