Nintendo has announced its first app for iOS and Android: Miitomo. After announcing a partnership with Japanese Free-To-Play developer DeNA to develop mobile apps in March, there was speculation about what form the apps would take. This first app is a Mii themed app, where the player’s Mii’s can interact with each other in a social network, similar to the existing Miiverse platform. Like on the Wii, Wii U, and 3DS, users will be able to design their own Mii and use it as their avatar.
The Wall Street Journal reports (during their live blogging of the event) that the game will be free to play, but with “attractive add-ons” as microtransactions. Nintendo also announced a delay in the app’s release – originally, it was to be released this year. However, the release is being pushed back to March 2016, which CEO Tatsumi Kmishima said was to allow Nintendo to fully promote the app to consumers.
Nintendo also announced an update to its online account system. With the current system, accounts are tied to the individual Wii U or 3DS they are logged in on. The new system, simply called a “Nintendo Account” will cross into computers and iOS/Android devices. It will also provide a cloud infrastructure to keep data synced between consoles, handhelds, and mobile devices.
Since Nintendo announced its partnership with DeNA, they said that they would be responsible for development and DeNA responsible for services and platform support. They also want to keep the number of apps released at five by March of 2017.
Quick Take
A small endeavor. In my opinion, the real news pieces are the changes from Nintendo Network to Nintendo Accounts. Given the cloud based systems and explicit reference to sharing data between platforms, this adds to the speculation that NX is a platform consisting of both a handheld and a typical home console to succeed the New 3DS and the Wii U.
What do you think this means for Nintendo's future plans? Will you use Miitomo? Let us know in the comments.
