-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Bloomberg (Takashi Mochizuki): Nintendo unlikely to further pursue major mobile efforts
- Thread starter Deleted member 2791
- Start date
OP
OP
I don't think Nintendo is making any money from the mobile TPC ventures.
Nintendos mobile games are absolutely awful so i'm not sure i buy that.
ALL mobile games are awful. You'll occasionally get stuff where a developer will actually try (Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass is great for games like that) but that's not the stuff that brings in the big bucks.
And considering Nintendo already has a console where they can actually do that stuff, then why bother?
They made 100 million+ from GO year one, which then boosted 3DS and Pokemon sales. It birthed Let's Go and their peripheral, which they spear headed.
i think this is just like Nintendo with online.
they just don't have any idea how to make it work. no amount of development talent can change that.
they better focus on what they do best instead of trying to salvage what they do worst.
they just don't have any idea how to make it work. no amount of development talent can change that.
they better focus on what they do best instead of trying to salvage what they do worst.
Yeah, I guess future endeavors (If any) will be modeled after those two.
Nintendo is in a good position right now with the Switch, but being overly reliant on the success of a single platform (even now more so that they don't have handheld/home console) can be quite risky.
I do wish they are able to capitalize more on their third pillar (IP expansion). We should be hearing about the Universal Park soon.
I do wish they are able to capitalize more on their third pillar (IP expansion). We should be hearing about the Universal Park soon.
Dragalia Lost bombed. Super Mario Run didn't set the word on fire. Dr. Mario whatever is hyper bombed. Mario Kart Tour is doing okay, but for a mobile Mario Kart it is underperforming. Same with Animal Crossing. Fire Emblem: Heroes is doing okay, but I think they're realizing that it's hard to keep a game fun, balanced, and exciting year after year. It's not easy.
People think mobile is a cashgrab and easy money, but making a game that entices whales as well as a game that is fun for non-spenders for years on end is a challenge.
People think mobile is a cashgrab and easy money, but making a game that entices whales as well as a game that is fun for non-spenders for years on end is a challenge.
Fucking excellent news if true! :D
I hope the mobile teams can be redirected to becoming support groups for Switch titles. I do wonder what their investments in CyGames and DeNA will become due to this. Same goes for Dragalia Lost as Nintendo owns the IP (at least alongside CyGames). Maybe they will push CyGames to making a more traditional JRPG sequel on Switch? CyGames have a console team after all.
I hope the mobile teams can be redirected to becoming support groups for Switch titles. I do wonder what their investments in CyGames and DeNA will become due to this. Same goes for Dragalia Lost as Nintendo owns the IP (at least alongside CyGames). Maybe they will push CyGames to making a more traditional JRPG sequel on Switch? CyGames have a console team after all.
Well... their output on smartphones always felt lackluster.
But the overall problem with the mobile market is, that you have to be a money grabbing MTX filled F2P game to be successful.
So this isn't a loss in my book. I hope they let their devs instead work on smaller games made for the eShop
But the overall problem with the mobile market is, that you have to be a money grabbing MTX filled F2P game to be successful.
So this isn't a loss in my book. I hope they let their devs instead work on smaller games made for the eShop
That's fine. Most of Nintendo's franchises, with the notable exceptions of Pokemon and Fire Emblem with their hundreds of characters, aren't a good fit for the format and the damage to the brand by using the predatory monetization methods they need to make any real money probably probably outweighs whatever money they make using them. They shouldn't force it and only make games that fit the format well.
Fire Emblem Heroes has been a big success and Dragalia Lost has been strong in the territories that it's released in (it's still not out in most of the world), but their other mobile efforts have all fallen into the same pattern of early hype giving way to the reality that their gameplay loops just aren't nearly as compelling as they are with their console and handheld games. Nintendo has "adapted" in a way by making their games in a way to help pull in whales, but there's a world of difference between the appeal FEH has to pull it off ("Hey, X character from Y game is in this now and I really like them!") and how their Mario-related games can do it. There's only so many different versions of Mario or Peach out there before folks just stop giving a damn.
The issue is that being a big player in the mobile market is as consuming as being a platform holder. Neither SIE (keyword being SIE here, just in case F:GO players object) or MS have had much of any luck in the mobile sector themselves for the same reason, and they're better equipped to do something about it than Nintendo is. I've no doubt that's exactly what their shareholders want as an ultimate goal, but I frankly find that wish to be entirely incompatible with the company that Nintendo wants to maintain itself as. At this point, if they revolt, they revolt and all Nintendo will do is just bask in all the money they've been making from having such a great concept like they have with the Switch.
Nintendo isn't the right company for the current state of mobile gaming. They probably wish they could do something like the Mario Run business model, but the market doesn't support that.
would be cool if they had NSO games on mobile, as a perk for the membership though.
would be cool if they had NSO games on mobile, as a perk for the membership though.
Dragalia Lost is legitimately good. I would pay for a non-mobile game in this series.
That said it's so generous there's no reason to ever spend money on it. Prior interviews with the devs have said Nintendo has asked them to make it so that users don't feel compelled to spend because "it's not fun" despite Cygames telling them they could be making significantly more money. So yeah, it speaks to what this article is saying. Nintendo's corporate attitude is at odds with the only consistent way to make big bucks on mobile.
