Nintendo of America outlines launch plans for first mobile app Miitomo and My Nintendo
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Mobile, News | 17 Comments
Following the news coming out of Nintendo’s financial results briefing yesterday, Nintendo of America has issued a press release confirming launch details for Miitomo (and a tiny bit on My Nintendo). Find the information below.
Spark One-of-a-Kind Conversations with Friends; App Launches in March Alongside My Nintendo Rewards Program
REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 3, 2016 – Nintendo’s first app made exclusively for smart devices, Miitomo, will launch in North America in March for both iOS and Android phones and tablets. Today, Nintendo outlined the steps that fans can take to be among the first to get in on the social fun.
Starting Feb. 17, people will be able to pre-register for Miitomo by signing up for the new Nintendo Account service using their existing email, social media accounts or current Nintendo Network IDs. People who pre-register will be among the first to be notified about the availability of Miitomo when it launches in March. Nintendo will offer a special Miitomo bonus to anyone who signs up for a Nintendo Account between Feb. 17 and launch. Miitomo is a social experience that uses Nintendo’s Mii characters, which first debuted on the Wii console, to engage friends in a lighthearted and welcoming environment. Users can spark fun conversations and learn more about each other by answering questions such as “What song has been stuck in your head lately?”, “Do you believe in aliens?”, or even “If you saw a nose hair sticking out of your friend’s nose, what would you do?” Users can also easily take and share photos featuring their Mii with the Miifoto feature. Nintendo’s new My Nintendo rewards program will launch alongside Miitomo in March, and will be able to connect with the app.
More: My Nintendo, top
Kimishima on mobile app payments, wanting 100 million My Nintendo members
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Mobile, News | 5 Comments
This information comes from Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima…
As we have previously discussed, we are aiming to further advance our “gaming population expansion” strategy and aim to “grow the population who have access to Nintendo IP (intellectual properties).” To achieve this goal, our increasing the number of My Nintendo members will be one of the most important missions.
Accordingly, after the release of Miitomo in March, we will steadily release game apps for smart devices.
Because we want as many people as possible to enjoy Miitomo, we have designed it so that creating a Nintendo Account and becoming a My Nintendo member is not required. But when we release smart device apps with our popular IP in the future, we will design them in a way that will encourage consumers to become My Nintendo members.
For each app, we will review and select the most appropriate payment system by taking into consideration the nature of each IP. But we are thinking of mainly deploying free-to-start type apps as we hope as many people as possible among hundreds of millions of people all around the world who own smart devices will experience our apps.
We are intending to significantly increase My Nintendo membership by all these measures.
We would like to set “100 million My Nintendo members globally” as our initial milestone. Since this number should be considered as a check point, we will make efforts in order to achieve this number at the earliest possible timing.
We believe that the bigger the size of My Nintendo, the greater the enjoyment and value we will be able to provide to our customers.
More: My Nintendo, top
Nintendo talks Miitomo – breakdown of the app, “Miifoto” feature, launch plans
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 1 Comment
This information comes from Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima…
Launching alongside My Nintendo, we will release Miitomo as our first smart device application.
Miitomo is an entertainment application which turns communication among friends into a form of “play.” After the release, we hope many will wonder why this sort of app had never existed before.
In Miitomo, your “Mii” look-alike character appears as your “alternate self” within your smart device.
All of you must have had the enjoyable experience of being prompted by a friend to talk about something that you might not normally bring up in the course of your conversation. Mii characters facilitate this kind of social play structure with Miitomo.
Unlike most communication apps, with which you are supposed to proactively dispatch your message, in Miitomo, talkative Mii characters will automatically spark unique conversations and help friends connect on random, fun and light-hearted topics.
I believe you will experience a fresh new feeling with Miitomo.
More than 200 million Mii characters have been created around the world and have been appreciated by many people, regardless of age, gender, country or region.
Miis are unique characters who act in very “Nintendo-like” ways with rich facial expressions.
Also, Miitomo comes with a feature called “Miifoto” with which you can create and share various pictures with Mii characters.
The pictures created with Miifoto can be stored on your smart device and can be shared with various social media networks, so these pictures can be used beyond gaming.
Quite a few consumers have used their Mii in their profile picture of various social networks. We hope more people will enjoy Miitomo to use Mii in such fashions as well.
Miitomo is an application that is highly reliant on language, as it introduces a fun new style of communication. We think there will be a variety of different ways that people in different countries speaking different languages will enjoy this app.
As such, we will start by releasing Miitomo in these 16 countries, and as we receive feedback from our consumers about their experiences and establish customer support structures, we will gradually increase the number of available countries for Miitomo.
Before Miitomo is released in March, Nintendo will start accepting the pre-registration of the app from February 17.
You will need your Nintendo Account to pre-register.
Anyone who pre-registers for Miitomo will receive Platinum Points via My Nintendo, and will be notified on Miitomo’s launch day so that they can download immediately.
We will start this pre-registration for Miitomo not just in Japan but in all 16 countries where the app will initially be released.
(Note: Outside Japan, Nintendo Account registration starts simultaneously on February 17, with the start of pre-registration of Miitomo, in all the countries where My Nintendo services will be formally started in March.)
Miitomo will be released on iOS and Android.
We will release Miitomo in Japan in mid-March and in the other 15 countries by the end of March.
