Nintendo looks primed to fill the void its own notable absence created in an expanding gaming arena.
What ever happened to Nintendo?
It seems like only yesterday that Nintendo was synonymous with gaming. “I’m going to go play Nintendo,” was used for the umbrella that was video games as commonly as asking for a Kleenex when you simply wanted a facial tissue.
But now the Japanese game and electronics maker has finally decided to join the 21st century and get in the game. In an announcement today in Tokyo, Nintendo unveiled its first smartphone game, “Militomo.”
Nintendo plans to release no less than five smartphone games by March of 2017 with “Militomo” slated for release in March of 2016. Of the five planned, persistent rumors suggest that one will feature the iconic Mario Brothers or at least “Super Mario.”
At first glance, “Militomo” seems as much like work as a game. It’s being billed as a “game” that allows “players” to build avatars to interact with other gamers socially.
Tablet and smartphone gaming exceeds console gaming in revenue
According to the video game market research company Newzoo, mobile gaming will rake in $30 billion this year compared to $27 billion for console gaming. This marks the first time that mobile gaming will supplant console gaming and no end is in site unless three Grand Theft Auto titles are released each year which is not going to happen.
Stalwarts “Super Mario” and “Zelda” alone “have the potential to be a billion-dollar business on mobile alone,” said Peter Warman, Newzoo’s co-founder and chief executive.
“Unbelievable that it has taken so long for Nintendo,” he said. “They had to see Apple, Google, King and Supercell surpass them in terms of 2014 game revenues to take action toward mobile. However, it never is too late because smartphone and tablet gaming is here to stay.”
In March of this year, Nintendo announced that it had reached an agreement with Tokyo company DeNA to enter the mobile gaming market.
“Both companies will develop and operate new game apps based on Nintendo’s [intellectual property], including its iconic game characters, for smart devices,” DeNA said in a statement at the time. “The alliance is intended to complement Nintendo’s dedicated video game systems business and extend Nintendo’s reach into the vast market of smart-device users worldwide.”
After losing its crown in the video game kingdom, Nintendo will try to scratch itself back but will do so from the bottom.
