The Japanese publication Nikkei reported that Nintendo is venturing into the mobile world soon.
However, the integration of Nintendo games with the mobile platform may not be as what game-lovers are expecting. The Japanese consumer electronics company recently reported that that they will be launching a series of free mini games which users can play on their smartphones. The mini-games work as demo games which will entice the user to buy the full version for console and 3-D games. These free mini games will also come with the capability of allowing the users to buy the full version of the games directly from their mobile devices.
The news of Nintendo's latest experiment with the mobile industry was reported alongside the company's decreasing critical reception and the fluctuation of their stocks. Experts have been arguing on how the gaming company will be able to secure itself when it has been very stubborn about going mobile and realizing the potential of online gaming as a new platform. Furthermore, experts theorize that Nintendo has an inability to come up with a comprehensive plan to tie their cross-platform digital services together and they may have been out-of-touch of what their gamers are asking for.
However, some analysts argued that Nintendo's situation is more complicated than what's obvious. According to Chris Kohler of Wired, importing games to a mobile platform won't serve as Nintendo's panacea. Also, Nintendo's current changes were not due to the volatile activity of their stocks; rather, they are part of the company's long-term development plans and efforts to attract new players.
Although there are no details yet, Nintendo is predicted to talk more about these free mini games for a mobile platform. What's certain at this point is that these mini-games won't be free-to-play titles, a business model that critics say Nintendo should adapt if they don't want to be out of the game.
Japan-based analyst and consultant Serkan Toto said to CNET, "this content will be entirely free, and Nintendo is not planning to offer paid or freemium games on smartphones at the moment".
