Don’t expect too much from Nintendo’s new mobile initiative

Earlier this week, Nintendo announced a “business alliance” with DeNA that will see the development of new games featuring characters from Nintendo IP for smart devices. It’s a move that many have been clamoring for, but no one really expected due to Nintendo President Satora Iwata’s constant dismissal at the idea.

And now that Nintendo has officially announced plans to bring its iconic characters to mobile devices not named the 3DS, I’m here to tell you don’t get your hopes up. There’s no denying the quality of Nintendo IP; these are storied franchises that’ll be available at the palm of our hands. But they’ll also be franchises hamstrung by the limitations of smart device gaming. Without a controller, there’s only so much you can accomplish with a smart device game.

Sure, a Mario platformer or a Pokemon digital card battling game would be neat, and they certainly work within the scope of smart device gaming. In fact, most of Nintendo game concepts will work well on smart devices, but that’s because a lot of them fall in line with the design for games already offered on these devices. So I ask you, is that really all you want? Are you really content with the same type of mobile gaming experiences just reskinned with Nintendo characters? Nintendo is known for its innovation, but there’s only so much innovating you can do with an smart device.

Then there’s the whole notion of not wanting to cannibalize sales from the Wii U and 3DS. That’s basically code for Nintendo not wanting to offer the premier gaming experiencing on anything other than its exclusive platforms. And why would they? Odds are they are going to use this as a way to broaden their brand, introduce their games to consumers who may not have ever played a Nintendo game. They’ll likely do this through free-to-play games with microtransactions, and we all know how that usually ends up. The same limitations that restrict your gameplay on regular free-to-play smart device games will now be applied to your beloved Nintendo franchises. Hope you’re content with in-game transactions to buy the coins required to continue searching for the princess.

I’m not saying all of these new games will be horrible. I’m just saying don’t expect anything revolutionary. Expect the typical platformer, your occasional endless runner, and lots of match threes. I want to leave you with something positive, but all I can think of is the trash that was Pokemon Shuffle and worry that this is the type of content we’ll be getting.