Nintendo reportedly working on smartphone app to market its games

Last month, comments made by Nintendo of America’s Reginald Fils-Aime during an interview suggested that the company is finally warming up to the idea of producing content for mobile devices. Nintendo is currently the only console-maker that doesn’t have an iOS or Android presence.

Fils-Aime said that the gaming giant has been working on “little experiences” for the smartphone, but he didn’t get into any details. Japanese business newspaper Nikkei looks to fill in the blanks though, with a new report claiming Nintendo is working on an app to market its console titles…

Dr. Serkan Toto passes along the report from Nikkei:

“Japanese newspaper The Nikkei just reported on its website (2am Tuesday JST) that Nintendo is finally going mobile within this year. According to the country’s biggest business publication, Nintendo will make such an announcement this Thursday, the day it holds a briefing for investors.

But Nintendo will not simply put Mario, Pokemon or other games on smartphones. According to the report, Nintendo plans to use Android and/or iOS devices (not confirmed at this point) to market its console games. To be more concrete, The Nikkei writes that Nintendo wants to use smartphones to expand its potential user base by spreading information about new game releases, i.e. by using video to introduce future titles. (This will probably happen through some kind of official Nintendo app.)”

Furthermore, Nikkei says that Nintendo is also working on ‘mini games’ for smartphones. These would be playable demos of console games–content that can only be purchased in full on Nintendo hardware—with the goal of giving smartphone players a taste of the experience and luring them in.

The publication rounds out its report by saying that all of this content will be free, and the company is not planning to offer paid or freemium games on smartphones or tablets at the moment—something pundits have long suggested it do in order to offset the money it’s losing on hardware sales.

Nintendo has said that it’s expecting to sell nearly 70% less Wii U units than it forecasted for the year, which ends in March, and it plans to report a net loss of $240 million versus the anticipated $527 million in annual profits. It’ll be the second year in a row that the company has reported a loss.

It’s believed that Nintendo will make an announcement regarding its future plans for mobile this Thursday.

Read More

Nintendo president explains why we’ll never see an official Mario game in the App Store

Nintendo released their most recent financial results last week, and the numbers didn’t look good. As suspected, the Wii U is selling quite poorly (the company only sold 160,000 during the quarter) and overall sales are down 1.9% year-over-year.

So with sales of its 9-month-old console already slipping, and no new hardware on the horizon, industry watchers are again calling for Nintendo to consider porting its library of games to, and developing new games for, other consoles and platforms.

But president Satoru Iwata reiterates that won’t happen while he’s in charge…

Speaking to CVG (via DaringFireball) Iwata said:

“If I was to take responsibility for the company for just the next one or two years, and if I was not concerned about the long-term future of Nintendo at all, it might make sense for us to provide our important franchises for other platforms, and then we might be able to gain some short-term profit,” he said.

“However, I’m really responsible for the long-term future of Nintendo as well, so I would never think about providing our precious resources for other platforms at all.”

Over the past few years, Nintendo has had trouble figuring out where it fits in today’s market of casual iPhone gamers and hardcore console gamers. And pundits have suggested that it start developing its software for other platforms to restore its fortunes.

But Satoru says that would ruin the Nintendo experience:

“What I believe is that Nintendo is a very unique company, because it does its business by designing and introducing people to hardware and software – by integrating them, we can be unique. And because we have hardware and software developers in the same building, they stimulate each other,” he said.

“And those kinds of conditions have enabled us to create something that no other companies can create. Those kinds of backgrounds are there behind the fact that such a number of great Nintendo franchises exist, and those great franchises always shine for people around the world.”

As much as I’d love to play an official Super Mario Bros. port on my iPhone (not in an emulator), I have to admit that Satoru is right. Selling its games on other platforms, particularly mobile ones like iOS and Android, would not make a long-lasting business.

Just look at Rovio, who makes arguably the most popular games in the world right now with its Angry Birds Franchise—more than a billion total downloads. The company generated just $71.2 million in net profit last year, less than Nintendo does in a quarter.

