While other video game companies have been quick to jump on the smartphone bandwagon, Nintendo has been hesitant to create content for platforms that weren’t theirs. It seems like that attitude is changing, as today Nintendo and subsidiary The Pokemon Company announced that they’d be releasing a 3D Pokedex app for iOS.
The app will allow users to view 3d models, statistical data and attack info of the series’ menagerie of monsters. The base app includes info on all Unova region Pokemon, and data for Pokemon from the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh Pokemon will be added on later as paid downloads. The base app will cost 170 yen in Japan, and each additional DLC will cost 500 yen each. No US release has been announced yet, but given that anything with Pokemon in it is guaranteed to sell a bazillion copies, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo of America announces a domestic release soon.
Nintendo has stated many times in the past that they have no plans to create “full” games for smartphones, as they view gaming apps on phones as direct competition to their own handhelds, but Nintendo seems to have realized that they need to at least have some sort of presence on iOS and Android. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has also stated that the company is developing some sort connectivity between their upcoming Wii U console, it’s MiiVerse social network, and smartphones.
I doubt we’re ever going to see “real” Nintendo games on iOS, but hey, having instant access to stats on my phone is certainly a lot more convenient than having to whip out a strategy guide.
Source: Siliconera
