Nintendo Possibly Develops Smartphone Controller
Nintendo is not shy anymore in terms of developing games outside of their own hardware. They already announced their intention of developing games for smartphones. Though, technically, they already released a smartphone product although is not entirely a gaming. Named Miitomo, it is more of a social networking app.
During Nintendo’s investors meeting, Nintendo executive Shiyna Takahashi stated that, “Physical controllers for smart device applications are available in the market and it is possible that we may also develop something new by ourselves.”
Nintendo is not promising anything; they are not ruling a possibility of them creating hardware to use in third-party devices. If such a scenario happens, this should be the first time that the gaming corporation built hardware to be used in conjunction with hardware not of their own making. Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aime already said that the company is in the market for creating compelling experiences that make use of smart devices’ hardware. Meaning, it should be expected that they will instead use the already available and widely implemented interface on smart devices. This could mean that the possibility of Nintendo physical controllers for smart devices is slim to none.
“On the other hand, I believe Nintendo’s way of thinking is to look at whether action games are really not impossible (without a physical controller for smart device applications) to create and how we can make it happen to create such a game,” added Takahashi.
Asked about developing action games of Nintendo quality, Takahashi quipped, “I think we will make applications, and not just action games, in consideration of what best embodies ‘Nintendo-like’ applications, including applications for everyone from children to seniors.”
The initial plan of Nintendo is to release five smartphone games by the end of March 2017. There are no further details but it is known that two of these five games are Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing titles. It is also not known how their smartphone plans will complement their upcoming video game console, the Nintendo NX. NX in itself is a mystery in specs, interface, price, and features.