So yeah, jeopardizing hardware sales to peddle a few games to mobile users might not be a great business plan. But hey, maybe Nintendo would be interested in making an iPhone-compatible game controller now that Apple is officially supporting them in iOS 7.

What do you think?

Read More

Nintendo confirms it’s working on mobile ‘service’ apps

It’s been an interesting week regarding Nintendo news and its plans for the mobile market. With the company expected to report its second straight year of profit loss, and its hardware sales tanking, pundits are hoping to see it enter the mobile space.

Earlier this week, a report from Japan’s Nikkei claimed that Nintendo was working on ‘mini games’ for mobile devices. The company has since denied the rumor, but during a strategy briefing earlier today, it confirmed it is working on mobile apps…

The Wall Street Journal (via MacRumors) was present for the strategy briefing, and has a full recap of what was discussed. The part we’re most interested in, however, is a question asked by an analyst regarding Nintendo’s plans for addressing mobile.

“Okasan Securities analyst is asking for details on the new service apps for smart devices and on capital spending plans.  

To that question, Mr. Iwata says he’s not aiming for short term revenue boost but the service app is aimed at building a bridge with customers and bringing more information on Nintendo. But he admits it’s hard for people to use the apps on a regular basis if it’s just for marketing purpose. “

And unfortunately that’s all Nintendo president Satoru Iwata had to say about that. He did confirm, though, that the game console will continue to be at the center of the company’s strategy, and it has no plans to introduce games on third-party platforms.

In addition to the strategy briefing, Nintendo also announced its earnings for the December quarter today, and the numbers were dismal. The company posted an operating loss of $15 million, and says it expects another big loss in its March quarter.

Read More

Nintendo DS emulator that runs on both non-jailbroken and jailbroken iOS devices arrives

Back in February, GBA4iOS 2.0 released with iOS 7 controller support and Dropbox integration, running fine on both non-jailbroken and jailbroken devices.

If you’re not a big fan of Game Boy Advanced, Game Boy Color and original Gameboy games, how about a similar iOS emulator that lets you play Nintendo DS titles, no jailbreak required whatsoever?

Enter NDS4iOS, now available to install through an over-the air download via the NDS4iOS website. The app works on both non-jailbroken and jailbroken iOS devices and lets you play Nintendo DS ROMs, though you may need to set your device’s date back to February 8, 2014 if it fails to open…

Like GBA4iOS, NDS4iOS too supports iOS 7 controllers and features options for control pad style and position, an in-app web browser to download Nintendo DS games as ROMs and more.

Don’t forget you shouldn’t be using ROMs you haven’t purchased – stealing is bad for your karma. And if you have a Dropbox account, GBA4iOS lets you store game saves and load ROMs using the popular cloud storage service.

As per TouchArcade, Gba4iOS offers “a pretty good framerate” on your iPhone and iPad and you can interact directly with the touchscreen, just like a normal Nintendo DS.

Apple’s strict rules put a whole bunch of annoying limitations on console emulators so the team has had bypassed the App Store entirely. Instead, you can download NDS4iOS free of charge by visiting the official website using Safari on your iOS device and hitting the download link.

Next, disable the ‘Set Automatically’ option in the app’s settings and manually set the date to February 8, 2014. This is important because otherwise the app may refuse to work. I wholeheartedly suggest reading the instructions on the website before installing.

Long story short, the trick relies on using an enterprise provisioning profile that companies normally use to distribute apps to employees internally. Apple has already revoked the profile, but backdating your device to February 8 should do the trick.

Read More

Conquer the sea in easyBoat, an arcade style shooter game for iPhone and iPad

EasyBoat is a new arcade-styled action shooter game for iPhone and iPad with a great balance of both fun and challenging game play.

It comes with clear inspiration from the sailing feature in the Zelda Wind Walker game for Nintendo devices, so if you’re familiar with it, you might like this release. Bundled together with fluid graphics and well-executed game mechanics, this is a game for people of all ages.

Each level leads you to take on multiple enemies in the forms of sea ghosts and flying monsters. Each time you unlock a new level, it comes with a new theme and different monsters; with this come new attacks, challenges, and difficulties.

