Filed under: Gaming, Rumors, iTunes, iPhone
Rumor mill: Nintendo licensing iPhone games
The rumors are flying about gaming giant Nintendo licensing "a limited amount of content" for the iPhone, and the rumors all seem to point back to this post over on a site called No Heat. They name no sources (of course), but they say that these Nintendo games will show up on the iTunes store at $29, and say that the games will "cater to an older audience."Now, if anyone is going to provide great gaming content on the iPhone, Nintendo would be a good fit-- with the touchscreen, they've already got some great properties set up on the DS (Brain Age would be a great fit, and of course all of their famous licenses). There are lots of great input methods that I'm sure Nintendo would love to take advantage of.
But $29.99 is a steep price for a mobile entertainment game, even if it's Mario. Super Nintendo games are running about $10 on the Wii's Virtual Console, so either a) Nintendo is going to make iPhone owners pay through the nose, b) the games will be DS quality-- because $29 is about what you'd find a new DS game for, or c) No Heat is making it all up, and this is just another product of the iPhone rumor mill.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
derek said 11:35PM on 6-19-2007
i think they are making it up
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Michael R Johnson said 12:02AM on 6-20-2007
Though I will not be getting an iPhone for at *least* two years (Just got a Moto Q), I would LOVE to have some of the classic 8-bit Nintendo games from my childhood on an iPhone, as would many others my age, I'm sure.
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hopmad said 12:04AM on 6-20-2007
Most likely not true. But ... if Apple did get into gaming on the iPhone remeber it has a built-in acceleromator gizmo that could be used in theory like the Wii-remote. That would be cool to turning the iPhone left and right like a steering wheel playing Need4Speed!
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hopmad said 12:10AM on 6-20-2007
I agree most likely false hope. BUT , ..... if iPhone was into gaming, it would be cool to utilize the acceleromator built in the iPhone and create games around this new form of input device. Very similar to the Wii-Remote.
imagine playinf a driving game with the iPhone as the steering wheel.
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Fritz Laurel said 12:12AM on 6-20-2007
Whether the story is true or not, I think this would be a great platform for games and eventually GPS "meet up" type apps.
Personally, though, there hasn't been a Nintendo game that I've been moved to play in over 15 years. As an aside, I did hear talk of someone who took an Xbox 360 and put it in a laptop case. Now, there's a mobile gaming platform I'd be all over.
And yes, $29 for vintage software is way too steep. I'm all for repurposing assets, but come on.
Cheers,
FL
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z said 12:23AM on 6-20-2007
this is utter BS .. sad that it even made this blog .. the phone will be out soon calm down .. there are 2 give aways folks .. no SDK .. you would have to control via telepathy ... or what they are going to redesign the control interface...i guess im just as pathetic for commenting on it.
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Quix said 12:24AM on 6-20-2007
I don't buy this rumor at all. Nintendo is the Apple of the gaming console world. They want complete control of their hardware + software. I just can't see them licensing anything for non-Nintendo hardware, especially when the DS is such a huge seller for them.
But I have been wishing for years for some kind of Nintendo/Apple partnership.
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samfish said 12:35AM on 6-20-2007
This news hasn't even been circling the video game blogs (furthermore news sites), so I wouldn't put much stock in it.
Sure, the iPhone is more advanced than the DS is, but if Nintendo did this, they'd practically be competing with themselves.
It would also mark the first time Nintendo has ever REALLY gone 3rd party, I believe.
Still, if anyone could make a good game on the iPhone, it'd be Nintendo.
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Eugenio Rdz. Moragrega said 12:47AM on 6-20-2007
I'm sorry but how will you play? There are not arrows or anything to move.
I think this rumor is false.
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tony Roberto Zorzi Silva said 1:13AM on 6-20-2007
i pay 29 for that mario game in the picture ... awesome ..
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Rafael said 2:41AM on 6-20-2007
Interesting!
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Thomas said 2:58AM on 6-20-2007
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdavies/392115464/
You could easily wack buttons on it, but then you have to deal with losing a lot of the screen. Also, I dont think I would like no tactile feedback on games.
And to the guy who mentioned SDK, there is a possibility that big companies can go straight to Apple and get it sorted out. Surely there is a difference between big companies and smaller developer teams.
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MajorMauser said 6:03AM on 6-20-2007
This is wild if true.
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Steinr said 6:11AM on 6-20-2007
Definate C!
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MajorMauser said 6:20AM on 6-20-2007
From info that I gathered the iPhone MAY rumble or provide some vibrating feedback with each key or icon press.
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Shaun McLane said 6:55AM on 6-20-2007
Wario Ware would be great.
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Dan K said 9:33AM on 6-20-2007
So what now, the games are gonna run in Safari? Because that is the only way non stock apps are going to be able to run according to the nice man who first showed us Time Machine.
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Monolife said 9:35AM on 6-20-2007
And undercut their own champion, the DS? I know Nintendo has made some mistakes in the past (hi, Playstation), but I'd like to believe they're a smarter company now.
Wouldn't mind old school Mario though. And Contra..*sigh*
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o01frog said 10:13AM on 6-20-2007
If you think about this in the right light, this would be a fantastic move for Nintendo. (At least, in terms of the American market) From the article, the games are going to be "exclusive", and "cater to an older audience", this leads me to believe they would be in the Touch! Generations category, (Brain age, sudoku, Nintendogs, etc.) and not include Mario, Metriod, Zelda, etc.
Putting these games on the iPhone allows Nintendo to reach the 'older' generations of people like they have in Japan, without having to battle their 'kiddie' image in America. Yes, it would 'undercut' sales of the DS, but game software is where the real money is. A lot of people getting the iPhone are likely not going to be DS owners anyway [those that are probably wouldn't say no to exclusive nintendo software, so it doesn't really matter], and after dropping $600 on a phone, would probably be fairly willing to drop another $29 on a version of Brain Training/Sudoku or something.
Also, since the touch generations games are controlled almost entirely with the stylus, the lack of tactile buttons on the iPhone is not an issue.
And personally, just to re-iterate what Shaun McLane said, warioware twisted and touch would be fantastic additions to the game lineup.
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Greg G said 12:24PM on 6-20-2007
I just said the other day that an alliance between Nintendo and Apple would be a great idea. Nintendo has a lot of Nintendo-Only titles that people love, and they offer a number of other games. Plus, I already use my Wii controller on my Mac.
As for the iPhone, I hope so. This would lead to other ways to develop for the iPhone as well: make your program, and sell it over iTunes. Once again, however, this cuts out businesses that want to design their own software, but I suppose they can use Web Apps for everything they would need.
I hope this is one of those rumors that turns out to be true =P
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