So, reading up on Miitomo, it is literally what I said. It does what Words With Friends did. It is using the membership (Nintendo Accounts) to play. You cannot play Miitomo at all without an account. You have to have one.
"Words with Friends. Not in game mechanics per say, but in principal. The reason why WWF (lol) worked is because you had a very real relationship with your account. People don't think about it much, but that's the genious of that game. When you were playing, your account was your identity, and you used that account, that username, to interact with your friends. The game didn't matter as much as the fun you were having with people you knew. If you wanted to play WWF, you had to make an account. And it made sense within the context of the game you were playing.
An important thing about WWF for Nintendo is that it was a game that got people excited about making a username. It made people want to have their identity attached to this game and it made people want to interact with their friends through this created identity. In a lot of ways, it became almost cool to have a WWF account. If WWF had the brand power of Nintendo, they could have made a completely new game that used those same usernames, and they'd already have the base of everyone who played, enjoyed, and most importantly identified themselves though WWF. Through their usernames.
That's where I see this first mobile game going. It's likely going to be a Mario game (oops), and it's likely going to be multiplayer. It's also likely going to be free. This first game isn't trying to make money as much as it's trying to make an installed base. It'll probably make a lot of money, but this will not give itself any barriers to entry. The point of this game will be to get people wanting to create NNIDs specifically for this game, and getting people specifically convincing their friends to make an account too. Why? So they can play together.
And from there, you'll get your other games. Your Brain Ages and Wii Fits and Nintendogs and yes, even Animal Crossings. All with multiplayer hooks designed to get you connected to your NNIDs, and to your friends' NNIDs." - Me in March
http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=200254&page=1
"Now, I would like to introduce you to a free-to-start type communication application for smart devices, namely, our smart device application, which can be started for free and will push forward the My Nintendo membership service."
"The people you will be able to communicate with are limited to your friends whom you have registered as Friends. We are designing this communication application to enable Friends to share information comfortably and securely." - Kimishima, fucking hours ago, bitches.
