Nintendo has unveiled Miimoto, its first-ever smartphone game

As was reported earlier today, Nintendo tonight has taken the wraps off of its first mobile game during a press event with investors and the media in Japan. The game, called Miitomo, will be available in March of 2016 and is the first of five games the company plans to release by March of 2017 (via WSJ). Nintendo says that Miitomo will be free to download with popular add-ons that will (presumably) be available to purchase via in-app purchases. The game will allow users to create their own Miis – or avatars – that can communicate with one another in a virtual world. While this doesn’t sound too much like a game, but rather just another way to communicate, Nintendo brags that it will help “to encourage people who are hesitant to talk to share things about themselves.” Nintendo says that the reason for the game’s delay into March of 2016 is it wants to fully educate and make people aware of what Miitomo is and does before releasing it. For the upcoming holiday season, however, the company would rather focus its marketing efforts on other games currently in the pipeline.