任天堂:不用马里奥兄弟，用实力

所属教程:金融时报原文阅读

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2020年07月25日

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任天堂:不用马里奥兄弟，用实力

当前，任天堂以社交体验为核心的首款手游Miitomo仅在日本ITunes App Store上架，首发3天后便吸引了100万玩家，迅速蹿升至免费应用排行榜的榜首。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

whimsical 古怪的；反复无常的['wɪmzɪk(ə)l]

foray 突袭；侵略['fɒreɪ]

reignited 再次点燃；重新激起[riːɪg'naɪt]

avatars 替身；形象化符号[,ævə'tɑ:s]

lacklustre 无光泽的；无生气的['læk,lʌstə]

blockbuster 巨型炸弹；一鸣惊人者['blɒkbʌstə]

currency 货币；通货['kʌr(ə)nsɪ]

阅读即将开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用时间，并对照我们在文章最后给出的参考值来估算您的阅读速度。

Nintendo surges on smartphone app release（423words）

By Leo Lewis in Tokyo

* * *

Shares in Nintendo surged on Tuesday after the Kyoto-based company revealed that a whimsical smartphone app widely expected to be a flop had been downloaded more than 1m times in three days.

The traffic on Japan’s largest video game fan websites suggested said the early success of Nintendo’s first foray into mobile gaming had reignited excitement over the six other smartphone titles that the company has promised by March 2017.

The surprise explosion of popularity for Miitomo, a social networking app that creates cartoon avatars from its users’ photographs and allows users to play simple games, prompted analysts to reassess the prospects of a company that has fallen out of favour with investors since last summer.

Since August, Nintendo had begun to disappoint investors with lacklustre sales of its Wii U console. But the frustration peaked last October when the company — after months of build-up — announced Miitomo as its debut smartphone title.

In spite of Nintendo’s history of creating blockbusters for handheld devices and home consoles, the company has been reluctant to venture into smartphone gaming where it would lose the control over hardware it has always cherished.

But in 2015 it decided that it could no longer remain out of the market — particularly with the domestic Japanese mobile game market worth an estimated $8bn in 2015, the largest in the world ahead of the US and China.

Both stock investors and Nintendo’s global fan base had been hoping that the games maker would adopt a “shock and awe” strategy as it entered mobile gaming. Many predicted it would draw on an intellectual property treasure chest that includes Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda and other blockbuster-generating characters.

Instead, said analysts, the company appeared to be using Miitomo to build up a global membership for its smartphone-based My Nintendo club ahead of the launch of more traditional games-type apps.

Nintendo’s shares jumped 8.1 per cent shortly after Nintendo tweeted that Miitomo had hit the 1m download mark in Japan. Launched domestically on March 17, the app is scheduled for release in 16 other markets by the end of the month, and analysts expect it to attract 50m worldwide downloads by the time its popularity peaks.

Shares in DeNA, which is partnered with Nintendo on its mobile gaming strategy and is seen as an expert in monetising entertainment apps, climbed 6.5 per cent. Miitomo users can enhance their characters’ appearance with clothes and other items purchased using a virtual currency or secured by winning a mini-game. Supplies of virtual currency can be topped-up with real money.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1. When Nintendo had begun to disappoint investors with lacklustre sales of its Wii U console?

a. March 2017

b. August 2015

c. March 2016

d. October 2015

2. What is Nintendo’s attitude to venture into smartphone gaming before 2015?

a. reluctant

b. pleased

c. nervous

d. furious

3. What made Nintendo decide to join the mobile game market as mentioned?