Well, that was quick, wasn’t it? Like several other of Square Enix’s games, The World Ends With You ($17.99) doesn’t play nice with iOS 8. They’ve been updating their titles one by one, but TWEWY is still in a sad state of disrepair. This past weekend, a whole lot of fans of the game decided they were tired of waiting for the end of the world and emailed Square Enix’s North American support asking when an update was coming to fix it. I was pretty surprised when people started hearing back on Sunday, personally. I can’t speak for how things are set up in the US, but nobody with the information to answer that kind of question fully is going to be in the office on Sunday in Japan.
At any rate, the response everyone got back was not a happy one. It seemed that Square Enix was cruelly going to leave the game on the vine to wither, and advised people to seek refunds if they weren’t able to play it. My initial response was likely similar to many of yours, a little upset and kind of bewildered, especially when word came out that the fix wasn’t all that complicated. Someone even whipped up a patch for jailbroken devices. That got me curious, because while not wanting to go through with a complicated compatibility update might be worth the loss of customer confidence from a pure dollars and cents point of view, I really couldn’t see Square Enix sacrificing their reputation over something that small. I checked the description in the Japanese App Store, and like the English one, it seemed pretty clear they were intending to update it at some point. I decided to contact Square Enix on the other side of the Pacific to see what they had to say.
The response just arrived this morning and while it’s in Japanese, through the magic of sorcery, I can tell you what it says. First, they apologized for how long it’s taking, but said that the update was proving more complex than they had originally anticipated. They can’t provide an exact date when the update will be made available, but it will in no uncertain terms be getting patched. They apologized once again for any confusion about the matter and thanked me for my patience.
So basically, it’s a happy ending for everyone. The World Ends With You will be getting its update, on Square Enix’s schedule, as always. Just as a general rule, when you’re dealing with an international company, it’s best to wait until everyone’s back in the office before getting too upset over any particular response. Now, let’s redirect our torches and pitchforks to getting updates for Final Fantasy 1 ($7.99) and 2!
Wouldn't it make more sense to port Nintendo games to smartphones and not the other way around?
I'd be tempted to buy that special Monster Hunter 3DSXL... but with my MHFU for iOS on my phone, I really don't need to spend $200-300 for it. I'll just be satisfied with my iPhone. BUT I would pay $20-40 for a port of MH4U on iOS. So, it would make way more sense to let me pay for all these games that I won't buy otherwise.
Now that would be the smart move here.
Short answer yes with an 'if' - long answer no with a 'but'.
It would make sense financially to start, but the concern I think is diluting the brand and if Nintendo properties were on Smart Phones, there would be a huge reason removed from folks buying Nintendo hardware.
I'm surprised with the Amiibo+ madness, they are still in such a tough spot.
It's only a matter of time before it gets so bad they have to port their titles to smart phones. They can waste all the money/time they want doing this other crap but because they have shareholders they will have to come to smartphones sooner or later.
If the current Nintendo doesn't port to smart phones, then whoever ends up buying the failed company that used to be Nintendo will take those precious IPs and make a killing on iOS.
$40-$50 is the average price point for a new high profile 3ds game. Sometimes it's worth it but if you can get 30 or more decent mobile games for the same price and on your phone besides, why spend all that money on a Handheld game?
I do it, I love my 3ds, but I completely understand if they're losing profits because of this.
If they would just release a port of one of their older games such as Pokemon firered or Mario Kart 64 for $10, the App Store would blow up and they're make millions.
Not really look at monument valley how the only reason they got most of the downloads is by a free promotion or for free.
Monument Valley made loads of cash - for one hour of playtime. It's not compatible.
*comparable
That's not exactly right.
MV certainly got download spikes from a free promotion on another platform and from a sale on iOS (and the inevitable piracy on both platforms) but they still are the standout success of last year where premium games and paid downloads are concerned.
I would literally amputate something for the reverse to happen and nintendo bring DS games to iOS. Just not my thumbs, because I'll need those.
Got a 3DS when they first came out and really enjoyed playing Mario 3d and Mario Kart 3D. Unfortunately I sold it to Gamestop (tear) a few years back. Every now and again I think about buying a 3DSXL. Maybe I'll save up for one this year.
