Narrative: Nintendo's Mobile Renaissance
Each narrative page (like this) has a page describing and evaluating the narrative, followed by all the posts on the site tagged with that narrative. Scroll down beyond the introduction to see the posts.
Super Mario Run will be available on Android in March – The Verge (Jan 23, 2017)
Super Mario Run was an iPhone exclusive when it first launched, and as such was featured in Apple’s Fall 2016 keynote. However, that exclusive won’t last forever, and it appears that the game will be coming to Android in March, despite the criticism of the business model and other features of the game. What’s not clear is whether the business model will be the same – while getting people to pay for iPhone games is hard, getting Android users to pay up is much harder still, so I wonder whether the additional investment will be worth it if Nintendo sticks with the $10 unlock model. More broadly, there will be additional games for both iOS and Android later this year, so Nintendo is clearly still committed to its smartphone game strategy. However, we still haven’t seen the symbolically important release by Nintendo of any of its highly popular original games for smartphones, something almost every observer seems to think it should do, but which it chooses for some reason to resist for now. It’s also worth noting that Super Mario Run (though not the next game) is another example of iOS first, Android later – a trend that continues to be one of the biggest hits against Google’s Play Store and Android in general.
via Super Mario Run will be available on Android in March – The Verge
Hands-on with Nintendo Switch: Jack of all trades, master of some | Ars Technica (Jan 14, 2017)
This early review pours some cold water on the enthusiasm that’s generally met the launch of the Switch. The lack of games, controllers which are awkward in some configurations and games, underpowered hardware for the console mode, and other issues are highlighted here. It feels as though Nintendo decided to get the Switch out the door as quickly as possible rather than waiting the usual long period from launch to release so as to allow more games to be ready – so far, the reaction I’m seeing to that paucity of games is pretty negative, so we’ll see how this works out for Nintendo over time. There seems to have been decent pre-order interest, but we’ll have to see how those early buyers actually like the devices when they get them.
via Hands-on with Nintendo Switch: Jack of all trades, master of some | Ars Technica
The Nintendo Switch will launch on March 3rd for $299 – The Verge (Jan 12, 2017)
The Nintendo Switch was unveiled a while back with a very effective promo video and a few other details, but price and some other details were not announced at that time. We now have price, specs, and a few other tidbits from Nintendo, and it looks like it’s going to be by far Nintendo’s most popular gaming device in quite some time. It has some weird quirks – relatively low resolution on the screen, very short controller cables, and so on – but most users will put up with those. This device is also another flavor of mobile gaming from Nintendo alongside its recent mobile app releases, so in some ways Nintendo is hedging its bets here, which is a smart move – its mobile apps have been popular, but it’s not clear yet that they’re the basis for a long-term sustainable business for Nintendo.
via The Nintendo Switch will launch on March 3rd for $299 – The Verge
Why Super Mario’s Run Was Short – WSJ (Jan 2, 2017)
The headline is overstating things – it’s not like Super Mario Run is done. But there are some good numbers in here – notably that 3% of the estimated 90 million downloads have converted to being paying users. At $10, that’s actually pretty high, and Nintendo will do just fine if it can keep converting new users at that rate. However, the poor reviews – many driven by the IAP model – may prevent Nintendo from continuously filling its funnel. Definitely some lessons here for future Nintendo mobile games.
via Why Super Mario’s Run Was Short – WSJ
Nintendo plans to release 2 or 3 mobile games a year after Super Mario Run’s success | Macworld (Dec 23, 2016)
Nintendo certainly seems to have taken the success of Pokemon Go and more recently Super Mario Run as signs that it should invest further in mobile gaming, something observers have been clamoring for for years. But despite the massive numbers, we oughtn’t to overlook the poor reviews and backlash against Super Mario Run following its release. There are still risks aplenty here.
via Nintendo plans to release 2 or 3 mobile games a year after Super Mario Run’s success | Macworld
Pokémon Go arrives on the Apple Watch | TechCrunch (Dec 22, 2016)
This Watch app was announced way back in September, so it’s been a long time coming. But it looks really solid and is cleverly integrated into the Activity app too. Stuff like this is what the Watch needs to make a success of its App Store, which so far has been a little underwhelming.
via Pokémon Go arrives on the Apple Watch | TechCrunch
Super Mario Run breaks records with 40 million downloads in its first 4 days | TechCrunch (Dec 21, 2016)
The numbers are huge, as expected – that’s a lot of downloads, but it’s worth remembering that this was a free download of a game with lots of nostalgia value. Unlike Pokemon Go, this year’s other big Nintendo-backed mobile game, Super Mario Run has eschewed the standard IAP business model, and reviews have been terrible as a result. What really matters is paying users and regular users after the initial hype dies down.
via Super Mario Run breaks records with 40 million downloads in its first 4 days | TechCrunch
How Pokémon Go is trying to lure back the millions who have abandoned it – Recode (Nov 28, 2016)
The owners of Pokemon Go were never likely to struggle to get people to download the game – with such a rapid rise to enormous popularity, the challenge was always going to be keeping people actively using the game, and at this point it’s about getting people who’ve abandoned it to come back.
via How Pokémon Go is trying to lure back the millions who have abandoned it – Recode