As iPad becomes more and more accepted as a serious gaming platform, major game developers and their franchises are migrating to the world's bestselling tablet. Just recently there's been news about the original BioShock being ported to iPad, and Activision has gone all in with the next big Skylanders game, Trap Team, with the full, console version of the game coming to iPad day-and-date with the console release.
Nintendo once swore to never bring its characters or games to any platform outside its own. Now Nintendo's changed its tune, though to be fair, Mario, Luigi and the rest of Nintendo's main roster of characters are still exclusive to the Japanese company. And it's not a video game in the traditional sense. But one of Nintendo's subsidiaries apparently has a more relaxed perspective about spreading the love.
The Pokemon Company tells VentureBeat that Pokemon: Trading Card Game Online is coming to iPad before the end of the year. Based on the real-world Trading Card Game, the digital version was first released for PC and Mac, but the allure of Apple's mobile platform, which has millions of enthusiastic users, must have been too powerful to resist.
It seems like a logical next step for a company that's seen a drastic reversal of fortunes in the last few years. Nintendo enjoyed a phenomenal success with its popular Wii console back in 2006 by releasing a device that appealed to non-traditional gamers. But it couldn't replicate that success six years later with the follow-up, Wii U. Likewise, the wildly popular Nintendo DS handheld platform far eclipsed its successor, the 3DS.
Other platforms like smartphones and tablets, meanwhile, are soaring in popularity. Nintendo's investors have been advising the company for years to start porting its content to third-party mobile devices, but until now, the big N has been staunchly opposed.
Does this indicate a softening of Nintendo's inclusive-only policy? The idea of playing Mario Kart on an iPad is an appealing one to players, but it's hard to imagine Nintendo ever pulling that trigger.
