Nintendo is embracing the F2P model. About two months after the release of Pokemon Shuffle, their poorly received matching game, Nintendo has released Pokemon Rumble World today for 3DS systems.
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To their credit, Nintendo isn't hiding being coy about their intentions: Rumble World is described as 'free to start', a new phrase coined by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata to describe the company's merger with mobile company DeNA.
Rumble World is a dungeon crawler that allows players to battle against 719 Pokemon from across the series. Are we really up to that many? "Even Mega-Evolving Pokémon will join the battles, as well as Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre, a first for a game in the Pokémon Rumble series." Previous titles in the Rumble franchise have been premium endeavors for various handhelds over the years.
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The game features its own share of IAP, currencies, timers and lock outs. Eurogamer has a fabulous breakdown on the cost of all the purchases you'll be faced with. Time is truly money, and you can pay or you can wait.
One egregious example is the balloon that transports you to various places to battle and capture additional Pokemon. The balloon deflates easily and has to be reinflated, a process that can take up to a few hours (depending on where you go and your top level), or simply a bunch of Poke-diamonds, the game's purchasable currency.
Games like Rumble World are not meant for long playthroughs, hours at a time, but the desire to buckle down and burn through content is a natural one to gamers. We don't like our progress hindered, and companies know that.
Pokemon Rumble World can be downloaded onto Nintendo 3DS starting tomorrow, April 8.