Nintendo Plans to Launch Two or Three Mobile Games A Year

Nintendo announced on Wednesday that it plans to launch two or three mobile games every year, a day after the Japanese company made a one-third cut to its full-year operating profit outlook (via Reuters).

Yesterday, Nintendo was able to report its first quarterly profit in a year as its mobile games division started to generate revenue, but it wasn't enough for disappointed investors who had hoped profit from games like Super Mario Run would have grown fast enough to offset falling earnings in Nintendo's console business. Shares of Nintendo Co Ltd dropped more than 4 percent on Wednesday following the news.

Launched in December, Super Mario Run helped third-quarter revenue from mobile gaming and related merchandise reach around 7 billion yen ($61.7 million). So far downloads have hit around 78 million, although Nintendo admitted less than 10 percent of users paid the one-off $9.99 fee to unlock all of the game's features. Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima said it would be taking steps to make the game last longer for people who had paid as well as those had yet to do so.

"We are taking a number of steps to ensure that Super Mario Run can be enjoyed for a long time, both by those who have already made the full purchase and by those who have downloaded the application but not yet made the purchase. We are also taking steps in-game to raise the ratio of purchases among consumers downloading the application for the first time."

Putting its plans into action, Nintendo yesterday rolled out an update to Super Mario Run that includes a collection of feature additions and bug fixes, along with a new "Easy Mode".

Nintendo's next title, the tactical role-playing game Fire Emblem Heroes, launches on iOS tomorrow, and is a radical departure from Super Mario Run, not least because it will be a free-to-pay title, favoring micro transactions and in-game currency over a one-off unlock payment. However, like Super Mario Run, Heroes will require players to have a persistent internet connection in order to play.

Nintendo's other planned mobile game is a currently untitled iOS version of Animal Crossing, which is expected to launch in the next fiscal year, so anytime between April 2017 and March 2018.

Top Rated Comments

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vertical smile

30 months ago

Dear Nintendo,

Please give up on your Fisher-Price quality hardware and just focus on games. See how successful Pokemon and Mario are on iOS? There's your answer.

Goldeneye!!

AND MARIO KART!!! We should be CEO of Nintendo. We just made them a billion... next order of business please...

I said this on the forum a few months ago, but I have a great idea for Nintendo and Apple that would make lots of money.

With the popularity of the Nintendo Classic Edition, there is obviously a market for retro gaming. If Nintendo would make an App of the tvOS that was like a virtual console from the Wii and Wii U, and sell games individually by IAP, I am sure people would purchase an ATV4 just for this.

Rating: 6 Votes

GrumpyMom

30 months ago

Dear Nintendo,

Please give up on your Fisher-Price quality hardware and just focus on games. See how successful Pokemon and Mario are on iOS? There's your answer.

Sincerely,

Daws001

Hey! I love my 3DS XL!

Rating: 5 Votes

Daws001

30 months ago

Dear Nintendo,

Please give up on your Fisher-Price quality hardware and just focus on games. See how successful Pokemon and Mario are on iOS? There's your answer.

Sincerely,

Daws001

Rating: 5 Votes

veeco3110

30 months ago

Goldeneye!!

AND MARIO KART!!! We should be CEO of Nintendo. We just made them a billion... next order of business please...

Rating: 3 Votes

Junior117

30 months ago

Hey! I love my 3DS XL!

Some people love to hate. Ignore them. ;)

Rating: 2 Votes

Speedy Dingo

30 months ago

Assuming you are being sarcastic...

I was, sorry. :p But if I sounded genuine, that's because I was channeling my inner casual App Store player who would rather fork out possible hundreds of $$ to beat a game than pay a one time fee. Case in point, Fire Emblems in-game currency;

Paying $12.99 for healing orbs is so much better than a 1-time fee to unlock a full game. :rolleyes:

Dear Nintendo,

Please give up on your Fisher-Price quality hardware and just focus on games. See how successful Pokemon and Mario are on iOS? There's your answer.