Same boat here. With all the games I've legitimately purchased on iOS, Steam, and Mac, I can't really justify buying a 3DSXL though. Wish I could play that new Monster Hunter and those Zelda games. But probably won't... unless they come to iOS.
Nintendo's falling profits are due to the console side of the business. They exploded with the Wii, and collapsed with the Wii U. The Wii was an interesting novel device that reached out to millions of people to make console gaming accessible. But the non-nintendo titles were weak because of the difficulty of porting to underpowered hardware.
The mobile side of gaming, however, is still doing gangbusters. Why? Because Nintendo themselves still make great games. You buy a 3DS for the games you can't get anywhere else and enjoy the experience. The profits that side have not flagged. It's also similar to the problems people keep laying at Apple's feet that are not their problems. Apple makes insane profits but they lag behind market share vs windows and Android... because those platforms aren't as profitable but people will buy the low cost alternatives! But it's the people who are willing to buy quality games who will keep nintendo afloat.
What you all want is Nintendo to release mario or zelda on your iPhone. I doubt that will happen, as it will eat into Nintendo's hardware profits and make the spiral worse. However releasing some new titles or side content is a great way for them to get experience and dip their toe in and see if this is a new profit center.
It would be a new profit center if they released quality titles on mobile. Otherwise, if they just release crap, they won't end up profiting a thing. Tough dilemma. Port old titles well and possibly make something. Make new titles that we don't already care about, risk failing. Again.
Unlike the Wii which had only a small handful of quality titles, the Wii U library has been outstanding but Nintendo's marketing continues to be pathetic. It's still unclear to many why they'd want a Wii U and a lot of folks still think the Wii U is just a Wii upgrade or something.
I would love to hear some of their reasoning behind holding back - some of it of course is to keep it to their hardware - but I wonder how much piracy plays into the decision to not go to iOS and Android. (Ex. Monument Valleys recent report on this site.)
Of course - if you are savvy enough - you can play all the old games you want on your device through jailbreaking and rooting - so there is the argument that people are already doing it with the old games... but it's being done with no opportunity for profit for Nintendo they way it's being done now.
The thing for me is - I enjoy Nintendo's games so much - that I would personally put up with some terrible DRM solution (feel free to yell at me for that!) to ensure that I purchased it myself and can be allowed to play it on my device... Maybe when you make the purchase - it has to be tied into a nintendo account to activate the game on your device... whatever. (I'm sure it could be cracked as well... but whatever...) Ocean Horn was great - really great... but honestly - if I could get Windwaker over it... I would in a heartbeat...
These are just my ramblings... but I really hope they take a close look at it and take the leap - I'd personally pay premium for it - cause with Nintendo the quality is worth it.
Piracy is a good argument. But if I wanted to play Ocarina of Time on my iPhone, I could. Got the N64 cart in my closet. However, I'd love to pay them money for a quality port of it. DS games play on iPhones decently now. There's piracy in everything, unfortunately.
I bet if one Zelda one Pokemon and one Mario game were released on ios, they would be the top 3 paid apps for years to come.
Amen ..
I read the title wrong at first and thought they were bringing Ds games to ios, and I nearly jumped through the roof in excitement then I relized they weren't -.- I really think nintendo would be smart to bring some of their games to ios. Like maybe some of the old classics that would make sense to bring to touch.
I've been wondering for a while why handheld consoles still exist. For about £200 you can pick up a great little Android tablet with free games on tap and better ones if you're willing to pay. I think the market that would rather pay £30 for an AAA game is an increasingly niche market.
I love my iPhone and iPad, but...sorry. A dedicated gaming device like a 3DS or Vita is always my preference for actual gaming. My iPhone is a jack of all trades and it can do anything relatively decently. But playing a game like Ocarina of Time, New Super Mario Bros 2, Uncharted, or the like? Sorry...I love my 3DS (and I'll love the improved model I'll have next Friday) and my Vita, and you can pry them out of my cold dead hands. The same way you can pry my dedicated awesome Kindle Paperwhite out of my hands when I want to sit down and read a book; it just does the job better and more reliably.
