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Reggie - Nintendo's approach to mobile is about leveraging IP & platform's strengths
Coming from a TIME interview with Reggie Fils-Aime...
“Hardware and software development inside Nintendo has always operated hand-in-hand. It’s a constant back-and-forth of ideation and real world solutions. Maybe the clearest example would be Wii Sports on Wii—we couldn’t employ a motion control game until there was technology that would support it. So we made that hardware ourselves. But that said, there are always limitations, because some things just aren’t possible. We might brainstorm a game where a player actually levitates above the floor in his family room . . . but we haven’t figured that out—at least not yet! And similarly, sometimes new technology becomes an added tool for game developers, but that doesn’t immediately generate the ‘killer app’ that everyone hopes for. As I said, whether it’s technology or imagination, there are always limits.
In this way, what I would say in terms of our mobile apps is that we will absolutely continue our traditional maxim of developing software that matches the hardware. We have looked at the limitations of software design on mobile platforms, and worked within those parameters. If there’s a 3DS game that requires the full manipulation of joysticks and multiple buttons, that game clearly can’t be exactly replicated on a touch-screen mobile device. Our strategy is not to port games developed for our dedicated systems to smart devices as they are–we have to develop new software experiences that give people the opportunity to interact with Nintendo IP and that matches the play style and control of smart devices.
So what we’ve been working at is development of apps that feature Nintendo IP in a meaningful way for mobile platforms. We understand that this may feel different. And that’s O.K. Doing things differently isn’t something we shy away from. And we’re confident we can deliver ‘surprise and delight’ within the profile of mobile devices just as well as we do with dedicated portables or home consoles.
At its heart, people are using [smart devices] as a way to stay connected with others through a variety of different means. We think we can provide an experience that’s differentiated in the marketplace, and it leverages what the device does well. And certainly we will bring our best IP into the smart device world, but we’re going to do it in a way that leverages what those devices do, that enable a play style that makes sense. That’s what critically important to us.”