News: E3 2013 | First Free-to-Play Title from Nintendo Before March 2014 Page 1

E3 2013 | First Free-to-Play Title from Nintendo Before March 2014

During an investor's meeting at E3, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata confirmed a free-to-play title is on the way.

Noting how this upcoming project wouldn't be a Super Mario Bros. or Pokémon title due to players having a good relationship with these established brands, the Nintendo president confirmed that the first free-to-play game would be available by the end of the current fiscal year (March 2014).

A free-to-play title would be as it says on the tin, free to download with the option to expand on the base content with paid packs/add-ons.

It wasn't certain which platform (3DS or Wii U) the project would be available on, but the likely candidate is Nintendo's home console.

What franchise (or new IP) could Nintendo use with free-to-play?

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Supa_hyped 13.06.2013#1

i guess it will be flipnote studio for the wiiu but im hoping for 2d mario studio (2d mario editing software)

Darkflame 13.06.2013#2

Not really the first free game as such(Four Swords special edition was free, then theres all those numberious free 3DS games with the system)

More first "DLC sponsidered" title Smilie

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Sonic_13 13.06.2013#3

Darkflame said:
Not really the first free game as such(Four Swords special edition was free, then theres all those numberious free 3DS games with the system)
More first "DLC sponsidered" title

That's what the term "free-to-play" means. Despite what it sounds like, it's never used to describe games that are free giveaways (like Four Swords).

My guess is that it will be a new IP. Nintendo has been creative with developing new IPs for downloads (Pushmo/Crashmo, Dillon's Rolling Western). I can't wait to see what they have in store!

TAG 14.06.2013#4

Sonic_13 said:

My guess is that it will be a new IP. Nintendo has been creative with developing new IPs for downloads (Pushmo/Crashmo, Dillon's Rolling Western). I can't wait to see what they have in store!

Probably. It might be some smaller IP, but I would be surprised if it was one of their huge IPs. The big ones like Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid, etc are pretty much guaranteed to make money through the more traditional route.

I'm interested to see what they come up with. This is kind of how Nintendo got started, after all. The first Donkey Kong game was brilliant because you kept wanting to pump quarters into it. They had two very easy to understand mechanics (run and jump), but when combined the game became difficult. When you died, you felt like you could beat it if you tried just one more time. In goes another quarter. If Nintendo can work that magic again, they'll be rolling in money.

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Laurelin 14.06.2013#5

But there is a free-to-play-title available right now on WiiU. It's Zen Pinball 2 where you buy the tables instead of the game.

I find your lack of faith disturbing!

Sonic_13 14.06.2013#6

Laurelin said:
But there is a free-to-play-title available right now on WiiU. It's Zen Pinball 2 where you buy the tables instead of the game.

TANK! TANK! TANK! is also free-to-play, but neither title is from Nintendo.

farcry3 15.06.2013#7

free to play is always good to hear but it should be great.

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Laurelin 18.06.2013#8

TANKTANKTANK!... right, I forgot about that.

farcry3 said:
free to play is always good to hear but it should be great.

I am reluctant about free to play, because mostly it's crap to lure us into paying. I think it is better to pay upfront and have an experience where you enjoy the game without the need to pay small sums inserted into the game on every corner by the developers.

I find your lack of faith disturbing!

Sonic_13 18.06.2013#9

It's going to be a Steel Diver game, according to Miyamoto via IGN.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/18/nintendos-free-to-play-game-is-steel-diver

"There is something we're doing with the Steel Diver idea that I think is going to open things up with that game... It's going to be very fun. We're exploring from a perspective of where we can take that from a multiplayer standpoint - it's going to have this four-player battle mode that I think is going to be very interesting," - Miyamoto