Nintendo unveils 'Miitomo', their first smartphone game, and more
28 replies, posted
[quote]Nintendo has introduced its long-awaited and highly anticipated first smartphone app, called Miitomo, but pushed back the release date to the spring of next year. The title is a new franchise for the company– first of five smartphone apps Nintendo plans to release by March 2017. But we’re not sure whether to call Miitomo a game. Users will design their own avatars, or miis, to communicate with other users.
Nintendo is saving its most famous character, Mario the plumber, and others for a later date. Analysts say the company probably didn’t want to risk Mario on an unproven mobile format, but might introduce him later.
Nintendo also said it was creating a new membership service, called “Nintendo Account,” to connect users of its hardware as well as PCs and mobile devices. It said it would use a cloud-based service to transfer data between mobile games and console games.[/quote]
[thumb]http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library/events/151029/slide/img/01.jpg[/thumb] [thumb]http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library/events/151029/slide/img/04.jpg[/thumb] [thumb]http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library/events/151029/slide/img/06.jpg[/thumb]
Source: [url]http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2015/10/29/nintendo-unveils-first-smartphone-game-live-blog/[/url]
Images: [url]http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library/events/151029/05.html[/url]
Thank fuck they're finally getting the account system out.
Also holy shit are they seriously still trying to put out mii centered games with the same content from the wii
Miis never went away. They're standard features of both the 3DS and Wii U. Hell, they're even playable fighters in Smash 4.
[QUOTE=VinLAURiA;49005845]Miis never went away. They're standard features of both the 3DS and Wii U. Hell, they're even playable fighters in Smash 4.[/QUOTE]
and theres an entire 3DS about interacting with them called Tomodachi life
I meant that the mii's only have the same (pretty awful) facial features that were present on the wii. For how much they use them they havent added to the creation program at all.
Why is the title "Their first"?
Isn't Pokémon GO a smartphone game?
pokemon go isn't being developed by nintendo
Also wasn't it canned?
Thing is with Mario, I don't think he'll work any good on phones in the current mobile gaming climate. Unless Nintendo is willing to try and mega-popularize physical controller addons for smartphones, doing for phone gaming what they once did for portable gaming with the Game Boy, it's just not gonna be any good.
Know why? Because touchscreen virtual controls are apparently kinda shite for emulating most genres. Not only is there no real tactile feedback from jamming your thumbs against the screen, but your hands are more likely to cover up the playing field that you need to see. Sure you could have the game space made a little narrower to render virtual controls (D-pad, thumbsticks, face buttons, etc), but that still doesn't take away the factor of practically intangible controls.
Not to mention there's the climate of phones being better for shortform play, like you whip out your device while sitting on the bog for a quick game of Candy Crush or play it on the bus for a nice bit of Tetris. From what I've heard, most people aren't going to sit down with their phones to play longform content for hours.
Combine all of those problems, and you'd have a hard time making a good Mario game for a smartphone. However, if the levels were more shortform, and you played with appropriate control addons that everyone and their dog used, I think they could do it. Come to think of it, that's kind of what the mobile gaming market needs, for someone to release the right physical control addons and have it so that everyone and their dog is able to use them, along with an easy-to-use SDK that makes control-focused games easier to program for phones.
Hell, if Nintendo had a deal with the phone companies wherein the next iPhones came boxed with controller addons, that'd probably help kickstart a Renaissance of mobile gaming beyond the touchscreen, since if everyone has the controls with which to play shortform games with a bit more mechanical bite to them, there would be a market for such games, right? While number-crunching might've been a trouble for devices in the past, nowadays they've got a good amount of power, but now the problem of control stands out like a sore thumb.
[QUOTE=ironman17;49006011]Thing is with Mario, I don't think he'll work any good on phones in the current mobile gaming climate. Unless Nintendo is willing to try and mega-popularize physical controller addons for smartphones, doing for phone gaming what they once did for portable gaming with the Game Boy, it's just not gonna be any good.