Maybe it's the touchscreen and maybe I'm showing my age admitting this but controlling a game with actual buttons > touchscreen. Imagine Smash on a touchscreen. Go ahead, I'll wait while your head explodes from the combination of awesome. ^_^ Yes, I could get a controller addon but not all iOS games support that (nor should they) and it's one more thing to lug around. I might as well just bring my 3DS/Vita with instead. :)
I'm still also a fan of physical media, and compatibility. As we saw in some articles here regarding The World Ends With You, every iOS update breaks some games. How many months has it been since iOS 8 came out and freaking GHOST TRICK still won't run? My 3DS happily chugs along playing all my DS and 3DS games (including Ghost Trick) with whatever system update comes out. I'd rather not have my ability to continue playing a game depend on patch after patch trying to fix those issues. It'd be like...like Android developers having to create multiple versions of their apps for different versions. Oh, wait...
So I'll be enjoying playing Smash or the remastered Majora's Mask next Friday on my sweet new New 3DS, while my iPhone streams Netflix or plays podcasts as usual.
That's great you are obsessed with the 3ds. The vita and 3ds suck in terms of portability compared to an iPhone. I along with many others would much rather whip out a Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon game on my phone, where ever I am and be able to play for 5-60 mins at a time. Much better then carrying around a 3ds. Especially an XL. I literally hate that I had to buy a ads, but I did only because it was very cheap and I am a KH fanatic.
Nintendo needs to get over their hardware and just start releasing games on ios. They could just make a mfi controller if they really love hardware so much. Lol
Nintendo on ios!!! It has to happen!
Coat pockets: The solution to all your portabillity issues.
All of which makes you part of that niche market I mentioned.
Nothing you said contradicts what dancj said though. It just means you're part of that increasingly niche market that would rather pay $40 for a AAA game.
As a Vita I owner I would like to point out that handheld gaming does not equal paying $40 for AAA games and nothing else.
Especially in the past year the Vita has been relying on Indies in terms of western support. These are 5 - 20$ games, not 40$ ones. Now I know what you're thinking: "But mobile platforms like iOS and android already have tons of indie games", but here's the thing: These 5 - 20$ games are for the most part different from what you'd find on iOS. They are actual premium games where you don't have to worry about in app purchases, etc, they were built to offer a good experience, not make money off of in-app purchases.
So basically: The Vita (I'm not going to talk about the 3DS since I don't own one) offers quality Indie games as well as AAA games, and I'd say in many cases these indie games are a step above what you'd find on mobile.
Games like Resogun, Frozen Synapse Prime, Pix the Cat, Velocity 2X or Kick & Fenick (just to name some relatively recent Vita releases) are simply good indie games that you can just play and have fun with without having to worry about paywalls, timers and other IAP BS.
Frozen Synapse is on the iPhone and iPad.
Frozen Synapse Prime and Frozen Synapse are two different games, FSP is basically a remake that has a completely differnt art style, new maps and some gameplay changes.
https://www.youtube.com/wat...
Oops - I didn't spot the "prime" part.
Jenna said what?
I hope Nintendo will survive the current mobile free to play trend. I am sooo sick of all those in your face cash grabs that ruin potentially great games (Gameloft used to publish very good games but nowadays I do not care anymore). True, there are excellent premium games for iOS, but for each good one there is a truckload of rubbish. I have bought and played plenty premium games on my iPod touch but it does not feel perfect. For the first time in more than 10 years I will buy a new dedicated gaming console (new 3DSXL) next week and I am sooo looking forward to spend quality time with that machine. My iPod will be used for the quick puzzle game that it is the better fit for.
So, I do think that dedicated gaming handhelds are still ver relevant and I hope that we will still see Nintendo consoles in 10 or 20 years.
This title-bait smmfh. And the hords of iOS business geniuses already settling in lmfao. Everyone knows smartphone users want Nintendo games to get them for free on jailbroken devices. This gen, Nintendo has been all over piracy and in an envious position. Keep whining while they laugh all the way to the bank lol.
