WiiFree: Nintendo developing Free-to-Play titles too
With both Sony and Microsoft thumping their chests and announcing to the world their Free-to-Play intentions, Nintendo has quietly been telling investors they do indeed have plans to introduce their own console specific F2P titles.
Now I am going to stop you right there. Nintendo has already made it very clear they have no intentions of making F2P games based on their already popular series. This means no F2P Mario games or Pokemon MMOs. Saddening I know. In an analyst briefing, Satoru Iwata the company's CEO, mentioned series like Mario and Pokemon already have an established degree of trust between Nintendo and the consumers who are willing to pay for them.
Instead the company wants to focus on making F2P titles "whose value consumers are yet to understand". In short, this means taking a series which may be brand new and tailoring it for F2P. While it may be no surprise Nintendo plans on using the WII U as a platform for its F2P games, the company also listed the 3DS as another F2P recipient.
So what will be the developer's first F2P title? According to IGN it's Steel Driver, a 3DS launch title that was originally released last year. The game is said to be more than a simple port and will be designed with the Free-to-Play model in mind. Currently there is no word on whether Steel Driver will remain a 3DS title or if it will be getting the Wii treatment.
Overall, Nintendo's plan seems to revolve around offering monetized Free-to-Play games that are "balanced and reasonable". The company says it will be able to make more "concrete propositions" within this fiscal year.
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Michael Dunaway has been part of the MMOBomb team for years and has covered practically every major Free-to-Play MMO title since 2009.
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~~~ just like what they did to Monster Hunter Online (which was F2P and supposedly to be Global, but it's not CN only)
Because Western Market blocked it so they can sell more of their console versions.
I think Nintendo is just trying to stay 'relevant' and 'in the market' more than actually caring what they are doing at this point, and it shows.
Hellz yeah!
Maybe if there was 5 consoles on the market there would be more of a console war.
Nintendo will always have there fans regardless of the games they publish even if the fans dont buy there console.
F*ck Mario online, give us zelda online some thing that would be worthy of an MMO title for nintendo. Sorry to any zelda fan boys that dont think zelda should make it to the MMO market but its been wished for, for years.
Now, that's something they really need, because Nintendo is hardly a competitor in the "hardcore gfx" war, but it's direction is making up for it (and the wya it looks, multi-console gamers will be getting a PS4 and a WiiU rather than the Xbone)