Nintendo: more details about Miitomo
Miitomo is the name of Nintendo’s first mobile app, and it will be launched in March worldwide (with a pre-registration period from February 17th), alongside the Nintendo Accounts and My Nintendo. Of course, Tatsumi Kimishima talked at greath lengths about this game during the usual meeting with investors.
First, he started by reminding us what Miitomo is all about:
Basically, the goal of Miitomo is to allow users to enjoy the experience of having a friend talk to you about a topic you don’t usually bring up in a conversation. Unlike other apps, discussions are done automatically by the Mii, which helps “friends connect on random, fun and light-hearted topics”. It’s the perfect app for those who are not too fond of discussions using traditional messaging apps, and provides a “refreshing” experience according to Kimishima.
He also mentioned the Mii, which are pretty popular all around the world (over 200 millions of them), and liked by people regardless of their age, gender, or country of origin. Also, they act in a very “Nintendo-like” way, which is definitely a good plus for Nintendo’s very first mobile app.
One of the features of Miitomo is called MiiFoto: it allows users to create and share pictures with Mii characters. You can store them on your smart device, and then share them on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. The thing is, Nintendo did notice that people often used pictures of their Mii on social networks, so MiiFoto is quite obvioulsy trying to encourage that.
Since Miitomo is an app heavily relying on language, it will only launch in 16 countries initially: UK, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, U.S., and Canada. After that, Nintendo will use feedback, establish customer support structures, and gradually increase the number of countries where Miitomo will be available.
Before Miitomo is launched, there will be a registration period: click here to learn more about that! If you pre-register, you will receive some Platinum Coins, and be notified of Miitomo launch on Day 1 (so you can download the app right away).
Miitomo is coming to both Android and iOS devices, which means that the vast majority of smartphone/tablet users will be able to download it (unfortunately, Nintendo doesn’t say anything about devices running Windows Phone). In Japan, Miitomo will launch in mid-March; in the 15 other countries, it will launch in late-March.
With Nintendo Accounts, My Nintendo, and the Mobile apps, Nintendo wants to expand the gaming population even further, and increase the amount of people who have access to Nintendo IPs. To achieve its goal, Nintendo will release several mobile apps by March 2017. But even if the company wants as many people to become My Nintendo members, Miitomo (their first mobile app) will not require users to create a Nintendo Account.
After all, Nintendo wants as many people as possible to enjoy Miitomo. But things will be different for the future mobile apps, which will use popular Nintendo characters. Those will be designed in such a way that users will be encouraged to become My Nintendo members.
Tatsumi Kimishima explained that for each app, they would review and select the most appropriate payment system, based on the IP used. However, they mostly plan to launch Free 2 Play titles, in order to have as many people as possible play their games. With all this, Nintendo plans to “significantly increase My Nintendo membership”.
In fact, this is their main (and pretty ambitious) objective: have as many people as possible become My Nintendo members, for the reasons mentioned above. Nintendo’s objective? Reach 100 million members worldwide as soon as possible. For Tatsumi Kimishima, the bigger My Nintendo is, “the greater the enjoyment and value” Nintendo will be able to provide to users.
Source: Nintendo