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Nintendo's killing its first mobile app after just 2 years

Miitomo wasn't what anybody expected from Nintendo's first smartphone game. Now it's shutting down.

Sean Buckley Social Media Producer
2 min read
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Nintendo

For years, fans and analysts had anticipated Nintendo's move to smartphone gaming -- expecting to see ports of popular Mario titles, or a portable version of the Wii and Wii U's virtual console games. What we got, however, was something completely different. Nintendo's first mobile game was called Miitomo, a weird social quiz game that revolved around silly jokes, funny hats and the company's cute, customizable Mii avatars. 
Now, the game that launched Nintendo's foray into the App Store and Google Play is dying. Wednesday the company announced that Miitomo servers will shut down permanently on May 9 of this year -- just a little over two years after its initial launch.

Miitomo was cute, to be sure, but it wasn't all that much of a game in the traditional sense. Players could create a Mii character and dress it in different outfits, but they didn't do much with it -- it was mostly just a conduit that the game used to ask users questions and share their answers with friends. They could also play Pachniko-like mini games to win clothing items. It was kind of like a delayed text message system with discussion prompts.

It was a fun social experience, but its days are numbered: Nintendo has already halted the sale of Miitomo coins -- a digital currency players could use to buy their characters new outfits -- and the game will stop functioning completely in May.

Players who boot up the game between now and then, however, will at least get one final goodbye: daily login bonuses have been boosted to 2,000 Miitomo coins and five game tickets. If you still need an adorable Nintendo game in your pocket after May, there's always Animal Crossing.