Know why? Because touchscreen virtual controls are apparently kinda shite for emulating most genres. Not only is there no real tactile feedback from jamming your thumbs against the screen, but your hands are more likely to cover up the playing field that you need to see. Sure you could have the game space made a little narrower to render virtual controls (D-pad, thumbsticks, face buttons, etc), but that still doesn't take away the factor of practically intangible controls.
Not to mention there's the climate of phones being better for shortform play, like you whip out your device while sitting on the bog for a quick game of Candy Crush or play it on the bus for a nice bit of Tetris. From what I've heard, most people aren't going to sit down with their phones to play longform content for hours.
Combine all of those problems, and you'd have a hard time making a good Mario game for a smartphone. However, if the levels were more shortform, and you played with appropriate control addons that everyone and their dog used, I think they could do it. Come to think of it, that's kind of what the mobile gaming market needs, for someone to release the right physical control addons and have it so that everyone and their dog is able to use them, along with an easy-to-use SDK that makes control-focused games easier to program for phones.
Hell, if Nintendo had a deal with the phone companies wherein the next iPhones came boxed with controller addons, that'd probably help kickstart a Renaissance of mobile gaming beyond the touchscreen, since if everyone has the controls with which to play shortform games with a bit more mechanical bite to them, there would be a market for such games, right? While number-crunching might've been a trouble for devices in the past, nowadays they've got a good amount of power, but now the problem of control stands out like a sore thumb.[/QUOTE]
Mario could work on smart phones, it would just have to go the way of Rayman and be a constant running game where the player only times jumps.
I was considering the possibility of a Mario Runner, buuut... I dunno, there's just something about the idea of a Mario endless runner that doesn't quite feel right. Don't get me wrong, with the right mechanics and pace of play, the perfect balance of mechanical fun and shortform levels with just the right kind of virtual buttons, a good Mario runner could exist, but I just have this feeling that the golden sweetspot won't be hit with the first Mario runner.
On another note, one thing they COULD do with Mario on mobile could be a "Super Mario Block Tapper" game, essentially a Mario-themed Cookie Clicker where you click blocks for coins, sometimes have powerups pop out, and you use those powerups to empower Mario characters as they fight enemies, while you invest the coins in all manner of upgrades. In other words Cookie Clicker crossed with a very basic RPG combat system.
It's probably not the best idea.
[QUOTE=usaokay;49006446]Can't wait to buy a $1.99 virtual sushi so I could raise my Mii's happiness level.[/QUOTE]
But.... Nintendo doesn't believe in that kind of microtransaction. Instead they will probably have separate version of the game for each emotion that you have to buy separately.
[QUOTE=Mr.Moustachio;49005904]I meant that the mii's only have the same (pretty awful) facial features that were present on the wii. For how much they use them they havent added to the creation program at all.[/QUOTE]
Not true at all. Miis on the 3DS and Wii U are actually upgrades to the original Wii ones. More features to use and you can manipulate the features more finely.
[QUOTE=VinLAURiA;49006778]Not true at all. Miis on the 3DS and Wii U are actually upgrades to the original Wii ones. More features to use and you can manipulate the features more finely.[/QUOTE]
I have the 3ds. It still has the same eyes, mouths, nose, eyebrows and face thingys. They might have tweaked the glasses and hair a little but come on. It could be so much better.
Well no features were [i]dropped[/i] from the Wii version, so it's no surprise that on the surface the two are virtually identical. I mean, what else can you do? There's only really one other counterpart to take notes from (Xbox Avatars) and compared to that, Miis are already much more flexible.
Until I read the rest of the article I thought it was going to be a Tomodachi game for smartphones. That's disappointing that it seems to just be a chat program with Miis.
