We already reported that Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, announced the latest financial results for the company. But during that announcement, he also gave us a little bit more information about Nintendo’s plans for mobile game development (and who will be in charge of it).
It has been reported that the producer of the Mario Kart series is being appointed to helm Nintendo’s development of mobile gaming apps. While no specific name was mentioned, it is assumed that this is referring to Hideki Konno. He is the current producer of the series and has been producing the Mario Kart games since the Nintendo DS entry in the franchise. He then went on to produce Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8. His apparent appointment to this job shows that Nintendo intends to develop mobile games with the same developers they use for their console lineup of titles. And, as Iwata himself said, “It should help you understand the level of commitment from Nintendo.”
You may recall that it was first announced back in March that Nintendo is teaming up with mobile dev DeNA to create mobile gaming apps, as well as a new membership service for Nintendo. Hopefully they won’t do too much of the micro transactions stuff that has become so prevalent with regard to mobile apps. I think Nintendo has been doing a pretty good job with handling DLC for their console games, such as Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. and Hyrule Warriors. Most of their DLC packs have been significant and well worth the price tag.
We will have to wait and see what Nintendo’s first mobile apps will be and how they will do. Hopefully, under the watchful eye of Hideki Konno, they will make good mobile gaming apps for Nintendo fans to enjoy.
