Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem to hit mobile, NX gets launch date

Pokemon Go and Miitomo aren’t the only Nintendo properties on mobile. The Kyoto gaming company has announced that Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem will be coming to smartphones as well.

The company revealed the news in a conference call with investors and on its social media accounts, but didn’t reveal much else about the upcoming mobile titles.

It’s unclear whether life simulation Animal Crossing would be a full-fledged game or a spin-off of the franchise, akin to Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. But an analyst told the Wall Street Journal that the game could be free-to-play, featuring in-app purchases for virtual items.

Fire Emblem is a long-running tactical RPG franchise, and the analyst suggested that the mobile game would do well even if it were a paid download.

NX news and financial results

Nintendo also revealed that its next-generation console, dubbed the NX, would be released next year.

“For our dedicated video game platform business, Nintendo is currently developing a gaming platform codenamed ‘NX’ with a brand-new concept. NX will be launched in March 2017 globally,” the company said in its earnings report.

This is a few months later than the previously mooted holiday 2016 window, which might prove to be a challenge for the Japanese videogame giant.

However, the company does have a potential killer app up its sleeve, announcing that the new Legend of Zelda title would be launching on Wii U and NX simultaneously in 2017.

As for the company’s financial results, Nintendo reported a 60.6% drop in profits for the fiscal year, hitting 16.5 billion yen for the year ended 31 March, 2016. By comparison, the previous fiscal year saw Nintendo snag a profit of 41.8 billion yen.

The company said that Wii U titles Splatoon, Super Mario Maker and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD all contributed to solid performance. The 3DS had strong sales in the form of Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, but this paled in comparison to the sales performance of Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire and Super Smash Bros in the previous fiscal year.

Nintendo also attributed its results to stronger performance of the yen.