Nintendo: Making mobile games 'flies in the face of what we believe in' [Interview]

The maker of Mario couldn't be in stranger times. As Nintendo prepares for what could be one of its strongest holiday seasons with critically-acclaimed games and the 3DS raring to go, the company expects to report its first financial loss in over 30 years. And let's not forget Nintendo's staunch opinions of mobile and social gaming, which are quickly outpacing Microsoft and Sony as the company's biggest competition.

To get a better sense of what to expect from Nintendo this holiday and why the company refuses to dabble in mobile or social games, we sit down with Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime (pictured below). Spoiler: He's excited, like, really, really excited about the new Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Let's talk holiday releases. We all know what's coming out with Super Mario 3D Land, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Mario Kart 7. What game are you most excited about?

Me personally? It's like asking me which of my children do I love the most. I'm a huge Zelda fan -- my favorite game of all time is Zelda: Link to the Past. One of the benefits of my job is that I get to play games in development. I have a special Wii in my office, and I've been playing Skyward Sword since E3 [in June]. I'm very much looking forward to that game.

As I practiced and got ready to play at Jimmy [Fallon] last night, it rekindled all of the things I love about Zelda. It's puzzle solving, it's the battles, but now with the Wii Motion Plus, every battle is a puzzle to solve. And it's such a big game. The development team said that this is the largest Zelda game that they've ever created.
Super Mario 3D Land
Now, what other parts of the holiday lineup--maybe not necessarily Nintendo releases--are you excited about?

Let's talk a little bit about 3DS. So, I've been playing Super Mario 3D Land [picture above]--another one of my advantages: I get the games early. And that game is fantastic. That is a game that the 3DS was built for. [That's] in terms of taking advantage of the different viewpoints, different ways of navigating to fight Bowser and save the princess.

From a non-Nintendo standpoint this holiday, I think what Activision has done with Skylanders is really innovative. And that's a game that plays extremely well--the 3DS version plays well, the Wii version plays well. So, I'm looking forward to playing Call of Duty. I play all the games, [and] I make sure that I spend time on competitive systems as well.

What are you playing on the competitive systems?

So, I've played Battlefield [3] on the home consoles, I've played it on PC. I've played some Gears of War to see how that played, I played a little Resistance [3]. You know, I think it's important for me to have knowledge, insight on everything that's coming out. I got to see Skyrim at E3, and I'm looking forward to seeing that. But I try to get my hands on everything.

Reggie Fils-AimeHow is Nintendo catering to the casual gamers this holiday? It seems like a lot of the releases of the past few months have been for the hardcore Nintendo fan.

In terms of the more casual gamer, I would highlight a number of things that we're doing. First, from a third party perspective you've got Just Dance 3, Zumba Fitness, so there continues to be new, fresh content for the more casual user. Second thing I would highlight is we recently introduced the line of Nintendo Selects, so these are highest quality, strong selling games now being made available for $19.99. Included in that lineup is the original Wii Sports, so for consumers that bought hardware over the last year or so that didn't come included with Wii Sports, that product is available. But also Super Paper Mario, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Mario Galaxy--I mean, some great, high quality titles that for maybe a new-to-the-Wii buyer, those products are available.

The last thing I would highlight, in terms of content for the more casual consumer, would be the new Kirby game that just came out last month. Classic Kirby: inhaling enemies, picking up new abilities, so I think there's great content out there for the casual gamer. In fact, I think that's what makes Nintendo different, if you will, is this holiday, we've got content for every type of gamer. If you're more active, great. You've got Zelda, Call of Duty on our platform, there's great content for you. But if you're wanting more casual content, great: Just Dance 3, Zumba Fitness, you know, even Black Eye Peas: The Experience.

Speaking of casual, since the 3DS has released it's been largely a system that seems to attract the, like I said, hardcore Nintendo fan. What would you say are Nintendo's plans to increase the appeal to casual gamers for the 3DS?

