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Nintendo gears up for more iPhone titles – Animal Crossing & Fire Emblem expected later in 2016

Nintendo’s first mobile ‘game’ Miitomo might have been met with a somewhat puzzled, lukewarm reception (though has apparently just surpassed 10 million users), Nintendo has begun teasing future offerings – and this time, these are definitely games.

It might not be the classic franchises that fans of retro-ports might be looking for – namely, the likes of Mario, but it’s probably an even smarter move on Nintendo’s part, it’s bringing the unfathomably popular (among a certain demographic) franchises Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem to iOS devices.

It’ll be the first time these titles have been available outside of Nintendo’s own hardware and it’s believed they’ll be ready in the fall – sometimes around October.

The news was released in the above Tweet, so there’s little else to go on right now, but it’s an exciting development nonetheless and shows the Japanese gaming company continuing to keep fans on their toes when it comes to what they’ll be offering for iOS users after deciding to develop for the platform just last year.

For those that aren’t familiar with Animal Crossing, it’s a Wii and DS life simulation game – players have their own village populated by animals who need houses built and a range of tasks completed. Meanwhile, Fire Emblem is less kid-focused and is a kind of fighting RPG title.

There’s two key questions to ask with this move – firstly, will Animal Crossing still be playable if Nintendo decides to opt for an IAP-heavy payment model, and if not, will that devalue the offering on consoles and Nintendo’s own handheld device. Secondly, will we ever see Mario in his own Nintendo iOS game? Or Zelda. We’d also happily accept Zelda.

Read more: Review of Miitomo, Nintendo’s social networking game