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Nintendo unveils its first mobile game ‘Miitomo’ – but it won’t launch until 2016

Nintendo unveils its first mobile game ‘Miitomo’ – but it won’t launch until 2016 - image
THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Shizuo Kambayashi

Nintendo has finally lifted the curtain on its first ever mobile game – Miitomo, an avatar-based game that allows users to communicate through customized “Mii” characters.

But the game won’t be released until March 2016 – despite the company’s promise to release it by the end of this year.

Miitomo, the first of five smartphone apps the company plans to release, will be free-to-play and will allow users to communicate with their friends using their personalized avatar. Nintendo has pitched the app as a way for friends to have open conversations with their friends, without the pressure of being face-to-face.

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“You might dig up some previously-buried topics of conversation, learn about a surprising side of your friend you’ve never seen before, find things you never knew you had in common,” said Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima during a press conference Thursday.

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Nintendo shares plunged nine per cent following news of the delayed launch. Shares in Japanese gaming company DeNA – which Nintendo partnered with to develop the games – dropped even further, down 14.9 per cent.

According to Kimishima, the decision to delay the launch was made to better promote the game over the holiday season.

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