Author: dpugh007

Nintendo’s first smartphone game, Miitomo, came out this year and is closing in on 15 million unique users, the company announced as part of its earnings briefing this week. This is up from 10 million users at the end of April.

Though it’s reached millions of players, the game is not a big-time money-maker, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said. “This title has not been impactful from a profit perspective, but the trends have been largely according to our expectations,” he explained.

Kimishima went on to say that the goal of Nintendo’s smartphone business is to launch titles that help expand the profile of its franchises. Not only that, but they should make money.

“Of course, we also expect the smart device business to be profitable on its own, while generating synergy with our dedicated video game systems to maximize the potential of Nintendo’s overall business strategies,” he said.

Miitomo is just the first smartphone game from Nintendo; Super Mario Run comes up next in December, while Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing titles will be out by the end of March 2017. These games were expected to launch before the end of 2016, but were delayed after Super Mario Run was announced.

Kimishima also teased the future of Miitomo, one part of which is a connection to Super Mario Run.

“We are making preparations to allow friend relationships from Miitomo to be carried over to Super Mario Run,” he said. “Since Super Mario Run has a mode where you can compete with other players, this means that active communication with your family and friends in Miitomo will lead to even more fun moments in Super Mario Run.”

Additionally, a “major” update for Miitomo is in the works that will “completely transform” the app by “making communication with your friends even more fun.” The update will add “unique message features” that allow players to make use of their Mii character’s facial expressions and voice in messages to friend. “Additional features” are also planned, but these were not specified.

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The Pokemon Go Plus accessory, which you can wear to receive notifications about the mobile game without opening the app, launched in September after a delay. Since then, it’s been difficult to find.

Nintendo, which produces the accessory, has now apologized for the shortages and said it plans to “expand production” to meet demand. President Tatsumi Kimishima said demand for the Plus accessory “far exceeded” the company’s projections, noting that production has failed to catch up.

“We launched the Pokemon Go Plus accessory on September 16 to provide a more comfortable play experience for Pokemon Go,” he said during Nintendo’s earnings briefing this week. “Demand far exceeded our expectations and production has not caught up, leading to product shortages. We apologize to the consumers and distributors affected by this. We are planning to expand production as needed, and will continue to produce and ship additional units.”

The Plus accessory sells for $35.

It was originally supposed to release in July, closer to the launch of Pokemon Go. However, the accessory was delayed. In its pre-sales phase, it sold out and started appearing on eBay for prices upwards of $100–some were even on sale for more than $200.

In more recent news, an update for Pokemon Go last week added new functionality for the Plus accessory. With the update applied, gamers can choose if they want to receive alerts for only Pokemon, Poke Stops, or both. Scanning for both will remain the default setting; in theory this should help you catch as many Pokemon and collect as many Poke Balls, which are found at Poke Stops, as possible. But if you only want to search for one or the other, now you can.

For more on Pokemon Go Plus, you can read GameSpot’s guide that covers everything you need to know.

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Nintendo launched a free demo for Pokemon Sun and Moon earlier this month–and it was popular.

The company announced today that the demo, which arrived on October 18 and was quickly datamined, has already passed 3.5 million downloads. This is good for the ” fastest start for any demo in the history of the Nintendo 3DS system.” This level of interest “shows the breadth of the audience for these games,” Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said.

One reason why the demo might have been so popular could be the Pokemon Go effect. Pokemon Sun and Moon are the first games in the series since the mobile game’s record-setting release in July, and Kimishima acknowledged that Pokemon Go has helped drive increased awareness in the Pokemon brand overall.

“We have included a variety of exciting new features, while also ensuring that it is an approachable title for all kinds of gamers, including people who are experiencing Pokemon for the first time with Pokemon Go,” he said. “As Pokemon has been a hot topic recently, even among people with no game experience, there is fantastic momentum for the release of this latest Pokemon title.”

Preorders for Pokemon Sun and Moon are “showing favorable trends for preorders,” Kimishima said. Preorders for the game are pacing ahead of the last release, Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, particular in the United States and Europe. TV commercials for Pokemon Sun and Moon will start to rollout this weekend, so Kimishima said Nintendo expects that preorders will “continue to accelerate.”

Pokemon Sun and Moon launch on November 18 for 3DS.

In Nintendo’s newest earnings report this week, the company cited Pokemon Go as having helped improve sales of previously released Pokemon games, while also boosting 3DS hardware sales.

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