Nintendo’s Miitomo First Smartphone ‘Game’ Out by March 2016

During an investors’ conference last year, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima announced that Miitomo aims to connect players via trivia using the well-known Wii avatars. Miitomo will just be the first to be launched of the five mobile apps that Nintendo and DeNA  will develop before the first quarter of 2017.

The app which is scheduled to be launched March 2016 will be offered as a free-to-play game that will have add-ons that users can purchase.  The succeeding titles will be purchased downloads.  Players can use the site for social trivia with friends and new contacts.

Disappointing the Market

When Nintendo announced the details of their mobile ambitions earlier, it was expected that the company will issue their initial mobile game within 2015.  It was also hoped that it will introduce their initial mobile projects using their iconic characters from their super successful franchises like Mario and Zelda.

Nintendo purposely delayed the release of the Miitomo to make sure that there will be enough time for the market to be fully apprised of the game objectives.

Giving his take on the Miitomo as a game title, Joost van Dreunen, CEO of Super Data believes it is quite interesting and can be a perfect test case for Nintendo, and its partnership with DeNa could prove to be a spectacular thing.

Mii and Mario

This is basically a communication app that will be used with My Nintendo, Nintendo’s new service that is hoped to connect consoles with smartphone devices.  The app will be perfect for individuals who are not so enthusiastic to reveal personal things about themselves or to communicate with others.  So they create their own Mii and its details based on a series of questions asked, then they can connect with other Miis. It is a social networking game for “shy” people as represented by their created Miis.

Analysts offer varying opinions about this initiative.  Roger Entner, principal analyst for Recon Analytics believes that Mario, being one of the most iconic characters in the world needs no introduction.  And that we no longer need another social network.  Entnerfurther opines that they can bring their games and their and IP to existing platforms and not bring in new ones and that will be much easier to sell considering that Apple and android products are already very much established.

Despite his misgivings in regard to the utility and adoption of Miitomo, he remains hopeful for Nintendo’s first mobile project.