It's a long overdue move, but Nintendo must have figured that it's better late than never. The Japanese gaming giant has finally introduced its first smartphone game called Miitomo in Tokyo on Oct. 29, Thursday. Nintendo has been a leading gaming company, releasing hit titles and devices. But recently the company has also been facing competition as the gaming market has begun its shift to the smartphone.
According to a report from Polygon, Miitomo is a game in which users create avatars to socialize with other players. Nintendo slates the smartphone game's launch in March 2016. The game is a free-to-play app. Along with Miitomo, four other game titles are also set to come to the smartphone in 2017. There's a possibility of popular Nintendo characters like Zelda and Mario to come to the smartphone as well.
Smartphone gaming is proving to be a lucrative business. Even celebrities, like Kardashian-Jenner sisters, Kim and Kylie, have their own mobile game and app. Kim's "Kim Kardashian: Hollywood" has garnered $1.6 million during the first five days of its release.
Newzoo co-founder and chief executive Peter Warman said that Super Mario and Zelda already have the potential to make big profits as smartphone apps. He also said that he could not believe how long it has taken Nintendo to unveil its first smartphone game. "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."
It has previously been reported that the company has fallen short of analyst estimate of its profit for the last three months ending in September this year. Demands for the 3DS have not been strong, and its sales have offset that of the hit Super Mario Maker game. With the holiday season approaching, however, Nintendo is hopeful that it will help the company's sales as it has done in the previous years.
