14 DAY TRIAL // Nintendo confirms that it has clear plans to launch an application for smartphones before the end of the year, but company leader Satoru Iwata wants potential users to understand that there are no plans to launch full games using it.
During an investor briefing, the executive states that his company will “start a new service that enables us to connect with our consumers on a continuous basis on smart devices within this year.”
A small, select team of developers from various internal Nintendo studios are to create the new application and it seems that they will have a lot of freedom to explore the possibilities that are opened up by the new devices.
Iwata adds that the smartphone team will have no restrictions and that they might even create games using traditional characters.
The company president is quoted by CVG as saying that, “if you report that we will release Mario on smart devices, it would be a completely misleading statement. It is our intention to release some application on smart devices this year that is capable of attracting consumer attention and communicating the value of our entertainment offerings.”
It sounds like the leadership of Nintendo is still debating how much content they are planning to launch on smartphones.
An official app will likely first aim to get users to sign up for a Nintendo ID, which will them allow them to buy titles from the eShop on both the Wii U home console and the 3DS handheld.
The company has also laid out plans that include a potential on-demand game distribution service and a new quality of life experience that will include new non-wearable hardware.
Until then, Nintendo still has to deal with the big loss that it will post on March 31, caused mostly by the big drop in sales of the Wii U.