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Nintendo's characters show up in someone else's handheld game
Nintendo's iconic characters have appeared more than once in third-party console games (hello Soul Calibur fans), but mobile games have largely been off-limits. However, there are new signs that the gaming giant is taking a more relaxed approach to the handheld world. GungHo has unveiled Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, a take on the popular puzzle battler that includes many of the characters from Nintendo's most sacred cash cow. It's not surprising that there's only a 3DS version so far given Nintendo's usual disdain for smartphone games, but the regular Puzzle & Dragons is also available (and successful) on both Android and iOS -- it wouldn't take much to get the Mario variant on non-3DS systems. Will that happen? Probably not. Even so, GungHo's game is further proof that Nintendo isn't as protective of its franchises as it used to be.
SoftBank buys Clash of Clans developer Supercell, pushes into mobile gaming
Cellular carriers benefit from mobile gaming -- it drives some customers to buy high-end phones, after all -- but it's rare that networks have a big stake in the category. That changes today, as SoftBank (with help from game developer GungHo) has bought Supercell, best known for producing Clash of Clans. SoftBank will run Supercell as a subsidiary, but it's taking a largely hands-off approach that lets the Finnish company manage its own affairs. As to the reasons behind the $1.5 billion deal? The telecom believes that Supercell shares a similar goal of defining entertainment for "the next hundred years." The software designer, meanwhile, sees a chance for international expansion. Neither party is outlining its near-term plans, but the buyout gives Supercell the kind of monetary clout normally reserved for established game giants.
