Social gaming, particularly on Facebook, has exploded in the last year and it was one of the biggest buzz words last week during the Game Developers Conference. More and more traditional game publishers are looking to offer their products in the social space, and it's one of the reasons Electronic Arts shelled out hundreds of millions on Playfish. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: we think Nintendo's incredible IP portfolio could do brilliantly on Facebook.
In our interview with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, we asked him if Nintendo might brave the social gaming waters to bring Mario or Animal Crossing to a social network like Facebook. For now, Nintendo doesn't have any plans, but Reggie did admit that Nintendo will have to look at the space as it continues to mature.
"You know, we are very fortunate in having fantastic franchises. And we believe those franchises are integral in driving our installed base and creating an environment where we and third-party publishers can create business opportunities. The social gaming space is very interesting, and the elements within that space of truly bite-sized, morsel-sized entertainment and micro-transactions is very interesting. But the concept of our franchises being leveraged in that way is, at least right now, something that we have absolutely no interest in," he told us.
"We want the next great Zelda experience to be on one of our own platforms. We want the next great Pokemon experience to be on one of our platforms. For us, that's what motivates the consumer to buy software, buy hardware and to create this environment for us and others to participate in. Now, that's not to say that we're not looking at the social gaming phenomenon, looking at micro-transactions – I mean, we have to in order to continue being leaders in this industry. But it's not a place in the near-term that you'll see our franchises."
30 Comments
March 24, 2010
Shame they could do some really great cross promotion with their new console games and Facebook games.
March 28, 2010
why is that? Facebook application are really popular. For example I play iPhone Poker and I want to play on my nintendo,too
May 5, 2010
Thanks guys. I had to 'torture' Nintendo to get the interview, but it was well worth it. I walked out of the room really feeling like I'd had a great conversation. driver scan online
May 7, 2010
Yes, considering declining revenues, I think Nintendo should at least dip a toe into the water of social gaming.
Receding Hairline
May 9, 2010
My sanity made a deal with my game thirst that allowed only one high stress Heavy Rain sequence to be played a night. It took 2 weeks to crawl through, but I made it..youtube to mp3
May 15, 2010
No new entries in the Japanese video game chart for May 3-9, as interest remains high in last week's most significant new entries: Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 on DS, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on PSP, and Super Street Fighter IV on PS3.
Amarillo Plastic Surgeon
May 23, 2010
So, extraoficially speaking, for non-american people, how could "crunch" be politely explained...? online fax
May 24, 2010
The final battle of Kratos is upon us, and we have all of the information you need regarding his epic ascension. PlayStation LifeStyle has brought you all of the details for God of War III since its original announcement over a year ago. fax to email service
May 25, 2010
AWESOME interview, James!!! I'm always bugging journalists to ask the tough questions and you finally did it. Way to go, bro....please keep it coming!online fax
May 27, 2010
Chains of Olympus was a really terrible game. Stupid story, totally horrific voice acting, and yo check it my PSP don’t RUMBLE, so. Severely lacking in the combat department.halt id theft
May 29, 2010
When Apple CEO Steve Jobs stepped on stage in San Francisco last January to introduce the iPad, much was made of the potential threat to the ballooning e-reader market—particularly Amazon’s hot-selling Kindle device. But it wasn’t just the digital book world that was paying close attention. So were the head honchos at video game giant Nintendo, the makers of the popular Wii console and hand-held DS device.
Wilson electronics
May 30, 2010
Hours spent playing both console and PC games “showed a marked increase” over last year’s NPD study. identity theft solution
May 30, 2010
Andrew Smales created Pitas.com in July 1999 as an easier alternative to maintaining a "news page" on a Web site, followed by Diaryland in September 1999, focusing more on a personal diary community.fax to email service
May 30, 2010
Since 2002, blogs have gained increasing notice and coverage for their role in breaking, shaping, and spinning news stories. For the first time in the history of modern journalism, the financial and political goals of U.S.-Israeli relations are being analyzed in depth.internet fax machine
May 31, 2010
Windows was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and reached general retail availability on October 22, 2009,less than three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista. Windows 's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2, was released at the same time. Windows will be succeeded by Windows 8, which has no release date as of yet.online fax
June 9, 2010
here are many subtypes of hardcore gamers based on the style of game, gameplay preference, hardware platform, and other preferences.online fax
June 12, 2010
Video game makers are about to try to convince you that fancy 3-D screens, gesture-recognition cameras and ultra-sensitive motion controllers topped with brightly glowing spheres are what you need to have a good time.
chinese takeaways
June 14, 2010
Or, if you are on 64 bit OS try regsvr32.exe C:\Windows\SysWOW64\actxprxy.dll but make sure you run as AdministratorDirectory
June 16, 2010
I'll have a review up later today, however the performance of one of the other monologues he did but never committed to film.CSS3 Buttons
June 20, 2010
f you say a game is “fantasy,” then you know it’s going to be roughly based on medieval technology, with some magic, probably some elves, and monsters to slay. This is because fantasy games are based on legends and fables that we’ve been telling/reading to our children for hundreds of years. top voip service
June 27, 2010
By virtue of having already played most of the top players around the country and beaten them, I was considered one of the favorites to win the tournament. Another player who went by the handle "Merlock" was considered the other favorite.top email marketing service
June 27, 2010
The tournament took place in Richmond, Virginia in October and a handful of national qualifiers witnessed players from Europe flying to play in the tournament. Prior to these events many players had competed online. Early favorites for the competition included Dennis Fong and Merlin.top email marketing service
June 28, 2010
On the subject of promoting Home, Buser noted that with the expanded beta they put adverts on PSN and received an “overwhelming” response. Buser went on to say, “This will be another milestone for us. top voip service
June 30, 2010
That's the piece that to me is very interesting. So I'm a consumer and I'm having a great experience with my Wii. And we know that's the case – we look at the software that's being purchased. Consumers love the Wii.Madrid apartments
June 30, 2010
We uphold the district court’s grant of summary judgment of no infringement based on the court’s determination that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that no reasonable.MHSF Directory
July 5, 2010
That's the piece that to me is very interesting. So I'm a consumer and I'm having a great experience with my Wii. SkyAlli Directory
July 6, 2010
Moving on to talk about potential new developments and the legal issues involved with expanding the capabilities .gastric band pill
July 7, 2010
That's the piece that to me is very interesting. So I'm a consumer and I'm having a great experience with my Wii. Reo Directory
July 13, 2010
Game Trading Technologies, Inc. shares are traded on the OTCBB under the symbol 'GMTD'. online fax
July 13, 2010
I think that all major manufacturers should bring out an application to be supported on facebook its the main social networking site what a great idea. bath panels