Nintendo builds upon its mobile pivot with ambitious movie discussions
Japanese gaming company Nintendo is reportedly looking to bolster its tepid hardware sales of late with a new focus on leasing its IP to the movie industry.
Although traditionally sub par, video game movies have found a new lease of life with Ratchet and Clank and the Angry Birds movies recently hitting cinemas, and Assassin’s Creed and World of Warcraft set to follow.
With its strong host of IP such as Mario, Zelda and more, entities that would lend themselves well to animated movies, Nintendo chief executive Tatsumi Kimishima is keen to make an impact.
Kimishima told Asahi Shimbun that the company is in talks with media partners to develop movies – but that five years is too long a wait to get the projects off the ground
He said: “We'd like to use IP that is popular with everyone. I can't say 'it'll be Mario' — just that we'll do things that people will be familiar with."
He referred to the cataclysmic 1993 release of the Super Mario Bros. movie, a Bob Hoskins car crash that likely poisoned the well for future movie tie-ins until now. To avoid such poor uses of the IP, the company would have to be more hands-on he admitted.
The company this year launched a smartphone presence for the first time, seeing its IP appear on third party devices despite its rigid insistence on hosting its games on its machines. It marked a new direction for the company.