Nintendo Mobile Games: 6 To Start With
Nintendo is jumping into the mobile gaming business. Here are six games we'd like to see available for smartphones and tablets right away.
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Nintendo has (finally) announced that it is getting into mobile gaming. The company is partnering with DeNA, a mobile gaming veteran, to create a line of tablet and smartphone games and a mobile gaming platform. The most exciting part of this deal is that all of Nintendo's giant lineup of characters from its IP catalog is available.
If you're interested in the business side of things, check out my article Nintendo Mobile Gamble Might Kill 3DS, Save the Company. Here, we're celebrating the sheer joy of Nintendo games being made available without having to lay down cash for a separate gaming console.
Let's face it, the Wii U was a total disaster. That giant, clunky, expensive, tablet-style controller was the wrong idea at the wrong time. And the U is just not worth buying for a handful of games, no matter how great they are. The 3DS family is better, but a whole separate device is still an expensive option for the right to play Nintendo games.
Now, with a phone you already own, you'll soon get to enjoy the games you missed. So, where should Nintendo start?
According to the deal, all of Nintendo's game characters are on the table for potential mobile game development. Which ones will best translate to mobile play? Which could take advantage of the unique properties of mobile gaming? The lack of a joystick/wiimote on your smartphone or tablet does make certain games less appealing.
On the following pages, you'll see my suggestions the games Nintendo should pick for its first round of mobile releases. After you've reviewed the ideas, tell us which are your favorites, and alert us to any others you'd like to see, in the comments section below.
This is the obvious first choice. Mario Kart is routinely among the top-selling games of the year, and the top selling game for each generation of Nintendo platform. As of March 2014, various versions of Mario Kart sold a combined 100 million units. Kart also fits nicely into a mobile gaming system. Steering can be accomplished easily with the gyroscope built into the device. Games can easily be linked using WiFi for worldwide multiplayer functionality. Here's some insight into the potential for Mario Kart on mobile: 50% of Wii U owners own a copy of Mario Kart 8. Over a third of Wii owners had the Wii version. Imagine if you could get even 10% of the world's 2 billion smartphone owners to play it.
The Legend of Zelda has been a game-changer since 1986. Many credit Nintendo, and specifically Legend of Zelda, with saving the video game industry. After the business crashed in 1983, people wondered whether video gaming had been a brief fad. While Super Mario Brothers outsold Zelda by quite a lot, it was Zelda that showed us that console gaming could be more than traditional 2-D "platformer" games.
Zelda also fits nicely into a mobile format (especially tablets), because it isn't a button-smashing game. The role-playing game translates well to mobile, but the genre isn't yet a major aspect of mobile gaming, so it has room to revolutionize the industry.
Full-disclosure: There already is a Bomberman app on iOS and Android. It is not available (at least on Android) in the US. Also, Bomberman is not owned by Nintendo. It is owned by Konami, a developer of games that often find their way onto Nintendo systems. Bomberman fits the mobile platform so well. It is multi-player. It can be picked up and played in short bursts. Upgrades and cheats could support the freemium model. Nintendo absolutely needs to work with Konami on making Bomberman a flagship of its mobile portfolio.
While we're on games that aren't officially owned by Nintendo, there is Sonic, the only platformer character that holds a candle to the Nintendo family. Nintendo has a partnership with Sega that has included the use of Sega characters exclusively in Nintendo game consoles since 2013. There already is a Sonic mobile app put out by Sega. The free version has more than 10 million downloads. This seems like a perfect place for Nintendo to get its feet wet in mobile, by partnering with another character and developer long associated with the brand. Of course, Sega will have to agree.
People who have played with the Wii Fit will probably be surprised to see this one on the list. The Wii Fit requires a special "balance board" that connects to the Wii so that you can stand on it and do exercises. It seems counter to the idea of mobile gaming to force someone onto a large thing that isn't very portable. Well, forget the balance board and focus on the opportunity Nintendo has to get into mobile fitness. Whether it is the Apple Watch or one of a million fitness bands, mobile health is a growing field. Nintendo was out in front on a system that measured health and fitness and they let it falter. Now is the time to bring some sort of mobile Wii Fit fitness tracker or "game" to a mobile platform. Possibly with a Bluetooth version of the balance board, possibly with something else. They shouldn't let the brand die or avoid this market.
(Source: Nintendo)
The granddaddy of all platformers, with around 100 million sales across all versions. Mario is the superhero of all video game characters. There is no way that Nintendo can't start with Mario Kart and Super Mario. Mario, quite simply, is gaming. If Nintendo were to fail as a company, selling the rights to Mario would make the feeding frenzy to market Twinkies after Hostess filed for bankruptcy look like a battle over the rights to sell ice cream at the North Pole. My only concern about a Super Mario game is the difficulty of making a true platformer on tablets and phones. The lack of buttons makes for a lack of precision that has hurt these types of games before. If Nintendo solves this problem elegantly, nothing will stop it from dominating mobile gaming.
These suggestions are the tip of the iceberg. I'd expect a Donkey Kong game. I'm sure, eventually, they'd try to port over some version of Mario Party (maybe as a bunch of smaller free apps?). I'm sure we will see Mario puzzle games and other traditional mobile fare. The key, of course, is to get the mechanics and the business model right. People might be willing to pay more for great games, and the freemium model will work for some games, too. I hope we'll see a mix of models. I would rather pay more for a Mario Kart game than have my races limited or have to buy upgrades. But for some games, that model will work great. What games do you want to see Nintendo start with? Are there any pitfalls you see? Would you play Nintendo games on your phone? Tell us all about it in the comments section below.
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