Nintendo x DeNA Conference; Nintendo games on mobile devices, New "Project NX" platform announced

[Nintendoga]

Nintendo and DeNA (japanese mobile gaming company) held a press conference in Japan at 5pm. Here are the major details so far.
 

 

1) Nintendo will develop smartphones games with DeNA, using Nintendo IP.
2) Nintendo and DeNA prepare a sort of multi-platform social gaming network for launch in fall 2015. This will be rolled out globally.
3) Nintendo buys 10% of DeNA for US$181 million. DeNA gets 1.24% of Nintendo. So this is quite serious.
4) The Nintendo-DeNA deal and all details falling under it will be signed today. The payment for the stock transfer will occur on April 2.

So yeah, that just happened.
Sources are this
and someone who's at the conference.
 

Although the games will leverage Nintendo properties, they won't be straight ports. "To ensure the quality of game experience that consumers expect from this alliance of Nintendo and DeNA, only new original games optimized for smart device functionality will be created, rather than porting games created specifically for the Wii U home console or the Nintendo 3DS portable system," says DeNA in a statement.
 

Nintendo and DeNA will also develop a cross-platform service that runs across smartphones, tablets, PCs, and Nintendo's own devices; this is set to launch in fall of this year. Nintendo is taking a 10 percent stake in DeNA, while DeNA is buying 1.24 percent of Nintendo.

Is the social gaming network supposed to be a replacement for Club Nintendo possibly? Either way, interested to see where this goes.

Little FYI, being on mobile does not automatically make a game shit. Don't know why people still have this mentality.



Edit: Also a new platform called Project NX was announced at the conference.

 

 

 

 

Iwata said it is utiziling a "brand new concept", hopes to talk about it more next year. And that it's going to be a bridge between mobiles and home consoles.

 

NX

-To show we are still committed to making dedicated gaming hardware and software experiences.
-Next-generation platform, not directly related to mobile announcement.
-Announcement made more to stop any speculation that they would exit the console market. or only make mobile games. Mostly to show they still are wholly committed to making dedicated experiences for dedicated platforms.

Hm.
 

[Solkia]

 

Little FYI, being on mobile does not automatically make a game shit. 

 

 

you can't fool me

 

On one hand I don't understand the point of doing this.

 

On the other-hand if this is a sign that Nintendo has dropped that stupid "we'd rather go under than go third-party" statement from a while back, then power to it.

[Sean]

Considering the popularity of mobile gaming and Nintendo lagging behind Sony and Microsoft in hardware sales and popularity, it'd be daft of them to keep ignoring the mobile market forever. Interested in seeing where this goes.

[Marcello]

I wouldn't expect anything really big from this. Game-wise, I mean. They say themselves these will be made with mobile in mind, so I don't see there being full console experiences, as Nintendo still wants you to get those. I hope they'll be good, though.

 

Sounds like we'll be getting an actual account system this Fall, which is sooner than I expected. Cool.

 

you can't fool me

 

On one hand I don't understand the point of doing this.

[Willsy]

I don't see how this is inherently a bad thing. This gets Nintendo the exposure they have been needing for a long time now, and should hopefully make their brand name more relevant to kids again. Sony does small mobile games based on Playstation IPs, so why can't Nintendo? Bear in mind that these games will probably be small freemium endeavours, like an auto scrolling New Super Mario Bros.

Overall, from a business perspective, it makes sense and hopefully this will leverage sales of Nintendo systems.

[Skyward Sword]

Some whiny nintendo fans are of the mentality that expanding to smart devices will kill them but I think could seriously turn them around. I'm more interested in seeing Nintendo games on PC personally, maybe a pokemon mmo.

[Blue Blood]

If Nintendo play this right, it's going to hugely beneficial to them. They've needed to start supporting mobile devices for a long now. Its where the market, their market, has been running away to. Handheld devices aren't going anywhere just yet but it's hard to say what the future will hold.

[The Deleter]

I don't think anyone is doubting how fun they could make their mobile games, I think they're much worried that easing into the mobile market will bring them over to the "dark side" of Microtransactions overall. More than they have been, at least.

[Brad]

This could turn out great. If the mobile games are handled with the same amount of quality and dedication their games usually are I'm sure they'll be a blast.

 

I can't wait to read the reactions, I'm sure it's going to be an amusing day. Hoho.

[Blue Blood]

Time will tell. Freemium games are frequently the most lucrative, and Nintendo would be daft to cut the out entirely. It's somewhere they absolutely will be able to make plenty.of money.

[Willsy]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1011949

So reading this thread....it looks like NX is a gaming platform and is a bridge between mobile and console.

[Doctor MK]

Nothing unexpected here, really. Nintendo would be stupid to avoid mobile gaming forever, seeing as it's such a lucrative market and they could easily make some money on the platform. The Wii U may be flagging financially, but Nintendo characters have a huge pulling power - just look at the sales of the amiibo! - so it's not hard to imagine people shelling out for a Super Mario mobile game (be it an endless runner or jumper or whatever) or... heck, maybe even throw a freemium version of Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Edition on there for those who don't want to pay £30 for the retail version.

 

It could also be a way of bringing back underutilised franchises - I can totally see a tilt controlled F-Zero game, for one. Each IP could have its own separate little game, however cheap and shallow.

[Solly]

This could be a golden opportunity for them if they play it right. Nintendo are a fantastic software developer and their name alone could get a lot of people looking their way.