Well, our two big holiday titles for this year will certainly broaden the audience. Everyone loves Mario, [and] everyone loves to play Mario Kart [pictured below]. And the way those experiences are tailor-made for the 3DS certainly will continue expanding the base. As we look to next year, Mario & Sonic at the London Olympic Games is coming out on 3DS early next year--that's gonna' continue to broaden. But my expectation is that, come E3, I think we'll be showcasing a range of different titles that, for a more casual consumer, they'll see reasons to jump on board with the Nintendo 3DS.

We've heard that digital transactions are coming to the 3DS, which is pretty big news. How those transactions will work exactly?

In terms of what the next system update will allow, it will allow developers to sell add-on content, and whether that's for a physical game or a digitally released game. In terms of how it will work, it's up to the developer whether they want to make it to buy new levels, new items--all of that is up to their imagination. Essentially, what we're doing is creating the framework for those transactions to happen.

The digital business on the 3DS is very strong, and it's not only the gaming content we're making available through the eShop, but the video content we're making available through Nintendo Video. So, it's already a robust environment and the Nintendo 3DS is our most connected device ever, which is great.

Will Nintendo ever release digital upgrades or add-ons to its games?

We're interested in it to the extent that it makes sense to the consumer. And it's interesting: I've had this conversation with a number of our key developers, and their mentality is, "Reggie, when we sell a game, we want the consumer to feel that they've had a complete experience." Now, in addition, if we want to make other things available, great, and we'll look at that. But what we're unwilling to sell a piece of a game upfront and, if you will, force a consumer to buy more later. That's what they don't want to do, and I completely agree. I think the consumer wants to get, for their money, a complete experience, and then we have opportunities to provide more on top of that.

So, are we speaking to the free-to-play space, in terms of you download the game and pay a dollar for in-game items?

All I'm saying is--your question was--will Nintendo participate in this additional digital content? And the answer is yes, but the way that we'll do it is that whatever we sell initially, we will feel that that is a complete experience. And if that's all the consumer wants to do, that they'd be satisfied.
Mario Kart 7
While we're on the 3DS, it's tough to ignore the launch and the price cut that happened over the summer. What is the number one thing that the 3DS needs to succeed on the same level as the DS Lite?

Content. It's all about the content, and we're gratified when we see reviews for Super Mario 3D Land, for example, giving it a perfect score. We are gratified when we saw that with the launch of Ocarina of Time in 3D. It's those types of games that make the 3DS a must-have piece of hardware. It reaffirmed for us that lesson that software drives hardware, and that the launch and ongoing for the system to be effective, you need to have titles to drive the install base.

President Iwata says Nintendo will be exploring new types of games with the 3DS. Can you tell me more about that?

For all of the success we've had with DS, 50 million units here in the U.S., content with a bit more of an edge from key third party publishers really never came to the platform--handful of exceptions. So, one of the first things that will differentiate the 3DS is that we are getting that type of content. And probably the best example of that is the Resident Evil game that will come out next year from Capcom. Beautiful game, and if you love Resident Evil, it's everything that you want.

In terms of other genres, absolutely we will continue to push the envelope with new, unique, differentiated experiences that you can only get on the Nintendo 3DS and that widen the consumer demographic. So, will there be content to appeal to consumers 50 plus the way Brain Age did? Absolutely. Will there be content that's going to appeal to women the way we are able to do with the DS? Absolutely. I can't go into the details of what exactly those titles will be, but stay tuned. There is information that we'll be sharing prior to E3, plus a lot of information at E3 as well.

Pokemon Say TapA recent Bloomberg report says investors want Nintendo to make mobile games. When Pokémon Say Tap was announced for iPhone, Nintendo stock prices spiked. Then, when people learned the game was not from Nintendo, the stock fell back to normal numbers. What do you think about that investor feedback?

First, we're an entertainment company. We don't make devices for the sake of making devices. We make our hardware in order to bring great entertainment experiences to life. Whether that's the DS, the Wii or the 3DS--or even back to the NES and the SNES--that's our philosophy. Therefore, the concept of having our core franchises on other systems really flies in the face of what we believe in, and that's because by understanding the hardware, that's how we're able to bring these great experiences forward.