if you know the old japanese business mindset then you know why nintendo wont port to ios
Exactly. Japanese would never sell out to foreign companies (especially americans ones). Nintendo would rather merge with Sony than come to iOS lol
Hmmm. When they say companies lost 200 Million this quarter don't they mean they lost 200 Million because they sold 600 million bucks worth instead of 800 million bucks? So they are profiting anyway. It was a matter of time before smartphones bent the DS over and gave it the ol brown hole express. If Nintendo ports it's games to IOS and Android..... Well we all know it will be a disgusting amount of dollars that will saunter it's way over to them. They sold 2.8million copies of Super Smash Brothers. Port it over to Android or IOS and how many more millions will they sell? We will all pay premium prices for premium Nintendo games. Screw F2P. I'd drop 20 bucks right now for SNES Super Mario World on my IOS tablet. Yes I could emulate it, and may have on my android, but it's not the same hehheh. Anyway, I wonder what Nintendo is thinking?! Their handhelds can't beat smartphones because smartphones are phones! You buy a DS you still need a cellphone to call mum, you buy a smartphone you can play a multitude of games and DO NOT NEED a DS! Either port your games over or make the next DS a Nintendo DS smart phone edition... Now stop whining.
They are merging their portable and home console departments for something that will probably be a tablet. They need to poop one out ASAP. A "New" Wii-U this E-3 or holiday season that's a stand alone tablet with the guts of all this 7 year old (Xbox360 and PS3) tech is just what the doctor ordered. Ambassador program the hell out it for this holiday season and keep the fans from fuming about needing a "genuine" portable Wii-U console. Finally multi-player gamepads for the Wii-U. They need to do it today! Or at least I'd like to see one today. I wonder how much Nintendo would charge for something today that is essentially an iPad 2 of yesterday. The iPad 2 could produce console quality visuals at its resolution but didn't often because of app size requirements, a dedicated video game console wouldn't have the same limitation.
It occurs to me that if Nintendo is courting mobile developers and their exiting content, then these games will be the titles that will be the cross platform purchase items. They will never stop the cash cow that is the impulse purchase of buying Super Mario Brothers 1 on two platforms for 5 bucks a pop. These "classics" will also be the titles that will somehow never end up on a cloud server of any kind anytime soon. They're uh.... "clever" like that. Just saying.
Well, we all know how long Nintendo users have been clamoring for IOS games. Wait....I think Nintendo might have gotten that backwards.
Nintendo brand mifi controller. Games require the controller. Bam, sold. No more crappy low Rez graphics, no lousy touch screen controls. Everybody wins
Apple won't allow a game in the App Store that requires a controller.
Unless nintendo pull a proverbial magic rabbit out their virtual ass, they will be coming over to the sunny shores of phone and tablet gaming. Its inevitable, i respect they have held off this long to keep the nintendo brand separate, but seriously... They need to know when to say when and port there games to us!! Damn they would make a killing on ios, how can they not see that? Could you imagine a mario being ported or a zelda game??! It be downloaded faster then pics of katy perry in the shower butt naked! Which if your me......instantly downloaded lol
Nintendo's last option is to port to other device. But at the point it seems not too far away. Mobile market is no longer in demand for $40 games. The market will only get smaller.
I'm actually going to gamestop tomorrow to preorder and new 3DS XL and Majora's Mask. Can't wait to play it, I never had a chance back in the day.
The problem here is that it's very hard for a company to survive purely on innovation. Nintendo took a unique path with the Wii that worked, but didn't do anything to really prepare for the future. Unfortunately, the Wii U isn't innovative enough, and because it's seen by many as inferior to Xbox One/ PS4, it's not selling well. However, the Mario IP is losing value so fast that it would be better to release Mario games on other platforms, just to strengthen the IP and make some money to keep the company afloat. Nintendo needs to either release something revolutionary, or change their methods, because right now they're riding straight down the road to bankruptcy.
Nintendo could release mario and zelda for free or 99c and full of IAP then Apple can't cut their profits by 30% and also all the companies that have freeium are making heaps.
Apple gets a the same piece of IAP.... I think a company like Nintendo would simply goto Apple and say "Hey you want my games on your devices and not Google play? Your not getting 30% your getting 5%!!!" The draw from being Nintendo exclusive would make it worth the percentage drop. Nintendo isn't an indie Dev or a small group. They can pull out those kinda guns....whole different ball game with them and one of the app stores!
It's possible they may have already approached Apple with that kind of thing, most likely Sqaure-Enix did as well, but I'd imagine Apple saying no, since everyone else making games for the App Store would demand the same thing especially smaller indie developers who make very little money off their own content, then prices would go up for games. Which is most likely why Square-Enix games go for more money. Nintendo would likely match their prices instead.
