5 Nintendo games coming to mobile starting in 2015, Android likely included

Nintendo announced in their most recent earnings call that they have a plan to launch 5 new games for “smart devices” by Spring of 2017. The first title is slated to launch this year, with others sure to be littered throughout 2016 and the early parts of 2017.

Nintendo didn’t confirm any platforms they’d be targeting, but we imagine Android won’t be left out of the fun. It’s the biggest smartphone operating system by market share, after all, and if there plans were exclusive to Apple it’s likely they would have mentioned so.

So what’s coming? Early murmurings tell us not to expect direct ports of existing Nintendo games, and there’s no guarantee anything they’re planning will take their cue from existing intellectual properties, either. Whatever the case is, Nintendo says they’re expecting to promote each game strongly and support them like the “hits” they want them to be.

The one thing we do know is that there’s no need to worry that Nintendo will be bringing some heat. The company’s track record for producing and developing quality games is near flawless, and considering they’re one of the few console makers who have their attention focused exclusively on games there’s no reason to believe they won’t do much of the same for their mobile efforts. We’re likely to hear more at E3 2015 next month, which our friends from Wii U Daily, PS4 Daily and Xbox One Daily will be attending in full force.

[via Wii U Daily]

Report: Nintendo NX gaming console will be based on Android

Nintendo is finally embracing mobile after years of dodging the platform in all regards. They’ve already committed to mobile apps surrounding their games, and they even have plans to bring a healthy amount of games over the course of the next couple of years.

Their next move could help them tap into the mobile market even more. Nikkei, a reputable Japanese firm, is reporting that the Nintendo NX — their next home gaming console — will use Android for the software platform.

We imagine the Nintendo NX won’t have your typical Android TV experience, but rather a custom fork that Nintendo can build on top of, not unlike what Amazon does in the realm of phones, tablets and the Amazon Fire TV.

So where do the mobile implications come in? Building a platform based on Android could allow Nintendo to create a development environment that thousands of developers are already familiar with. It won’t be as simple as copying and pasting code, obviously, but porting a game to or from the Nintendo NX could be light work. Such a platform would benefit both independent developers and Nintendo themselves, so it’s a win-win situation.

Of course, any good move to get more developers on board will be good because Nintendo has had a tremendous struggle with the Wii U. The console hasn’t been selling nearly as well as the original Wii, largely thanks in part to its lack of third party titles (which in turn is due to the fact that the Nintendo Wii U is simply not powerful enough for game developers to build the types of games they want to these days). Nintendo’s network infrastructure can also accept partial blame as developers find it a lot less pleasing to work with than that of the Xbox One’s and PS4’s.

Nintendo is sure to go all in with the Nintendo NX, and if it’s running Android by the time it’s out you can be sure we’ll be paying attention.

[via Wii U Daily]

Pokemon Jukebox now on Google Play, probably isn’t the Nintendo title you were hoping for

It’s not exactly what he had in mind when he heard Nintendo would soon release apps/games for our mobile devices. Today, The Pokemon Company has released a new application for western audiences from their new developer account and before you get too excited, no it’s not the Pokemon Style theme maker we saw earlier this year for Japan. Instead, Pokemon Jukebox is now available on Google Play.

As the title suggests, the Pokemon Jukebox is little more than a music player that will allow you to play various Pokemon tunes… and that’s about it. Users can compile their favorite Pokemon tracks into playlists for easy listening on the go, adding sound effects on demand for added nostalgia.

While Pokemon Jukebox is free to download in the in the Play Store, most tracks will run you 99 cents with medleys running about . There is a free limited time preview for most tracks taking place over the next 24 hours, so it’s got that going for it. We can’t help but shake the feeling that is simply the one of the most blatant money grabs we’ve ever seen on Android in quite sometime. Download link provided below if you want to check it out for yourself.

ポケモン音楽図鑑 (Playboard) | ポケモン音楽図鑑 (Play Store)

Nintendo denies its gaming console will use Android

Welp, that was fast. A report out of a trusted Japanese publication yesterday told of possible plans for Nintendo to use Android on their upcoming game console, the NX. Naturally Nintendo was asked if the report was true, and they didn’t outright refuse to comment.

In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal Nintendo suggests the rumor is not accurate in any way, and that they have no plans to use Android as the console’s software platform. So did someone give Nikkei some false information? Here are a few common scenarios:

• Translation errors often lead to misinformation. Perhaps Nintendo was speaking about Android in a separate context.


• A source could have deliberately tried to throw Nikkei off the path.


• The rumor is actually true, but Nintendo is lying through their teeth.

That last one is not all that far-fetched. Nintendo has denied rumors before, only for those rumors to turn out to be 100% true (see: the Nintendo 3DS XL). We’ve also seen this same pattern with a number of gaming companies, but that only typically happens when a company is trying to lower expectations so their official announcement has a bigger impact. We wouldn’t say revealing which software platform the Nintendo NX will use charts high on the list of things Nintendo wants to keep under wraps.

So all of that is to say that this rumor may or may not be true. Officially it’s not true, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to keep our eye on the Nintendo NX for the off chance that it is.

[via Wii U Daily]

Mobile Roar 95: Best Android M features, Nintendo using Android, and more!

Android M is here, and there is a lot of new stuff to dig through. We talk about our favorite new features and other goodies from Google IO. Nintendo is in the mobile news again this week, Microsoft acquires another great app, a crazy-fast voice assistant app leaves Chris cackling with glee, and much more! Thanks for watching/listening!

Big News

• Bunch of stuff from Android M and Google IO

Quick Hits

• Nintendo rumored to use Android for next handheld


• Microsoft acquires Wunderlist


• Huawei announces P8 Lite

Wins/Fails

• Joe: LG G4 battery life / “Get Windows 10” icon won’t go away


• Chris: Nexus 6 price drop / Imgur app killed grid view / new S6 commercial / The Verge reviewed old Google Photos


• Ashley: Tile is cool

App Picks

• Joe: Hound


• Chris: Polygen


• Ashley: Sproggiwood

Follow Us

• Joe Fedewa (@tallshmo)


• Chris Chavez (@gamercore)


• Ashley King (@overlordror)


• @mobileroarcast

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The Nintendo NX could emulate Android games [RUMOR]

Dreams of a Nintendo gaming console running Android may be dashed for the moment, but new rumors suggest the company will look to use Android in some way. According to a translated report from a Spanish gaming outlet, Amazon and Nintendo have been in talks about mobile goods ever since Nintendo revealed they’d be bringing a number of games to the smartphone scene.

Amazon supposedly rushed to contact Nintendo and set up a deal with Nintendo to ensure their games would launch on the Amazon Appstore the same day they go up on Google Play and the Apple App Store. That’s a given, of course, as Amazon would be quite ill to not have one of the best game makers of all times have any wares in their store on day one.

The more interesting part of this rumor is that Amazon apparently learned that Nintendo was working on an Android emulator for the Nintendo NX for purposes of playing those games on the company’s new console. The emulator would likely be akin to the Android runtime found on Blackberry’s devices.

If true, this could help Nintendo tackle two issues with one stone:

• It makes it easy for the mobile games they’re working on to be playable on the Nintendo NX, as they should.


• It makes it easy for developers to port their games to the Nintendo NX.

These are the same issues that an Android-based NX would have tackled, but you can merely consider it two different means to one common goal. One way or another, the Nintendo NX’s chances of supporting Android games in some way, shape or form aren’t as low as we thought. Let’s hope the rumor pans out.

[via Wii U Daily]