The Nintendo 3DS is clearly part of a Nintendo game plan to combat the threat posed by iPhone and iPad games and it may just go one step further and deploy a new app store to go with it. The head of Street Fighter 4 makers, Capcom, has been talking up an iTunes App Store-style future for the Nintendo 3DS…
Capcom COO, Haruhiro Tsujimoto, says his firm is fired up about making 3D games for the Nintendo 3DS but it’s the prospect of an app store that’s really got it excited. He says: “What we’re looking forward to is the offering of a new business model.”
He continues: “Nintendo has been in the hardware business for a long time and I believe they are looking closely at Apple’s recent success.” His comments came just after he lavished praise on Japanese mobile network NTT DoCoMo which has its own iTunes App Store-style service.
Capcom partner closely with Nintendo so it’s not crazy to think that Tsujimoto has the inside track on its scheme for the Nintendo 3DS. While Nintendo already has DSiWare, it’s not nearly as easy for developers to get their games included as it is in the iTunes App Store.
A new Nintendo trademark for 3DSWare was spied a few weeks back. Could that be the Nintendo 3DS app store that Tsujimoto is hoping for? We should know soon enough with the Nintendo 3DS launch set for E3 in less than two weeks.
Are you looking forward to the Nintendo 3DS? Could a new Nintendo app store take on the growing battalion of iPhone and iPad apps? Or is Apple’s mobile and gaming just a match made in heaven?
