As both a Nintendo fan, and an Apple fan, seeing Miyamoto walk onstage during an iPhone keynote was pretty incredible.
I was on board with the Big N’s foray into mobile gaming from the outset.
Now, three games and a weird social sim later, the partnership with DeNA has proved to be an interesting one.
Development on these iPhone and Android games is sure taking longer than anyone expected, with the set of 5 games from the DeNA partnership still incomplete after multiple delays.
Miitomo turned out as a fun take on social media and online interaction, but was nowhere near snappy enough to have staying power. Social apps are all about long feeds and quick interactions. When tapping Like (or “Yeah” – whatever Nintendo is calling it) takes 15 seconds, it discourages users from coming back.
They’re mobile efforts are bogged down by long loading times, and assets that live on servers rather than the user’s device.
This is not how mobile gaming is supposed to be, and it’s certainly not how social media is supposed to be.
Instant startup followed by a few quick wins. That’s all we usually have time for on our phones.
If there is more time, I’m likely to turn on my Switch instead.
