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Nintendo’s first mobile game doesn’t sound like a game at all

Nintendo’s mobile games partner DeNA has offered up more details on the forthcoming Miitomo title.

However, judging by comments made to the Wall Street Journal, it doesn’t seem like there’ll be much gaming involved.

Isao Moriyasu, the president of DeNA says much of the action will be centred around communicating with friends, rather than playing against them.

The president detailed plans to include mini games, but social appears to be the focus.

He said: “Miitomo places more emphasis on entertainment. The process of discovering new aspects of your friends via Miis can be quite fun. One distinct aspect of Miitomo is how you can configure your Mii to have it look very similar to yourself. Communicating with friends who actually look like your friends in real life is a distinctly different feeling from text-based communication. We’re thinking of linking the game with users’ Facebook friend lists. I think it could be fun connecting with friends people don’t often communicate with.”

Related: Nintendo NX to be as powerful as Xbox One?

Moriyaso said the experience will be very familiar for Nintendo loyalists, but in terms of traditional gameplay, action will be in very short supply.

He added: “There’s that distinct Nintendo feel to the game that gives you a certain comfort and nostalgia. The user interface, feel and sound—it’s all very Nintendo.”

The game will be free to download, but will be monitised through in-app purchases. The companies will actually ask for real money from users who want to kit out their Mii in new clothes.

Miitomo will be released by March 2016, with Nintendo promising multiple mobile games by the end of the first quarter.

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