Nintendo Mobile Games will be Different from Competition: Iwata

Nintendo has created a niche for itself in the gaming industry by being different from Sony and Microsoft. The trend will continue in the mobile platform as well, confirmed Iwata.

The company recently confirmed that they are going to bring their first party characters like Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda to the world of smartphones and tablets. In the past few years, game developers who are unknown to consumers came out of nowhere and earned millions in the smartphone wave. Companies like Rovio, Zynga, and Supercell are good examples because before their games became successful, no one had ever heard of them.

Games like Angry Birds, Clash of Clans, and Mafia were never part of the big AAA titles. They were never launched on PCs, Xbox One or Playstation 4 consoles. Yet, they managed to grab the attention of millions of users on mobile platform with their simplicity. People who never played games enjoyed such titles as they required little investment in terms of time and probably money too, as they are free to play. Nintendo plans to make good use of this market.

Creating Unique Games

The biggest challenge that first party titles from Nintendo face is controls and game play style because they are going to target a completely new audience this time around. Creating a game for the Wii U or the 3DS console is completely different when compared to touch screen phones and tablets. They are associating with DeNA to create and port their games to the platforms.

Developers from the team also confirmed that instead of trying to port previously made games they are planning to create new ones for mobiles. At least six different games will be launched in a time span of two years and by 2016, Nintendo plans to have a good line-up of games on the platform. Instead of focusing on quantity, it will be all about quality and being different from the usual games, confirmed Iwata.

Paid Games vs Free to Play

From what Iwata said it looks like Nintendo will have a strong focus on paid titles rather than offering free to play games with in-game purchases. Iwata said that it is impossible to satisfy hundreds of millions of players at the same time and make revenue on mobile platform due to tough competition. Instead, they are planning to focus on a niche group of audience who will be willing to pay to play good quality titles that offer a satisfactory game play experience.