Throughout these levels, you will want to use your dash attack to take out the ghosts and collect cannon ammunition. You can then tap on flying enemies to take them out with your cannon. You can carry 6 cannonballs at one time, so you will need to restock when you get low by taking out more ammunition-bearing ghosts as you play.

While some flying enemies are more violent than others, you also need to make sure you avoid running into any of the ghosts at the same time. Both post a threat to your health. You’re given three lives, but each time you touch a ghost, run into a wall, or get hit by a flying enemy, you lose a life.

Fortunately, you can power through kill streaks to power up your shield, which helps reduce damage from enemy impacts. Your shield power is indicated by the green bar below your health indicator.

As you near the ends of level waves, you’ll also have to defeat bosses, all of which try to make survival as hard as possible for you.

Boss health is displayed at the top center of the interface when you’re fighting one, and depending on the boss, they must be weakened in different ways.

To watch how the game works, you can check out the demo video from the game developer below:

         

You can download easyBoat for free from the App Store, but it feels very much like a free trial as is. A $0.99 in-app purchase unlocks a number of features, such as:

• Saving your in-game progress
• Upgrading speed and offense by 25%
• Instantly reviving yourself without ads if you die
• Enabling retry mode
• Increasing cannon capacity to 9 balls instead of 6

After playing easyBoat myself, I found the game entertaining. Without the in-app purchase however, it felt a little bit repetitive after a while. If you want a diverse game experience where you don’t have to start over every time you launch the game, be prepared to cough up the dollar.

After you try easyBoat, let us know what you think of the game in the comments below!

Read More

Moga’s upcoming MFi ‘Ace Power’ iPhone controller gets shown off in leaked photos

With iOS 7, Apple is for the first time allowing for ‘Made for iPhone’ (MFi) physical game controllers in a bid to solidify its mobile gaming lead. We’ve already seen Logitech’s upcoming iOS 7 gaming controller (ClamCase is also working on one) and now a photo has surfaced depicting Moga’s upcoming MFi controller which will come with a massive built-in 1800mAh battery, have a look at it below the fold…

The credible EVLeaks tweeted out the above shot this morning.

Apple mentioned at June’s Worldwide Developers Conference that Moga was one of the companies working on a MFi iPhone controller. EVLeaks claims the accessory will be branded as AcePower and feature a built-in 1800mAh battery.

And this is what it looks like closed, without an iPhone docked.

iOS 7 supports two types of physical controllers: the form-fitting ones that dock the device itself right intro the controller and standalone variants which pair with any iOS 7 device over Bluetooth.

The iPhone maker is understood to be closely working with accessory makers like Logitech on these controllers and being an avid gamer, I can’t wait to put my hands on one of these beauties.

Existing games won’t automagically gain MFi controller support, but I have no doubt in my mind that game devs are integrating MFi controller support into their games as we speak.

The physical MFi controllers should be Godsent for action titles, retro games and so forth. Having thought this through really thoroughly, Apple is also allowing for an extended MFi controller configuration which adds thumbsticks and an extra set of shoulder buttons.

Moga’s upcoming thingie is an extended MFi variant: if the leaked shots are anything to go by, the gizmo will sport thumbsticks on the left and right, the traditional D-pad on the left and a set of buttons on the right front and shoulders of the device.

And now that Apple has introduced a new framework in iOS 7 allowing developers to read input from the buttons, the iOS platform will give handheld gaming consoles from the likes of  Sony and Nintendo a hell of a run for their money.

And who knows, this could be a prelude to full-blown 1080p Apple TV games on your big screen TV.

Read More

Rolomotion turns your iDevice into Wii-like console

Pune, India-based Rolocule creates games for a living and earlier today the team teased an interesting solution aimed at bringing Nintendo Wii-style gaming to your big screen TV via Apple TV and some clever iPhone and iPod touch software. Rolomotion is the name of the game (pun intended).

It’s basically a dedicated app that wirelessly beams specially-designed games to your telly through the Apple TV while using your iPhone or iPod touch as a Wii-style controller.

