Miitomo Stories January 25
Nintendo is shutting down ‘Miitomo’ social network/game on May 9th
Nintendo had a great year in 2017 on top of the success of its Switch console, but rewind just a year or two and the company wasn’t in a very good place. To supplement its struggling console business, Nintendo finally started experimenting with smartphone apps, and its first, “Miitomo,” is now shutting down.
Miitomo Stories April 27, 2016
Having already released its first mobile game Miitomo, a bespoke social networking game, Nintendo is now teasing the next round of games headed to mobile devices. Notably, unlike Miitomo, these are going to be versions of existing successful Nintendo franchises: Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem.
Although Animal Crossing is not quite on the same podium as Super Mario, it is still major first-party intellectual property for Nintendo to release on non-Nintendo consoles for the first time. The new smartphone and tablet titles are expected to be released later this year, around October.
Miitomo Stories March 29, 2016
Nintendo’s first Android game Miitomo will launch in US & other countries on March 31
Update: The Miitomo app is now available on the Play Store.
The game is already available in Japan— that’s how Jeff managed to go hands-on in our first look video earlier this month— but today Nintendo confirmed that its first smartphone game, Miitomo, will officially arrive in the US on March 31st.
The game isn’t exactly bringing over any of Nintendo’s very popular first party franchises to Android devices, but it does feature known Mii characters and, as we noted in our review, the release feels very much like a Nintendo title:
When you first start Miitomo, it’s immediately recognizable as a Nintendo title. It feels like someone took my Nintendo Wii and shrunk it down to fit inside of my iPhone 6s. The music and sound effects, most notably, are of the characteristic Nintendo style. The Miis themselves look just like the Miis on the game-maker’s handheld and home consoles. The writing — witty, with just a hint of corniness thrown in for good measure — is classic Nintendo.
Nintendo noted in its press release today that Miitomo was downloaded over a million times in the first three days after launch in Japan and it also managed to become the #1 most downloaded free app in both the App Store and Google Play.
While Nintendo didn’t mention other countries by name today, it did say that “several other countries” will receive the title on the 31st alongside users in the US.
Check out our review of the game on our sister site 9to5Mac from earlier this month to get a first look before it officially arrives in the US and other countries on the 31st.