The two great examples of this, coming this holiday, are Skyward Sword for Wii and Super Mario 3D Land for 3DS. You know, we've made the same development tools available to everybody else creating content for the platforms. But no one has created a game like Skyward Sword that fully leverages the Wii Motion Plus technology in a traditional gamer experience. It hasn't been done before, and this is going to be [the Wii's] sixth holiday.

For the 3DS, people are saying that [Super Mario 3D Land] is the game that the system was built for. And it's because we understand how to maximize the experience. So, I think those are great examples of why we believe that our content can best be brought to life on our hardware. And by following that strategy, in the end, it's the best for our investors.

Companion apps are huge, and Nintendo just announced that the 3DS eShop is coming to iOS and web. Have there been talks about expanding that approach of companion apps to games?

We consider a lot of things, and we'll continue to drive a lot of experimentation not just with Facebook or things that we do from a PC website standpoint. We want to make it easy for all of our fans to be connected to the key franchises they love and the experiences they love. So, we're constantly looking at everything. But in the end, the full game experiences will be brought to life, at least from a first party perspective, on our hardware.

A recent Flurry study says iOS and Android have taken 58 percent of the portable gaming market. So if Nintendo isn't interested in entering that space how does the company plan to keep up with this new competition?

First, I haven't seen the study, and Flurry is a company that consults app developers. So, as we look at our range of companies where we trust their data, and they have a methodology that makes sense--I just can't speak to the data. And I can't speak to the motivations of the company, as they are not a pure research firm. Having said that, the way that we compete is that we compete with our franchises, we compete with our differentiated experiences and we compete by giving the consumer the best value for their money. Nintendo has always been a mass market company. Even from back in the days of the NES, we always want as many consumers to jump into this industry that we love called video games, and to maximize the breadth of our reach. And the only way we can do that is great games, great experiences, differentiated experiences at a great value.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Nintendo President Iwata says every measure will be taken to ensure that the Wii U is a success. What does the Wii U need to succeed when it arrives in 2012?

The Wii U has to deliver a differentiated experience that can only be brought to bear through the use of these two screens. If all we do is a beautiful game in HD, it's been done before. We have to take advantage of the second screen, we need to take advantage of the connectivity that the system will offer and, if we do that, we believe that we will yet again disrupt the market the same way we with DS and Wii.

We've heard murmurs that people are calling Zelda: Skyward Sword the swan song for the Wii. Is there any truth to that?

Well, it is certainly true that the Wii is not over. I was the one who was asked the question originally, and I think some comments were taken out of context. So, what I can say is that there certainly will be more games launched for the Wii. And what I can say is that we believe there are still millions more systems to be sold. And I can say that the Wii will coexist side by side beside the Wii U for some period of time.

I think for any game to compare to Skyward Sword, I think is gonna be a tough challenge. All the reviews aren't out yet, but I counted this morning there are eight perfect scores. I don't know if there's going to be a video game in history that's going to be able to compare to Skyward Sword. So, to clarify my comments on this, there will be more games for the Wii, we'll sell more hardware for the Wii and it will coexist side by side to the Wii U. All those things I can commit to, but I can't commit that there's going to be another game that will score and be of the caliber of Skyward Sword. I don't think there's been one to date.

The Sims creator reveals HiveMind, and we'll have what he's having

Seriously, you'll want to know what he's eating (or otherwise) after reading this VentureBeat exclusive. Will Wright, the man behind both classic city-builder SimCity and family-builder The Sims has revealed HiveMind. Also the name of Wright's new startup, the game designer calls HiveMind a new evolution in games: "personal gaming," according to VentureBeat.

From what's gathered in the terribly cryptic, nebulous announcement, HiveMind will be a mobile social game that will possibly launch on Facebook as well. The point of the game, in theory, is to further connect gamers to reality and enhance their experience by personalizing game play. But don't call it an augmented reality app.