That said it's so generous there's no reason to ever spend money on it. Prior interviews with the devs have said Nintendo has asked them to make it so that users don't feel compelled to spend because "it's not fun" despite Cygames telling them they could be making significantly more money. So yeah, it speaks to what this article is saying. Nintendo's corporate attitude is at odds with the only consistent way to make big bucks on mobile.
I almost wonder if there might be some value in them pursuing an Apple Arcade model for non-f2p concepts, but I get the feeling that both Apple and Google would push back pretty hard on that.
Lol, it's so obvious they half assed most of their mobile efforts cause they don't want to do anything with the typical business model of mobile games.
That said, they don't NEED to have a Mario/Zelda on mobile. Nintendogs or Brainage would still make bank and have the flexibility to offer a lot of new mtx packs.
That said, they don't NEED to have a Mario/Zelda on mobile. Nintendogs or Brainage would still make bank and have the flexibility to offer a lot of new mtx packs.
Nintendo has been so clueless and incompetent in the mobile space they deserve this lack of success.
mobile has gameplay formula's that you just need to copy with your IP skin and they print money and their free cost is what builds mindshare.
these should be cheap games designed as promotional material that can be updated.
...
I think the bigger issue is that mobile is approaching and surpassing the switch in power and Nintendo don't want to impact their core buisness
mobile has gameplay formula's that you just need to copy with your IP skin and they print money and their free cost is what builds mindshare.
these should be cheap games designed as promotional material that can be updated.
...
I think the bigger issue is that mobile is approaching and surpassing the switch in power and Nintendo don't want to impact their core buisness
Nintendo's modern handling of the Mario IP just clashes really badly with mobile (focus on a small recurring cast, rather than pushing a large and varied roster). That said, Animal Crossing had been growing last year (surpassing Dragalia Lost in sales even), although I'm not sure how it's performing now.
Mario Kart Tour and FE Heroes have some actual Nintendo and IS staff there. Not sure about the Animal Crossing game.
Mario Kart Tour and FE Heroes have some actual Nintendo and IS staff there. Not sure about the Animal Crossing game.
I don't see how any of their games aren't making money I doubt any lost money considering how budget the art assets are. The one I can see being a failure was Mario Run. Fire Emblem is an insane success how they could think that the mobile dept is a failure is crazy.
If Nintendo hasn't given a damn about the power differential in their hardware for nearly 15 years now, why would they suddenly start caring now? You're not getting a game on the scale of BOTW on mobile anytime soon with the market realities of how to make money in that format.
Nintendo only partially owns Pokemon though, and Go was entirely developed externally, so the profit they saw from it was much smaller than the raw numbers would indicate.
I mean if the only way Nintendo can be successful in mobile is to make the same terrible games everyone else is making I'd rather they just nope the hell out entirely.
OP
OP
Fire Emblem is doing fine. Far from an "insane" success comparatively speaking.
I feel like they really should try proper Rhythm Heaven, Elite Beat Agents, Nintendogs, Puzzle League, bit Generations, Kirby Canvas Curse etc games for mobile. Keep the budget low, make them kinda simple and sell them for five bucks. Make them feel premium for a mobile game, but cool it with the monetisation etc.
Edit: eg part time UFO really should have been a Kirby game
Edit: eg part time UFO really should have been a Kirby game
There's a ton of brain training sort of games on mobile, I don't think it's a sure thing about i doing really well on mobile
Their mobile efforts have been incredibly poor compared to their switch output, so there's no loss in my eyes. If they had made a single great mobile game, I'd feel a little bit more upset about this.
I still think they're leaving money on the table but they've proven they don't know how to really take advantage of the mobile platform.
I still think they're leaving money on the table but they've proven they don't know how to really take advantage of the mobile platform.
I'm not surprised they sucked ass with their mobile efforts so far. FEH is the only title they released that even approaches successful.
Personally I'm not disappointed they'll be focusing on console games, but at this same time, I'm a little surprised they weren't able to leverage their IPs better on mobile.
I think Nintendo were looking for big hits to call their own. As you said Go was massive, but it was developed and published by Niantic, in collaboration with The Pokemon Company which is only part-owned (32%) by Nintendo.
I think Nintendo were looking for big hits to call their own. As you said Go was massive, but it was developed and published by Niantic, in collaboration with The Pokemon Company which is only part-owned (32%) by Nintendo.
I see this as a mistake financially. Just because there's not as much pressure doesn't mean it still doesn't represent a great opportunity for financial success.
If I had to guess, it wound up a victim of shifting priorities at Nintendo and just stopped development altogether. Maybe it'll get pilfered for assets if it got that far, but it's been so long since it was last reported on that it's probably safe to say it's dead and buried.
OP
OP
Essentially, they want to make a good game and have the player engage with it because its fun from a design standpoint. But if you want to succeed in mobile, your goal is to make the player want to spend money, and sometimes that includes designing inconveniences and flaws into the game subtly and not so subtly push the player towards spending.
It's a Mario Kart game that somehow launched without direct multiplayer functionality. That is definitely on Nintendo, but you really can't walk something like that back when it's such a massive part of the IP's identity.