Nintendo has been a household name for ages. The Nintendo Entertainment System brought video games to a whole new generation. Some of us can still recall the midi-style music that accompanied the games. In a world where technology is moving as fast as the people, consoles are having to stretch to catch up. Even Nintendo is getting into the mobile scene with the Mario Kart 8 mobile app.
With more AAA companies casting their eyes towards mobile, people wonder what Nintendo will do in the future. In a way, Nintendo already has a great start with the Wii U. Sure, people say that it’s a failure and that the gamepad is a gimmick. But it allows developers to expand their gameplay. The gamepad is a localized tablet. It would not be too much of a stretch for Nintendo to cast its eye on the mobile market.
A Headstart
With the Wii U gamepad, Nintendo already has a leg up on what extending a game past the console can do. For those who have never had the change to play with a game on the Wii U, they are playable on the gamepad alone (if the developer adds the functionality). While the gamepad must be within range of the console, it isn’t too far-fetched to imagine what Nintendo could do if someone used a tablet with wi-fi or mobile internet.
With the Nintendo Network ID (NNID) system, there is so much that Nintendo could do with tablets and smartphones to easily enter the gaming market. The first step is to allow cross-buy purchases. If a purchase is made via the Nintendo eShop, it should be available over all supported platforms. From there, a simple app to allow these downloads wouldn’t be too complicated.
Get Rid of Distance for Gamepad
Giving the gamepad the ability of being truly mobile like a tablet could open up the Wii U and Nintendo to a new world of remote gaming. This aspect would give them an edge on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Imagine being able to take your gamepad anywhere and being able to remote access your Wii U and play any of the games. This would be a win for not only Nintendo, but also third-party developers who would love to join the mobile market but their games are a smidge too big to run on current devices.
These are just a few options that Nintendo could take to allow the mobile market to boost Nintendo back into a prominent spotlight that isn’t seen in such a negative light. So far, Nintendo has declined any idea about pushing into the new industry space. With E3 around coming up, this would be the best time for Nintendo to truly analyze going mobile.
Published: May 8, 2014 12:41 am