It’s been a strange few weeks with news coming out of Nintendo. After a loss for the third consecutive fiscal year, caused primarily by sluggish Wii U sales, company president Satoru Iwata said the company is “studying how to use smart devices to grow the game-player business.” That statement has sparked much speculation about how Nintendo would (or should) integrate the smartphone market with its existing business.
That’s key background to a recent Nikkei report (partially translated here) suggesting that Nintendo plans to introduce free “minigame” demos of existing console games on smartphones, intended to entice players into a full purchase on Nintendo. -hardware. The marketing-focused app for Android and iOS would also include video previews of Nintendo games, according to the Nikkei report.
It’s an intriguing rumor that fits into a broad narrative surrounding Nintendo at the moment, but the company is doing its best to nip it in the bud. In a statement to Engadget, Nintendo directly denied the idea of releasing minigames on smartphones:
The Nikkei article contains information that Mr. Iwata has previously mentioned at previous press conferences, including statements related to Nintendo’s willingness to use smart devices to promote our products. However, during such previous announcements, Mr. Iwata has also stated that it is not Nintendo’s intention to make Nintendo software available on smart devices and as such we can confirm that there are no plans to offer mini-games on smartphone devices.
Nintendo rarely comments so directly on rumors like this, suggesting it’s serious about keeping its gaming strictly focused on its own hardware (while still using smartphone apps for wider promotional purposes). On the other hand, Nintendo has a history of pushing back speculative reports that turn out to be true. In any case, “no plans” could change to “plans” at any time if Nintendo decides it’s important to offer its titles to the smartphone generation.
Either way, Nintendo’s view of the mobile space will likely be the focus of the company’s Q&A with investors after earnings, scheduled for Thursday. We’re still hoping for a Nintendo-made gaming smartphone with two thumbsticks, lots of buttons, and a 3D graphics processor to rival the PlayStation 3. Oh, and it should launch with a new Earthbound continued too.
It can happen!