In a news break that surfaced this morning about a conference being held by Nintendo for investors tonight, anxious fans have been pacing and impatiently waiting for the unveiling of this new game, teased at earlier by The Wall Street Journal. The conference is well under way as this piece is typed, and the details are flowing forth as though oil’s been struck. With minute-to-minute coverage from The Wall Street Journal of Japan, in-the-loop readers have been drip-fed details throughout the conference.
The game is called Miitomo and is one of five confirmed smartphone games in development. Miitomo is set to release sometime in 2016, while all five were promised to be available by 2017. The app features the Miis made on Nintendo’s Wii, Wii U, and 3DS consoles, and, to quote Takashi Mochizuki, the WSJ reporter covering the event (whose tweet can be seen above): “It will be free to play, with attractive add-ons that people can pay for, Mr. Kimishima says. Other smartphone games will be pay-to-download, he says…Miis go ahead and communicate with other Miis without your knowledge. This will help people who are hesitant to talk about themselves to communicate with others, and reveal a side of your friends you never knew, Mr. Kimishima says.” While there isn’t much else to say about the “game” at present, it seems a bit like a smartphone version of the 3DS’s Mii Plaza, but that’s purely speculation.
Before discussing Miitomo, however, other business aspects were discussed. One of the big points was the inability for Nintendo to produce enough Amiibo figures and cards to meet demand in a majority of regions. And when the floor was opened for questions, Miyamoto was given an opportunity to make a subtle mention of the mysterious project NX, saying,
We are going to be far more aggressive in using our IP, and not just stop with licensing, as in the past. The first example is Amiibo. We want our IP to better reach more children, and smart devices is just one vehicle.
Whatever happens, this is all very exciting stuff. Look forward to getting a chance to try Miitomo on your smart device sometime in 2016!