[editline]29th October 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=Karmah;49006024]Mario could work on smart phones, it would just have to go the way of Rayman and be a constant running game where the player only times jumps.[/QUOTE]
Taxman's ports of the 16-bit Sonic games are pretty good, but Sonic only uses 1 button and a D-Pad unlike the 2 buttons used for Mario,.
[QUOTE=Durrsly;49009312]Until I read the rest of the article I thought it was going to be a Tomodachi game for smartphones. That's disappointing that it seems to just be a chat program with Miis.
[editline]29th October 2015[/editline]
Taxman's ports of the 16-bit Sonic games are pretty good, but Sonic only uses 1 button and a D-Pad unlike the 2 buttons used for Mario,.[/QUOTE]
It's easy to make a d-pad/2 button layout, look at any android emulator.
So it's just a chat app?
How successful are they expecting a chat app to be.
Also again it's just a chat app, putting Mario in it isn't going to ruin Mario's image Nintendo, you worry too much.
Well this is certainly not going to be any competition to existing chat apps, wonder how successful this is going to be, i don't really see myself using this. I was more or less expecting Nintendo quality games on mobile platforms.
[QUOTE=Wormy;49010108]That will surely happen in the future.[/QUOTE]
Guessing they are taking it slow, see the response on this app and so on.
[QUOTE=_Pai;49009683]It's easy to make a d-pad/2 button layout, look at any android emulator.[/QUOTE]
That's easy to do, what isn't is getting the feel of the controls right, only very few emulated games actually feel right on smartphones. The lack of feedback because you're using a touchscreen instead of actual buttons is fucking awful and you can't rest your fingers on the buttons unlike with a controller, another problem is that the controls occupy the play area, I tried playing Castlevania Bloodlines on Gensoid and the controls(also my fingers) covered pretty much the whole playing area since it's pretty much at the very bottom of the screen, I could play vertically but then the screen becomes way too small.
[QUOTE=Electrocuter;49010062]So it's just a chat app?
How successful are they expecting a chat app to be.
Also again it's just a chat app, putting Mario in it isn't going to ruin Mario's image Nintendo, you worry too much.[/QUOTE]
Snapchat is doing pretty well and its just an app that lets you send a photo or video with text on it. This is basically the same thing except with photos you get a mii.
[QUOTE=mrx5001;49010379]Snapchat is doing pretty well and its just an app that lets you send a photo or video with text on it. This is basically the same thing except with photos you get a mii.[/QUOTE]
Snapchat is a whole different thing compared to this.
[QUOTE=darth-veger;49010385]Snapchat is a whole different thing compared to this.[/QUOTE]
Sure, but what im trying to get at is that just because it is "just a chat app" doesn't mean it can't be successful. You put a basic concept on the market with its own little twist and market it right or get lucky and hype gets to it and bam you have a winning app.
[QUOTE=mrx5001;49010447]Sure, but what im trying to get at is that just because it is "just a chat app" doesn't mean it can't be successful. You put a basic concept on the market with its own little twist and market it right or get lucky and hype gets to it and bam you have a winning app.[/QUOTE]
SnapChat was pretty much ideal for sexting, though. This app, not so much. But I get your point.
[QUOTE=VinLAURiA;49006778]Not true at all. Miis on the 3DS and Wii U are actually upgrades to the original Wii ones. More features to use and you can manipulate the features more finely.[/QUOTE]
On a more a more specific scale, here's some of what they did:
-Added a couple new face shapes, facial features, hair pieces, eyes, mouths (and two new lipstick colors), noses, and facial hair
-Added an option to adjust the vertical scale of eyes, eyebrows, and lips.
-Separated makeup features from wrinkle features (So you can have a 3 o'clock shadow and sunken cheeks at the same time, for example)
-Added facial recognition so that you can take a picture of yourself and be transformed into a mii. It doesn't work that well 80% of the time.
-Added the ability to make a QR code for your mii.
Personally, I would have killed for a lot more color options for the skin and hair color and maybe the ability to adjust the width and height of your mii's head, but it's not bad for an updated version.
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