I've started to see a pattern when it comes to some mobile games in Japan. Puzzles and Dragons is one of the biggest F2P mobile apps in the East, and it managed to not only sell more than a million copies on the 3DS, it also got a crossover with Mario, gaining some interest overseas. Monster Strike looks like will follow that route, selling since its launch in Japan around 0,7m copies.
Is this going to become the new strategy between mobile and handheld? Will games become popular on mobile and gather an audience of millions of people, and then make an updated version for a budget price on handhelds? It could work, and it would be very interesting for other companies to take notes. Then again, it doesn't always work. Angry Birds on handhelds and consoles it's just the same game than in mobile, and thus, there is no reason to buy the premium version. I think this is going to become common in Japan and the rest of Asia. And who knows, maybe Nintendo can create new IPs for mobile games and expand them on their systems as well, with all of their mobile plans, I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes true.
