Nintendo has been a name within the video game industry for so many years, it’s practically become synonymous with the market. Sure, Nintendo has seen better days and there are a lot of different areas where the company could probably improve, but that doesn’t change the lasting effect Nintendo has had on so many different people.
Nintendo, for all of its strengths, has turned a blind eye to a lot of different elements that have, without their help, captured the attention of millions of people across the globe. Online gaming is one of those things. Nintendo still seems to be afraid of it, and that’s certainly not helping them. Microsoft and Sony have shown how powerful connecting players can be, and Nintendo is still balking at the idea. (They’re finally coming around, but it’s still not anywhere it needs to be.)
Another area that Nintendo could have capitalized on a long time ago is mobile. Instead, they’ve let the (admittedly great) 3DS portable gaming console carry the weight. Nintendo has seen way more success with the 3DS lineup than Sony has seen with its Vita, but that doesn’t mean that Nintendo has been missing a blatant opportunity.
Sony tried, but unfortunately it didn’t work out all that well. (Their vision was not broad enough.) And Microsoft, well, they’re missing the leverage of their Xbox Live platform in a major way, but that’s apparently not going to change anytime soon.
Nintendo, though, is a company that has built a name for games that people play while on the go, and launching titles for smartphones is something they should have been doing for a long time now. And, in this case, it’s definitely better to be late than never show up.
This year, Nintendo announced that it’s bringing at least seven different titles to mobile platforms, Android and iOS, and that the first of the list will launch by the end of 2015. There’s a lot to be looking forward to, even if we don’t know much about the titles themselves just yet.
And, ultimately, I don’t even care how many Nintendo launches, just as long as they’re bringing games to my smartphone. I love the 3DS, but I don’t want to carry around another device these days, and I play games on my phone more than ever before. I want to play Nintendo games, and now they’re finally going to let me do that from my phone.
Nintendo has earned a huge fan all over again.
Of course, I could be jumping for joy here too much and too soon, because the games that Nintendo launches could be something I don’t want to play. It’s certainly possible. But, at least it’s a start and at least it’s finally happening.
Finally.