Alongside its new mobile game, Miitomo, Nintendo announced Nintendo Account, a synced system that allows players to connect their gameplay and user account across their mobile, console, and PC offerings.
The account system is likely to replace the Nintendo Network, and should better connect Nintendo’s platforms with a cloud service designed for everything to work together.
The Kyoto company will also use the service to synchronize game saves across its mobile and home consoles, indicating that there will be some sort of cross-compatibility between titles. We expect this to be more of a situation where the game data from a mobile game may influence the console experience, rather than be the exact same.
For example, catching a creature in Pokémon GO might add it to your Pokédex in an console version of a Pokémon game, or perhaps add it to your collection in a handheld-game. We don’t think Nintendo will necessarily develop an identical title to be played on a mobile device as well as its own hardware as doing so would virtually negate the need for anyone to purchase Nintendo’s handhelds in the future.
We also expect Nintendo Account to have some sort of rewards system built in to replace Club Nintendo, as the new account system will likely already have things like purchase history, shipping information, and the ability to send customers surveys baked right in.