Nintendo wants mobile to eventually become "a pillar of profit"

[The DanMan]

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/05/nintendo_wants_mobile_to_be_a_pillar_of_profit

So, there's that. And Miyamoto is heavily involved in the process.

I don't get the pessimism. There's nothing contradictory to what we've seen and heard already; saying there is is like saying a table can't be round and brown. That's not true whatsoever; they're both facets of the whole, instead of two conflicting wholes.

Honestly, I fail to see games like FE and many of their 3rd party (read: 3DS JRPGS) titles existing as we know them on mobile (if the negativity mongers in the comments are to be believed). A solid FE game could not get by as a mobile release and with the right price; there would have to be major changes.

I'll use Monster Hunter as an example: the most recent mobile title (Monster Hunter Explore) is a far cry from the main-series games, with a much smaller scale, linear gameplay, and other slightly less notable differences.

Tl;DR I don't see this as big news and I don't think that this means Nintendo will eventually just go all mobile and that the 3DS was their last handheld to ever be released.

Edited May 2, 2016 by The DanMan

[Water Mage]

To be honest, this was kinda obvious. Nintendo didn't enter the mobile industry without expecting heavy profits. Some people don't realize it, it seems.

But Miyamoto being part of this is what's interesting...

That man is becoming unpredictable.

[Tryhard]

It's from a financial briefing, and is such phrased in a way that relates to how it will affect their profits. As if consumers are supposed to care how much money they get. All consumers care about is whether its of good quality or not, and that's why it probably isn't big news. We already knew Nintendo was moving towards mobile games.

Skeptical and won't be buying if they are actually priced.

Edited May 2, 2016 by Tryhard

[Anacybele]

What people are afraid of is that these mobile games will take away from the traditional home console and handheld console games in some way. That maybe we won't see as many home console/handheld console games as before anymore. And I'm afraid of this too because I'm not a mobile gamer at all.

[The DanMan]

To be honest, this was kinda obvious. Nintendo didn't enter the mobile industry without expecting heavy profits. Some people don't realize it, it seems.

But Miyamoto being part of this is what's interesting...

That man is becoming unpredictable.

I was actually going to mention this in the Miyamoto thread before deciding that it could probably be it's own.

What people are afraid of is that these mobile games will take away from the traditional home console and handheld console games in some way. That maybe we won't see as many home console/handheld console games as before anymore. And I'm afraid of this too because I'm not a mobile gamer at all.

Considering we have the Iwata quote about how mobile is meant supplement their console business instead of replace it, I feel like that fear is (mostly) not grounded. The NX is still a thing, after all, and the 3DS has it's share of 3rd-party devs who wouldn't adapt well to that market (Atlus, Capcom) and would probably prefer another handheld over universal focus on mobile.

Edited May 2, 2016 by The DanMan

[Maritisa]

Once the 3ds dies, if the NX isn't good, nintendo is officially dead to me. Mobile phones were not designed for gaming. :/

[Captain Karnage]

Yeah, they're going in like all of the other companies who expected to make it big in mobile despite the people who really like their stuff being attached to consoles and PC

however miitomo is an anomaly, and Nintendo has more household names than any other company

so, it looks brighter for Nintendo than any other company imo

What people are afraid of is that these mobile games will take away from the traditional home console and handheld console games in some way. That maybe we won't see as many home console/handheld console games as before anymore. And I'm afraid of this too because I'm not a mobile gamer at all.

ditto

[Anacybele]

Considering we have the Iwata quote about how mobile is meant supplement their console business instead of replace it, I feel like that fear is (mostly) not grounded. The NX is still a thing, after all, and the 3DS has it's share of 3rd-party devs who wouldn't adapt well to that market (Atlus, Capcom) and would probably prefer another handheld over universal focus on mobile.

Except sadly, Iwata is dead now and has no control over things anymore. Kimishima has the say and since we don't really know him like we knew Iwata, who knows what's going to happen.

[The DanMan]

Except sadly, Iwata is dead now and has no control over things anymore. Kimishima has the say and since we don't really know him like we knew Iwata, who knows what's going to happen.

Would they immediately go against everything that Iwata said, what with the rest of company management staying pretty much the same?

[Knight]

An officially licensed Mario game on mobile would make tons of money and hardly any effort would be needed to put into it. I don't expect the mobile games will damage the main console business since they have a different company handling mobile and they're just overseeing it.

[Roflolxp54]

From what I could see, the mobile apps could just very well be the simple and casual experience for newbies to the series to try and convince them to buy consoles/handhelds and full retail games.

[The DanMan]

From what I could see, the mobile apps could just very well be the simple and casual experience for newbies to the series to try and convince them to buy consoles/handhelds and full retail games.

Exactly. I don't get how this is such a massive deal to some people.

[Hardin]

Except sadly, Iwata is dead now and has no control over things anymore. Kimishima has the say and since we don't really know him like we knew Iwata, who knows what's going to happen.

Kimishima isn't a complete unknown, he has been involved in the company in different capacities since his Pokemon Co days. If he was someone who basically parachuted in there would be reason to worry, but fortunately that's not the case.

As a hardware manufacturer, Nintendo's approach to mobile will be different from other studios for obvious reasons. Nintendo has a vested interest in keeping synergy between their mobile efforts and traditional gaming operations, to simply go all in with mobile would be the end of NCL as we know it.

