The Japanese computer game giant Nintendo who has resisted the idea of launching their hugely popular range of games in the form of smartphone apps for years has finally changed its mind and announced its decision to foray into developing titles for mobile devices. Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda and Pokemon will soon be seen on mobile phones!
Nintendo announcement comes after the gaming giant signed a deal with DeNa to create new games based on the set of iconic characters loved by audiences all over the world.
DeNa is a major online gaming company, which has grown from a 15 year old startup to become a formidable giant in its own right. They now mainly develop games played on browsers.This tie up with Nintendo will help DeNa regain the momentum lost in the past two years, as a large number of their users moved on to more popular gaming apps.
Having stuck to its strategy of developing their own hardware and developing their own games does not seem to have paid rich dividends to the company which, inspite of a great response to their Wii home console (100 million units sold), reported an annual loss in 2012.
Not too long ago, the Nintendo DS handheld console was quite the rage, which was later overshadowed by the DS Lite version two years later in 2006. But ever since the smartphones gained popularity, the Nintendo sales took a severe drubbing. People, inspite of their love for the very popular Nintendo characters, moved on to playing games over their handheld devices as well as dedicated portable consoles.
“This will allow us to build a bridge between smart devices and gaming consoles. It doesn’t mean smart devices will eat away at gaming consoles, it will create an entirely new type of demand,” said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata.
A statement issued by the company also clarifies that the current plans is only about launching new games made specifically for smartphones without going on to porting existing games developed for the 3DS or Wii U devices. This will ensure “the quality of the game experience”.
However, they have not ruled out the adaption of older titles developed for classic consoles such as the SNES.