Sigh. Nintendo are idiots. Without a modern account system their eshop sales will remain modest.
And it isn't like they don't have a hoard of high-quality software that they could offer for attractive prices, if only they'd had the wits to offer GBA and DS games for download. But no, of course not. That would have made far too much sense. Instead, people have to pay through the nose to buy used, or resort to piracy and emulators.
Also, between cheap tablets and free hand-me-down smart devices Nintendo portables now need some serious edutainment hooks to make parents buy them for their kids.
Seriously, they richly deserve their current problems.
That being said, much as I love mobile gaming, between race-to-the-bottom, FTP and games being routinely broken by OS updates, I sadly no longer see it as being able to accommodate the relatively high-budget premium games in the future and eventually replace the infrastructure of portables.
To do so, a premium shop with stringent quality controls (no more half-assed ports!), forwards compatibility guarantee and prolonged title exposure would be needed, and Apple is not interested in creating one.
So, much as we'd like it, Nintendo going mobile would not be a viable solution for them either.
I agree with you about the downloadable ds and gba games they could also have snes games on the 3ds it has all the buttons the senes had. It's like nintendo does not like money. You can emulate ds, gba, and snes games but they just don't feel right ( I know on pc and mobile some emulators have support for controllers, which almost feel right but are still a little off for me). I just find it at stupid of nintendo to bitch at money when they have things they could easily do. I for one would love to have the metriod gba games, golden sun games, super metroid and many others on my 3ds but nintendo doesn't want my money for some reason. I also think nintendo needs something more like the PSN, Xbox live, and Steam where you still have your games if something happens to your device. Nintendo does need to get there shit together sooner rather than later.
From a parents point of view with young children I think it would be silly for Nintendo not to sell games on iOS. When we made the decision to buy handheld consoles for the kids, it was the iPod touch which won over the 3DS. We weighed out the pros and cons, and although being a long time fan of Nintendo from my childhood, it was the iPod which swayed our purchase. It just made sense from an economical view. It's multipurpose - games, music, videos, books and facetime. All of this in a device that i can also share the games and apps i own with my kids especially when they see me playing something new and asks "dad, can you download that game for us". With a 3DS i wouldn't have that option.
Dang it...and I just payed 200 bucks for the new one with the new line up of games. If I'd known id known id be wasting that money to play games I can already get on my phone... Oh well fingers crossed. U can't just drop Mario, Zelda, persona and monster hunter nintendo. Oh well fungers crossed
Am I the only one who realises that things just aren't that bad for Nintendo?
Everyone here seems to be spelling doom and gloom for Nintendo, suggesting that they should abandon their ways and start selling their souls on the App Store.
Nintendo are still MAKING PROFIT. They're not losing money. Profits are down, sure. But everyone also seem to be missing the obvious. The release of a new console. Why would people buy a 3DS, knowing that in a few months a new 3DS is coming out?? This happens all the time. Like I say, obvious. And despite this, THEY'RE STILL MAKING PROFIT !!
They're not in a bad way. They don't have to do anything and they're still making money.
This all stinks too much of iOS-vs-Nintendo to me. And I just don't see the need.
They should start releasing their games for iOS and android phone's. Why spend 200-300$ when I can play those games on my iPhone??
If they want to make a profit, they can make a special controller that you clip your phone to and can only run the games via a Bluetooth connection to the phone.
I hate to say it because I have always loved Nintendo, but this is reminding me of Nokia (was once a leader in smartphone business). Nintendo pride will get in the way and most likely cause the mobile gaming section in the company to collapse. Nintendo U isn't even looking too great either so if their next handheld device doesn't do well, I don't see good things in their future.
See above. In fact, Nintendo have even more recently announced that they have had the best financial year in a long time. So why should they sell their games on the App Store???
The downhill race is already on the way "N"had a luxury position on the handheld market but these day smartphones became a real contender I have a Xbox 360 game on my iphone 6+ (Bioshock)and they will get better all the time and the WIIU isn't turn things around so I think it's a necessary evil to take this step
Has to be a 2way street I think that if "N"can take a pick from the great library of ios and android games they should come up with some of there great games seems fair to me everyone is a winner this way.