Nintendo's first mobile game, Miitomo, is apparently a big success in Japan.
According to Bloomberg, the free message-based application has already taken the number one spot on the iOS App Store in Japan, amassing over 1 million users in the course of three days. Miitomo has surpassed the top instant messenger-based app Line, which fell to second place.
The app, which has players creating their Mii's and interacting with other friends, has players ask questions about their day and their daily life, which earns them coins that can buy in-game costumes and accessories. Some have argued that Miitomo is starting off with aggressive monetization, the fear that the free-to-play model will be predatory on the end of Nintendo and their mobile partner, DeNA. However, it is clear that Miitomo has been popular enough to warrant a close watch, something Nintendo, and many analysts, are paying attention to.
“This should remove any doubts about the Nintendo brand’s relevancy in the smartphone age,” said Atul Goyal, an analyst at Jefferies Group LLC. “More than just a messaging tool, Miitomo can be a platform for distributing Nintendo content, and probably third-party content at a later stage.”
Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima has also stated that the next smartphone game by Nintendo will feature one of the company's beloved characters, which can really range from any Nintendo mascot at this point. We also have Pokemon Go, the Augment Reality phone game which is set to launch later this year, with Nintendo partnering with another mobile company, Niantic Inc., which has Nintendo and Google investing over $20 million into the company.
It is clear that Nintendo is looking to mobile gaming as a major outlet for their products; which is likely the case due to sagging Wii U sales and mediocre 3DS sales when compared to other handhelds. Nintendo is also looking at the success of Miitomo closely, which is planning a worldwide release in seventeen different languages in the following month. Nintendo is looking to have at least five mobile games out by March of 2017.
So what do you think about this? Is the Miitomo a good first step for Nintendo's mobile network? Leave your comments below.