The game running on the device reads data from the iPhone’s gyroscope, magnetometer and accelerometer sensors to make possible motion-based action via Apple’s set-top box. I’ve included a nice demo clip right past the fold…

Rolomotion, as they put it, strives to “make the Apple TV a complete portable living room console using iPhone.”

Here’s a demo of Motion Tennis, the first game that incorporates Rolomotion. Rolocule claims the game has been optimized to minimize AirPlay Mirroring lag.

Motion Tennis will have a multiplayer mode, Rolocule confirmed.

I can see myself using Rolomotion on an iPod touch because it has a loop.

As for the iPhone, I’d be hesitant swinging it around out of fear it might slip from my hands and fly across the room. If I wanted to be really cynical, I’d say this way I could break both my iPhone and my plasma TV.

Rolomotion will live or die by third-party support and the company didn’t indicate at press time whether it planned on releasing a software development kit. The solution supports the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S or fifth-gen iPod Touch running iOS 5 or later and, of course, requires the second or third-gen Apple TV.

Rolocule Games also has several sports titles available for the iPhone and iPad.

If Rolomotion has piqued your interest, you can sign up for the exclusive beta here or head over to the Rolocule web site to learn more.

Read More

Remastered Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and Sega’s 2013 winter iOS lineup announced

Sega’s Sonic games for the iPhone and iPad are as popular as on any other platform and the games maker has certainly given its best issuing updates with new levels and discounting the Sonic games on the App Store.

In addition to Sonic, Sega is one of the most prolific game developers whose varied releases for Apple’s platform include Crazy Taxi, After Burner Climax, Jet Set Radio and lots of other iOS titles, even including exclusives such as Sonic Jump.

Sega of America on Monday announced its 2013 winter iOS lineup, including a remastered version of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and a brand new game called Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing: Transformed. I’ve included detailed information above the fold…

TouchArcade reports about Sega’s winter iOS lineup that includes remastered Sonic The Hedgehog 2, the new Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing: Transformed, Rhythm Thief & The Paris Caper, Demon Tribe and Go Dance.

The latter title, released ten days ago and now available on the App Store for $1.99, uses your device’s FaceTime camera to capture your moves as you dance to the beats of a LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, Avicii, Flo Rida and other artists.

As for Sonic The Hedgehog 2, the remastered version will include improved graphics, better touch controls and “a rock solid framerate” running at 60FPS. Sega previously remastered the original Sonic The Hedgehog with similar enhancements back in May.

According to Sega’s media release, “Sonic fans and newcomers alike will see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in a brand new light”.

The game will be a free update for users who already own the original iOS game and is due in November.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing: Transformed (above) is a Mario-like kart racing game coming as a new installment in the Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. iA pared down version of the existing console Transformed game, the mobile edition will contain a brand new World Tour mode designed for gaming on the go and include multiplayer both locally and online for up to four players.

The game is due in winter.

Rhythm Thief & The Paris Caper (below), an adaptation of the 2012 Nintendo 3DS rhythm game, takes place “across iconic locations in Paris as you play rhythm-based mini-games in an effort to unravel the mystery behind your father’s disappearance”.

According to TouchArcade which saw work-in-progress code, the wacky game spans 50 missions, features 20 different songs and has “a ton of personality”, with the mini-games being described as “fast-paced” and “challenging”.

The title is slated to launch early next year.

Finally, Demon Tribe (below), a free to play card collection action-based role-playing game (RPG) coming this winter, challenges you to build up a team of fighters and catch demons to gain their powers and upgrade your stats.

The publication notes:

You can also use “Demon Summoning” abilities which will actually turn your team into demons, whom you’ll then use to continue fighting off other demons.

The game is said to sport real-time online multiplayer for up to six players, either cooperatively or competitively in 3v3 team battles. Other perks to look for: Clans with ranking/rewards system, a lengthy campaign for those who prefer single player missions and lots more.

Unfortunately, there was no word of an iOS port of Shenmue or Streets of Rage.

Read More