Nintendo’s deal with Niantic should make you excited about Mario’s mobile future

Oct15

by Sindy Cator on October 15, 2015 at 4:02 pm

Anyone worried about Nintendo’s future in the mobile sphere should be reassured by its strategic investment in Niantic, the Google spin-out behind playful, location-focused titles like Field Trip and Ingress. Niantic is developing Pokemon Go, a mobile title that will allow players to hunt for Picachu and friends in the real world. The $20 million strategic investment from Nintendo, Google and the Pokemon Company isn’t just a bunch of money to ship the game, you should also read it as encouragement that Nintendo doesn’t see its mobile gaming future as being limited to something as predictable as free-to-play Mario Kart. Niantic’s…