Nintendo Secures No. 2 Spot in App Store with First Mobile App, Miitomo

By Juvy Garcia, Christian Post Contributor Saturday, March 19, 2016

Nintendo's Miitomo took the Japanese iOS App Store by storm as it debuts at no. 2. The app, which features the company's cute and fun Mii characters, released on Thursday.

The only app to beat it is "Puzzle & Dragons Radar," reports IGN. No other yardstick for the app's success is currently available. Miitomo is limited to Japan at the moment, although Nintendo has expressed plans of bringing the free social application to Western shores and other territories sometime later this year.

Miitomo features the Nintendo characters known as Miis. These fully animated avatars are customizable from how they look, what they wear, and what their voice sounds like to the extent that they almost have "a life of its own."

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Multiple sites have compared it another Nintendo IP, the 3DS game "Tomodachi Life," except that Miitomo puts greater focus on communicating with other Miis. Forbes likens the app to Line, a very popular messaging app in Asia, in the sense that Miitomo is a messaging service at its core. The publication believes Nintendo risks "ruin" by not putting more focus on innovation with its first foray into the mobile sphere. It describes Miitomo as a "hedged bet" and "underwhelming."

Still, Miitomo marks a big leap for Nintendo which is known for being "fiercely protective" of its IPs, reports AP. It also represents an opportunity for the company to tap into billions of customers. Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, however, clarifies the app will not be a replacement but is more of an "additive part" of Nintendo's business.

Miitomo is the product of the collaboration between Nintendo and Japanese mobile gaming company DeNA and is the first of five apps that the former will release over the next year. Nintendo decided to launch Miitomo first mostly because of the socially focused experience it brings its users.The new app is expected to serve as a launch pad for Nintendo's rewards program and Nintendo Account.