Nikkei: Nintendo to Release Mobile Demos

By Jorge Ba-oh 27.01.2014 11

Nikkei: Nintendo to Release Mobile Demos on Nintendo gaming news, videos and discussion

Japanese publication Nikkei has reported, ahead of Nintendo's official meeting, that the company will be confirming a mobile campaign this week.

The report published today highlights potential plans for Nintendo to introduce playable demos or, more appropriately mini games, based on key franchises on smartphones. It's not just demos on the cards, as Nintendo is said to be putting together video content and information for smart devices to ensure potential consumers are always in the know.

Naturally, this content will be phased in free, with a focus on converting these players onto dedicated Nintendo consoles.

Iwata had said that Nintendo are intending to use phones/tablets as tools for promotion, rather than another platform for full Mario, Zelda, Pokémon games. The suggestions were also highlighted in our feature "15 Ways Nintendo Can Recover", which can be read here.

Do you think this is a good approach for Nintendo, or one that might be a case of shooting oneself in the foot?

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Sonic_13 is offline. Sonic_13 27.01.2014#1

Interesting. I wonder how far along Nintendo is in their mobile campaign - ready to launch next week or just announcing plans to launch sometime.

I wonder if there will be one "Nintendo" app or individual apps for each demo. (I would prefer one app, though I'm not someone who needs to be sold on Nintendo so I don't know which might be better).

I'm a little hesitant about Nintendo expanding into mobile, but I trust Iwata. I never want to see full games on mobile and thankfully Iwata doesn't either.

Do you think this is a good approach for Nintendo, or one that might be a case of shooting oneself in the foot?
As long as they are just small demos I don't think there is any harm. It's either going to help convince people to convince people to buy Nintendo or not. Hopefully there won't be anyone that was going to buy a system but becomes satisfied just playing a demo over and over.

EDIT: Report is false

( Edited 28.01.2014 22:40 by Sonic_13 )

 
SirLink is offline. SirLink 27.01.2014#2

Some tie-in apps used for promotion I can imagine but actual demos? Making playable demos for say 3DS games could involve a lot of extra work and potentially send the wrong message to those who play them since plenty of games would play worse on a smartphone than on the dedicated gaming system they were designed for.

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Darkflame (guest) 28.01.2014#3

Very few Nintendo games will represent themselves well on mobile.
Stuff like Layton....sure....but Nintendo doesnt do much like that.

Mario would be terrible....give a horrible impression of the game.
I can only think WarioWare out of their current stuff.

Flynnie is offline. Flynnie 28.01.2014#4

SirLink said:
Some tie-in apps used for promotion I can imagine but actual demos? Making playable demos for say 3DS games could involve a lot of extra work and potentially send the wrong message to those who play them since plenty of games would play worse on a smartphone than on the dedicated gaming system they were designed for.

Exactly! 

This is o-so-wrong! I agree with news and videos etc. Even a shop app to buy the games (physical copies to be sent) but demos is just wrong! Bad nintendo!

 
Sonic_13 is offline. Sonic_13 28.01.2014#5

Flynnie said:
Bad nintendo!

Shouldn't we wait until Nintendo actually does (or says) something before chastising them? Seriously.

And in this case, Nintendo actually has said something:

Nintendo said:
Nikkei's article contains information previously stated by Mr Iwata during past press conferences, including statements which relate to Nintendo's willingness to make use of smart devices to promote our products. However during such past announcements Mr Iwata has also stated that Nintendo's intention is not to make Nintendo software available on smart devices and as such, we can confirm that there are no plans to offer minigames on smartphone devices.

 
jb is offline. jb 28.01.2014#6

Sonic_13 said:
Flynnie said:
Bad nintendo!

Shouldn't we wait until Nintendo actually does (or says) something before chastising them? Seriously.

And in this case, Nintendo actually has said something:

Nintendo said:
Nikkei's article contains information previously stated by Mr Iwata during past press conferences, including statements which relate to Nintendo's willingness to make use of smart devices to promote our products. However during such past announcements Mr Iwata has also stated that Nintendo's intention is not to make Nintendo software available on smart devices and as such, we can confirm that there are no plans to offer minigames on smartphone devices.

If Nintendo of Japan on Thursday comes out and says, "yes, we are making mobile demos" - it'll go to show that there's huge issues between Nintendo JP and US.

Cubed3 Admin/Founder & Designer
 
Sonic_13 is offline. Sonic_13 29.01.2014#7

jb said:
If Nintendo of Japan on Thursday comes out and says, "yes, we are making mobile demos" - it'll go to show that there's huge issues between Nintendo JP and US.

I only posted part of the message, but it was released by Nintendo Japan not NOA.

 
georg3 is offline. georg3 29.01.2014#8

Have to say this will only increase WiiU and 3DS sale if references to the games consoles appear in the game or if they are free as if they are free then more people will buy them and get a flavour of the games on the WiiU but, if you have to pay for them then people will be off put by the apps therefore less likely to buy and see what the WiiU is like.

( Edited 29.01.2014 17:17 by georg3 )

 
Flynnie is offline. Flynnie 29.01.2014#9

georg3 said:
Have to say this will only increase WiiU and 3DS sale if references to the games consoles appear in the game or if they are free as if they are free then more people will buy them and get a flavour of the games on the WiiU but, if you have to pay for them then people will be off put by the apps therefore less likely to buy and see what the WiiU is like.

I disagree that increased exposure to Nintendo franchises on mobiles in the form of games will complement sales of the Wii U. I think that in doing so many people will consider it their "Nintendo-fix" and feel like they won't need to invest in the hardware as Nintendo will continue to release for other platforms.

However I do agree with putting content in the form of videos/news/shopping/info etc. Hell they already release soundtracks via iTunes so why not add their anime/cartoon collection to it. (Although i'd rather they do this on the Wii U!)


Sonic_13 said:
Flynnie said:
Bad nintendo!

Shouldn't we wait until Nintendo actually does (or says) something before chastising them? Seriously.

And in this case, Nintendo actually has said something:

Nintendo said:
Nikkei's article contains information previously stated by Mr Iwata during past press conferences, including statements which relate to Nintendo's willingness to make use of smart devices to promote our products. However during such past announcements Mr Iwata has also stated that Nintendo's intention is not to make Nintendo software available on smart devices and as such, we can confirm that there are no plans to offer minigames on smartphone devices.

I think you fail to see my jest here, although i didn't use any smileys so i can see why. I wouldnt assume speculation as fact. Although your recent nit-picking of users comments is starting to irk me. Especially as i've made it quite clear that i'm not here to Nintendo-bash

 
georg3 is offline. georg3 29.01.2014#10

Actually I think that a Nintendo TVii app could work in which regular Nintendo updates and trailers are shown to whet the appetite of buyers, it would help advertise their games without allowing people to play the games and staying with cheaper demos.

 
Sonic_13 is offline. Sonic_13 29.01.2014#11

Flynnie said:
I think you fail to see my jest here, although i didn't use any smileys so i can see why. I wouldnt assume speculation as fact. Although your recent nit-picking of users comments is starting to irk me.

Sorry if your post was meant sarcastically or jokingly and I misinterpreted. It is very tiring to see Nintendo criticized for everything, but especially for things that they themselves haven't even said or done.

As for "nit picking", if I'm quoting someone and it's a huge block of text I like to break it up into smaller quotes so it is easier to respond to and read. I can see how others might see that as nit picking though.

( Edited 30.01.2014 19:40 by Sonic_13 )

 

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