Sincerely,

Daws001

Actually no. Mario Run has 78 million downloads with less than 10% of players willing to pay for the full game. Pokémon Go was a success but IAP revenue would need to be split between 4 companies - Nintendo, game freak, niantic & Apple.
We'll have to see how Fire Emblem does with the freemium mechanic App Store players love...
I'm sure we'll just see more people whinging that they want Nintendo's full games for free with no IAP. :rolleyes: Just go buy their console and enjoy games the way they're meant to be enjoyed - with a proper controller and no IAP.

Rating: 2 Votes

vertical smile

30 months ago

Nintendo needs to make a freemium version where you only get 3 lives every 8 hours and for $1.99 you can buy a 3-pack of lives. The best value pack is 25 lives for $99.99. This is the norm with free games on the App Store right? Much better than $9.99 for a once-only payment with unlimited lives.

Assuming you are being sarcastic, I agree with you. Some many games I try in the App Store either have the scenario you described or a currency based system which becomes a ridiculous grind to earn, and makes it extremely hard to continue playing without buying currency.

I used to play two popular games a lot, but stopped because of the repetitive grind for currency, Real Racing 3 and Sniper.

I was happy that Nintendo had a flat price to for their Mario Run game. I was unhappy that there was not an ATV4 version though.

Rating: 2 Votes

Speedy Dingo

30 months ago

Unlike most people I'm happy to pay $10 or more for a game. Not for this game though. Gameplay is a joke and an insult to the Mario title.

I don't know about you but I've played pretty much all Mario games from the original NES Super Mario Bros to the latest ones on Wii U and 3DS, and while I agree that the gameplay isn't the same on Mario Run as it is on traditional Mario games, you have to play Mario run with a different mind set, as the game was tailored for touchscreen and 1-handed control. Nintendo had to overcome the problem of having a virtual controller on screen, which are just a joke imo, and I think they successfully did it. Mario Run still has the Mario mechanics with the platforming/jumping in place, and trying to get the black coins can get very challenging later on. People just expected Nintendo to develop a "normal" Mario game with on-screen controls, but I'm sure they would've found something to complain about that too...
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I'd love to play so many console games that are out but my left hand was mangled and had to be rebuilt a few years ago and I've got repetitive stress problems in my right hand. I don't have the necessary speed on the controller like I used to. :(

Sorry to hear about your hands. :(
Maybe look at the new Nintendo Switch? It has games that use movement of the arms or use 1 hand to play short games which you may be able to play with your family.

[MEDIA=youtube]CdWd8fUC71g[/MEDIA]

Rating: 1 Votes

GrumpyMom

30 months ago

I've been tempted to buy a 3DS because as much as I hate to admit it - Nintendo games are fun. However, I'd much rather play Mario on my iPhone's or an iPad's Retina display with an official Nintendo controller attachment. Even Nintendo understands this, because the switch is just a Nintendo nvidia Shield tablet with controller attachments.

I just simply haven't been able to pull the trigger on spending $200 for another device to carry around just to play Nintendo games even though I want to play Nintendo games quite badly.

I like the stereo sound on my 3DS XL and occasionally like the 3D effect screen, though the kids, hubby and I can't tolerate looking at it for an extended period of time. But it's really fun for some scenes in some games.

I just like having a device that's dedicated to gaming because sometimes I need my phone and its battery capacity free for other things.

I do like gaming on my phones, too. I've got some hidden objects games going on my Samsung phones as well as VR gaming.

What I haven't done in years, and that I miss, is console gaming. Buying a handyman special, a surprise late in life pregnancy, and another house move kind of killed off console gaming for us. We ended up going to PC gaming for awhile and other hobbies.

I'd love to play so many console games that are out but my left hand was mangled and had to be rebuilt a few years ago and I've got repetitive stress problems in my right hand. I don't have the necessary speed on the controller like I used to. :(

Rating: 1 Votes