[solrocknroll]

yeah I'd say we know kimishima pretty well considering he was involved in the pokemon company and he was president of NOA during the GCN era. i'd say he's a pretty cool guy

as for mobile, I welcome Nintendo's foray because mobile games can be pretty fun. for me, I still have an iPhone 4S so my space is nonexistent, but Miitomo is already pretty great.

[Anacybele]

Would they immediately go against everything that Iwata said, what with the rest of company management staying pretty much the same?

No, I didn't say that. I said they could go against any one thing he says. Doesn't mean I think they'd go against EVERYTHING.

Kimishima isn't a complete unknown, he has been involved in the company in different capacities since his Pokemon Co days. If he was someone who basically parachuted in there would be reason to worry, but fortunately that's not the case.

As a hardware manufacturer, Nintendo's approach to mobile will be different from other studios for obvious reasons. Nintendo has a vested interest in keeping synergy between their mobile efforts and traditional gaming operations, to simply go all in with mobile would be the end of NCL as we know it.

I didn't mean he was a complete unknown, only that he's still not Iwata. You should never expect a president's successor to do things exactly the same way as said president did.

[Thane]

Exactly. I don't get how this is such a massive deal to some people.

Really? It's a big unknown factor and we have no idea how it might affect some of our favorite franchises; I haven't thought much about this at all, but it's easy to see why some people are feeling a bit nervous.

[Hardin]

I didn't mean he was a complete unknown, only that he's still not Iwata. You should never expect a president's successor to do things exactly the same way as said president did.

Of course, but his record tells us what we should expect from him.

[Jave]

No, I didn't say that. I said they could go against any one thing he says. Doesn't mean I think they'd go against EVERYTHING.

I didn't mean he was a complete unknown, only that he's still not Iwata. You should never expect a president's successor to do things exactly the same way as said president did.

Let me remind you that all the mobile thing is a project that Iwata started himself and now Kimishima is keeping up with. Iwata was the one who made the deal with DeNa to handle most of their mobile stuff, in order not to shift too many resources from their in-house studios to develop the mobile games.

Also, if NX turns out to be indeed a console and a handheld with a shared library, Nintendo is already saving resources on game developing, so it kind of evens out.

[Jedi]

While i'm pessimistic, mobile could be a good way for some lesser franchises to get more spotlight... F-Zero styled runner maybe?

Edited May 2, 2016 by Jedi

[The DanMan]

No, I didn't say that. I said they could go against any one thing he says. Doesn't mean I think they'd go against EVERYTHING.

To clear things up: when I said "everything", I meant "everything in that statement".

Really? It's a big unknown factor and we have no idea how it might affect some of our favorite franchises; I haven't thought much about this at all, but it's easy to see why some people are feeling a bit nervous.

It's a bit of an unknown, certainly; I just feel like a lot of armchair analysts are over-dramatizing things and bringing out "Nintendoomed"-esque arguments.

[Tryhard]

I don't think Ana is wrong. It's not as if they don't have the possibility of diverging from Iwata's plans, if they are even fully known. Kimishima himself is known more as a businessman than a representative and may see the mobile market very differently.

Edited May 2, 2016 by Tryhard

[Anacybele]

Yeah, Tryhard gets what I'm saying. You have a point too though, Jave. If the NX does end up being some sort of hybrid, then they do save time/money/resources that could help the mobile side.

[Hardin]

Kimishima appointed Genyo Takeda as Technology Fellow, traditional hardware is still very much a part of his vision for Nintendo.

[Tryhard]

You can't know that. But I'll agree, it's pretty certain over anything else that Nintendo will continue to support hardware for at least the NX's lifetime, and probably after. I think you're being a little harsh in not entertaining the possibility that once Nintendo (or any company) find that the mobile market is far more profitable than the traditional market that they won't think about jumping ship, or at least dedicating the majority of their resources towards it.

Like I said, I still don't think it's likely considering how long Nintendo have been in the hardware game industry business but I also don't think it's ridiculous to be concerned over if this will affect Nintendo's view on the traditional market.

Might be not worth worrying about, but I'm pretty much off the Nintendo train myself and I've been disappointed time and time again by Nintendo, so still possible.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Tryhard

[Hardin]

Kimishima himself reiterated NCL's commitment to the console business.

A variety of popular characters, including Mario and Link, appear in Nintendo’s video games and these characters are the source of Nintendo’s IP value.

​By increasing the number of people who have access to this Nintendo IP or video game characters, music and world view, and by increasing the value of Nintendo IP, we aim to further expand the gaming population.

More specifically, we will provide people with new applications on their smart devices by utilizing our Nintendo IP. We are also planning to offer new attractions at theme parks by using Nintendo IP. Further, by using Nintendo IP in a variety of other ways, such as licensing and commercializing this IP for visual content and merchandizing products, we are planning to maximize the value of Nintendo IP, which has traditionally been used mainly for our dedicated video game systems. Needless to say, there is no change to the fact that dedicated game systems remain at the core of Nintendo experiences.

Right now any notion that Nintendo will become a mobile focused company is not based anywhere in reality. Kimishima was part of Iwata's team when they mapped out Nintendo's direction for the future and there is no evidence to suggest that Kimishima intends to radically alter that vision.