"Rather than craft a game like FarmVille for players to learn and play, we learn about you and your routines and incorporate that into a form of game play," Wright said to VentureBeat. Later Wright said, "If we can learn enough about the player, we can create games about their real life. How do we get you more engaged in reality rather than distract you from it?"

Alright, so that sounds a lot like augmented reality (and nothing like what we first heard about). But services like Foursquare largely serve to distract players from the world around them. According to Wright's vague description of HiveMind, the game will actually help players be a part of interesting happenings around them.

"This has to do with where gaming is going," Wright told the website. "We had our eras in console gaming and social gaming. A lot of this personal gaming will happen on mobile devices. The question here is how can we learn enough about the player to create games about his or her real life." Alright Will, time to give us the hook up.

Bejeweled is new and improved on iOS, while Blitz goes solo for free

Your second life of destroying shiny gems to techno music is about to enter its next chapter. Social and casual game maker PopCap announced that it has re-released Bejeweled to the App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch in a brand new, much-improved app. This new hotness is said to sport Retina Display graphics, new game modes including Zen Mode from Bejeweled 3 and more.

More like a Diamond Mine mode pulled right from Bejeweled 3 as well, personal leaderboards and support for multiple player profiles and several achievement badges with four levels each (bronze, silver, gold and platinum). However, there is one catch: You're going to have to download the game again for $.99, as this game is officially replacing Bejeweled 2 + Blitz on the App Store. We know, we were shocked too, but who are you kidding? You and I both know you're already in the App Store.

Besides, it's not as if PopCap didn't include two new play modes and high-resolution graphics or anything. As for the Facebook-connected Bejeweled Blitz? It's now a stand-alone freemium game on the App Store, meaning you can play the game for absolutely free, but you have the option to purchase additional power-ups to boost your ranking among friends. (However, we're guessing that this change will introduce the Hearts system to this version of the game, which is a bummer.) In short, it's just like the Facebook game, but in your phone. The future is awesome, we know. Both games are slowly rolling out today.

Are you down with buying another version of Bejeweled for your iOS device, given the new features introduced? Where do you play Bejeweled Blitz more: on your phone or on Facebook?

FarmVille for iPhone is faster than ever, but misses the point

Until recently, iOS has been a thorn in Zynga's side since it launched FarmVille on Apple's iPhone in June 2010. It was a brilliant concept at launch, but the game was nearly unplayable until the company finally released Version 2.0 this past March. Admittedly, it's still littered with loading bugs and out-of-sync errors are almost expected upon planting too many crops at once. But for every improvement and every glitch, Zynga is missing a golden opportunity with FarmVille for iOS.

For all intents and purposes, FarmVille for iPhone is a way to play the game when you're not in front of the computer screen. Unfortunately, what functionality the game does serve stops there. (Considering the amount of limitations dropped on you when playing on iPhone.) But even if Zynga were to introduce the ability to visit friends who don't play FarmVille on iOS, it still wouldn't be enough. Simply put, FarmVille for iOS, for being a social game, takes no advantages of being on a mobile device.

iPhone gamingThis is where Zynga would do well to take a cue from Nintendo and its 3DS, which through SpotPass and StreetPass can play games with nearby handhelds. The iPhone--and most smartphones, for that matter--have two unique advantages over standard PCs: being extremely mobile and aware of their surroundings. The latter means that through technologies like geo-location or even Bluetooth, devices like the iPhone can recognize and report their exact location in reference to their surroundings, most notably other phones. Just look at iPhone apps like Bump, which uses Bluetooth to find other devices nearby and shares contact information. Is there any reason why FarmVille for iPhone couldn't use the same technology?

Of course it would be a difficult feat, but not really. A scenario: You're waiting in line at mall to buy that hot new shirt you just picked up on clearance. Like any self-respecting FarmVille fan, you pop out the iPhone and start playing only to be greeted with a pop-up that reads "There are three farmers near you right now. Would you like to become their friend?" You click "Accept" and then check off the names of those nearby to add them as Facebook friends. Seconds later, you're visiting their farm and fertilizing their crops before it's even your turn in line.