The services of My Nintendo that I mentioned earlier today will also be formally started simultaneously along with the release of Miitomo.
More: Miitomo, Tatsumi Kimishima, top
Miitomo – pre-registration on Feb. 17, release in and outside Japan in mid-March
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 2 Comments
One topic Nintendo addressed during its financial results briefing today is Miitomo.
The early word out of today’s event is that the app will launch in mid-March in Japan. This will be followed abroad during the same month on iOS and Android.
Miitomo pre-registration begins on February 17, with plans to launch next month in 16 countries and 8 languages. The latter includes English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, and Russian.
Pokemon GO to be showcased at GDC 2016 next month
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 5 Comments
Pokemon GO will be receiving a dedicated session at the Game Developer’s Conference next month. John Hanke, CEO of Niantic, will host “Catch ‘Em All: Pokemon GO and Real World Gaming”.
Here’s a description of the event:
“Over the last three years, Niantic, Inc. has been defining the genre of Real World gaming, using smartphones and tablets to connect the digital world to the physical world. Niantic’s newest game, Pokemon GO, ups the challenge of real world gaming design, taking a beloved franchise and setting its hundreds of brightly-colored monsters loose across the globe, adding a new Bluetooth wearable device created by Nintendo to the mix. Join Niantic founder and CEO John Hanke as he discusses how the company has developed a unique vision for delivering a mobile Pokemon experience that gets would-be trainers into the outdoors.”
GDC’s website also states that those who attend the session “will get a first-hand, in-depth look at how players are interacting and exploring the world with one another through Pokemon GO, the collaborative approach to design and development for the game and the next evolution of augmented reality and real-world mobile gameplay experiences.”
A specific date for the Catch ‘Em All: Pokemon GO and Real World Gaming session has not yet been announced. GDC 2016 takes place between March 14 and March 18.
More: GDC 2016, John Hanke, Niantic, Pokemon GO, top
Kimishima: Next mobile app will feature a character “that fans are very familiar with”
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 27 Comments
Update: Going to leave this here. The third mobile game may feature a top IP as well, according to Dr. Serkan Toto.
By the way, I heard the third app from Nintendo/DeNA in 2016 will also be a game featuring top IP. (These are separate from Pokemon GO.)
— Dr. Serkan Toto (@serkantoto) February 2, 2016
Thus far, we’ve only seen one mobile app from Nintendo. Miitomo, a title centered around communication, was unveiled last October with plans for release by March.
Miitomo isn’t the only mobile game Nintendo and DeNA are working on. As for what else we can expect? Nintendo president and CEO Tatsumi Kimishima teased today:
“The second game won’t be another communication app, and we plan to adopt one of our characters that fans are very familiar with.”
Kimishima – surprise fans with new ideas, mobile apps will feature famous characters, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Mobile, News, Switch | 55 Comments
Tatsumi Kimishima, the new president of Nintendo, outlined his plans for 2016 in the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. Dr. Serkan Toto was kind enough to share an overview.
Here are the key points:
– Wants to surprise fans with new ideas rather than building on old ones
– Nintendo will in 2016 release “details” on the NX
– Kimishima claims the expansion to smartphones and theme parks, but also to movies and TV anime (via character licensing) is progressing
– Believes it’s vital for Nintendo to experiment with new business models
– First smartphone app reconfirmed for launch in March
– Smartphone apps with Nintendo’s famous characters promised for 2016
– He wants to bring the company’s financials to a new level
– The plan is to bring profits to 100 billion yen ($855 million) in “several years”
– This would be 4 times of last year’s profit
More: Tatsumi Kimishima, top
DeNA says Miitomo has “that distinct Nintendo feel”, emphasizing entertainment, communication important
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 17 Comments
The Wall Street Journal has some new interview quotes up with DeNA president Isao Moriyasu. Much of the discussion pertained to Miitomo. Moriyasu commented on the user experience, how it’ll separate itself from other social networking/messaging services, and more.
Head past the break for a roundup of Moriyasu’s remarks. You can find a bit more of the interview here.
More: DeNA, interview, Isao Moriyasu, Miitomo, top
Niantic on Pokemon Go – origins, big audience potential, Plus device, more
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Mobile, News | 3 Comments
Earlier today, GamesBeat went live with a new Niantic interview. The site spoke with chief executive John Hanke as well as chief marketing officer Mike Quigley.
Pokemon Go was, as one would expect, a pretty big part of the interview. Between Hanke and Quigley, they discussed its origins and having Nintendo on board, how the game could reach a massive audience, and the Pokemon Go Plus device the Big N is making. There are also comments about things like how Niantic wants players to be able to participate no matter how small their area is in terms of population.
Head past the break for a roundup of Hanke and Quigley’s remarks. For the original interview, visit this page.
More: interview, John Hanke, Mike Quigley, Niantic, Pokemon GO, top
Reggie talks mobile, why Miitomo makes sense, My Nintendo, leveraging IP
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Mobile, News | 27 Comments
TIME has published a new interview with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. Reggie chatted about mobile (including Miitomo), My Nintendo, plus amiibo’s success and how it’s reflective of where the company is heading in terms of leveraging IP.
Head past the break for a roundup of the various comments. You can also check out TIME’s article here.