 

Mobile gaming is new territory for them, though, so I guess we'll have to see how this plays out. At least this will appease the investors who wanted them to get into this market, anyway. 

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

Mario on iOS? About time. Maybe Nintendo will show EA and Ubisoft how it's done with no to little micro transactions and not how to butcher their franchises.

[DarkRula]

Hmm... Nintendo on mobile devices... Sounds alright I guess, depending on how it is handled.

Freemium can easily be handled the way of Star Wars Galactic Defence. Structured levels that take a number of minutes to complete with various difficulty modes that net you bigger rewards the harder you go.

I can also see easy games for on the go get a mobile version. New Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart, etc. They wouldn't be full games per se. Well, not with a vast range of features anyway. But enough to get people looking at them. I could even see games like Legend of Zelda being changed slightly to fit a fully touch screen control system, with a small price tag on them.

 

Bring on the future and we'll see what comes out of this.

[Candescence]

So much conclusion-jumping everywhere I look, lol.

 

Iwata has previously stated that they were planning to make mobile apps to promote their console/handheld titles. Just watch DeNA just make cheap minigames so Nintendo don't have to put any effort into the whole smartphone thing. Nintendo's not gonna bother putting any first-party dev effort into making smartphone games.

 

All this nonsense is really just a token effort to appease the shareholders.

[Teoskaven]

Considering the touch screen similarities, i'm expecting a lot of portings of DS/3DS games.

[SuperLink]

I'm a bit torn by the mobile news, mostly because I don't enjoy mobile gaming much (due to battery running dry quickly, processes running causing slowdown, lack of buttons, etc) so I hope that important games aren't released as mobile exclusives. However, as others have said, it's probably pretty unlikely since Nintendo want to focus on consoles. The mobile software could just end up being small apps or minigames to advertise main consoles.

 

Is DeNA a phone maker? So like.. are Nintendo's games going to be iOS? Android? Both? Neither?

 

However, the Nintendo NX announcement gets me excited, definitely. I guess we'll be hearing about Nintendo's console/handheld fusion next year then huh? Bring it on.

 

 

Considering the touch screen similarities, i'm expecting a lot of portings of DS/3DS games.

It seems they said they won't be porting (quote in the first post says this).

[Candescence]

Again, all this is likely just outsourced, simpler titles that will heavily advertise the 'real' Nintendo games and their systems. I doubt Nintendo themselves will actually put any real effort into the games, Iwata has previously admitted that creating 'mini-games' for mobile purely to advertise their hardware and non-mobile software while making some dough on the side was entirely their intention.

 

Seriously, we won't see a proper Mario platformer or Zelda adventure on mobile devices.

[Gabz Girl]

Hmm, I'm fine with them doing mobile related stuff but it better not result in microtransactions up the ass. 8I

[Solly]

I don't want to get too optimistic but it seems like a win-win-win situation, really. Nintendo stands to make money letting other devs use their IP's to make simple/profitable mobile games. They're appeasing the investors who have been basically begging them to get into the mobile market, and they're doing it in a way that won't change their focus on games for dedicated platforms. 

 

The mobile games will be there if you want them. If you're like me, you probably don't, but I don't think they really have much to lose from doing this, if anything. 

 

Project NX, or whatever, isn't really megaton news either. They've already said that they were working on their new system months ago, and I imagine Sony and Microsoft are too. These things take time. They probably only announced its code name to prove to people that, yes, they're still making console games. 

[Marcello]

Tak Fujii　藤井隆之 ‏@Tak_Fujii

Nintendo Xtreeeeeeme? My era is finally coming.

https://twitter.com/Tak_Fujii/status/577748869661917184

 

 

Also a list of games DeNA has developed and a short description of the company:

 

DeNA (pronounced "D-N-A") is a global leader of developing and operating mobile services including free-to-play games, the Mobage social games platform, e-commerce and other online offerings. Founded in 1999, DeNA is headquartered in Tokyo with offices and game development studios across the globe. DeNA Co., Ltd. is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (2432).

• Dungeons & Dragons: Arena of War
• Final Fantasy: Record Keeper
• Marvel: War of Heroes
• Protocol Zero
• Star Wars: Galactic Defense
• Unpixelate

http://www.ign.com/companies/dena

 

They've published much more.

[Kaze no Klonoa]

My concern is that Nintendo is somewhat new to the idea of a free-to-play market, and if they don't establish at least some level of quality like they do with the games they always make, then I don't really see Nintendo getting big bucks from a game people expected to have at least something worthwhile and fun. I'm not entirely sure about DeNA, seeing as how the only game from them I'm actually interested in playing is Final Fantasy: Record Keeper. 

[SuperLink]

My concern is that Nintendo is somewhat new to the idea of a free-to-play market, and if they don't establish at least some level of quality like they do with the games they always make, then I don't really see Nintendo getting big bucks from a game people expected to have at least something worthwhile and fun. I'm not entirely sure about DeNA, seeing as how the only game from them I'm actually interested in playing is Final Fantasy: Record Keeper. 

If you've heard of "Mobage" or a mobage game then you probably know how popular they are in Japan, DeNA own mobage so basically in Japan DeNA are bloody huge.

 

In the west, whatever Nintendo puts up will hopefully sell on brand name alone due to the huge amount of Nintendo clones on app stores already.

[Marcello]

Nintendo already has some F2P games like Steel Diver, Rusty's Real Deal Baseball and Pokemon Shuffle.