Better yet, you're on the train and, while playing FarmVille, you receive a pop-up message that reads, "Calling all nearby farmers! My Chickens need to be fed! Can you help me?" Mind you, this player in need isn't even your friend, but a nearby farmer used the Bluetooth or even 3G connection in their phone to broadcast a message to nearby FarmVille players. You can help them just that once and be done with it or it could spark a conversation, and hopefully a new friendship (beyond Facebook, of course). This was the original goal of PC-based social games, no?

FarmVille for iPad
Developers and players alike have been crying out for a more organically social experience through Facebook games. Well, here it is folks. Connecting with those immediately around you is about as organic as social gets, but this is impossible in not only FarmVille for iOS, but all Zynga games for mobile devices. So, what are we waiting for? Organic social connections through Facebook gaming simply isn't happening on a wide scale through standard PCs and browsers. What's worse is that it likely never will given the immense profits sucked from the current model. Mobile is where social games will truly become social, and Zynga better hop on it fast before the horde of developers (in a distant second place) do.

[Image Credits: UTNE and AppAdvice]

Are you satisfied with FarmVille for iOS as is? Would you want to play it more if features like these were introduced to the game?

PapayaMobile's mobile social game network gets friendly with iOS

OpenFeint and Mobage might want to watch out ... or get a delicious fruit in their logo somehow. Beijing-based PapayaMobile announced that it has expanded its mobile social game network from Android to iOS devices. iPhone and iPad game developers can now incorporate PapayaMobile into their game much like they would OpenFeint or Apple's Game Center.

But not only that, developers can create their own social games from scratch through PapayaMobile's Social Game Engine, and launch said games across both iOS and Android devices at once. PapayaMobile's social game network works across both iOS and Android. This means that if a mobile game uses PapayaMobile on both its iOS and Android versions, players can issue challenges, send game invitations, view leaderboards and more between both versions of the game.

PapayaMobile's main goal is to connect both Android and iOS gamers through a single network, something that can't be said for most mobile social game networks (well, aside from OpenFeint). Surely PapayaMobile hopes this cross-platform move will boost its player base of over 30 million. It looks like the mobile social games arena just met a new challenger.

Well, make that a few new challengers. The first games to hit iOS with PapayaMobile include X-City by Aidi Game, Contagion by 2Clams, and Burger Joint by Arctic Empire. Something tells us Facebook missed a golden opportunity with Connect.

Do you think there's room for another mobile social games network? Which network do you prefer using right now with your mobile games?

OpenFeint powers Chinese mobile social game network Game Zone

Google and the Chinese government have a ... tenuous relationship. And mobile social gaming, namely Android gaming, has suffered as a result. Amidst frequent shutouts of the official Android Market in China, Chinese game company The9 has announced Game Zone, an OpenFeint-powered mobile social game network and distribution channel.

Through Game Zone, Western mobile social game makers can hit Chinese mobile game audiences across 30 Android app stores other than the Android Market. The service was made possible by deals The9 made with all three major Chinese mobile carriers: China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom. The deals also allow Game Zone to be preinstalled on Lenovo, HTC, and Motorola Android phones.

While The9 will fund smaller American and European Android game creators through the $100 million-strong Fund9, it's the big league creators that might benefit most from this. PopCap recently announced that Plants vs Zombies will shuffle toward Chinese audiences, which is joined by Rovio's Angry Birds. Several Zynga games have launched in China, and perhaps this opportunity will nudge similar moves by the social game giant on Android.

We often talk about how Japan's mobile social game companies are encroaching upon Western audiences. It looks like the inverse is happening in China, where Western mobile and social game makers are looking to tap into their audience. It makes you wonder why Chinese game companies have yet to try the same at such a scale.

Would Western game companies be smart to enter China through products like Game Zone? When, if ever, will Chinese social game companies push as hard into the West as Japanese companies?