Miitomo's In-App Purchases Will Be in the Form of Clothing

Nintendo, why...? I know you're going free-to-play with your first mobile title, but... I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't feel this way. Anyway, Miitomo, the first mobile title that is based on communication and customization (kind of like a miniature version of Tomodachi).

This app, brought to you by DeNA, will be including in-app purchases in the form of clothing for your Mii.

DeNA president Isao Moriyasu noted this in an interview with the Wall Street Journal:

"Communication will be central to the game, but I think various elements could be added on - like mini-games users can play with their friends. As for monetising, there are various possibilities, but at first we plan on selling clothes users can buy for their Miis."

So, to confirm, it's less than a game and more of a communication device. Moriyasu emphasizes this:

"Miitomo places more emphasis on entertainment. The process of discovering new aspects of your friends via Miis can be quite fun. One distinct aspect of Miitomo is how you can configure your Mii to have it look very similar to yourself."

"Communicating with friends who actually look like your friends in real life is a distinctly different feeling from text-based communication. We're thinking of linking the game with users' Facebook friend lists. I think it could be fun connecting with friends people don't often communicate with."

Sorry, but I'm going to have to pass on this one. I'm not sure if a lot of people are going to be big into this anyway, at least in the US. Most people rely on something simple like texting to communicate and don't want to pull up another app to text unless it's like Facebook.

Personally, I feel that Nintendo is a little late to the market here.

Then again, Nintendo seems to be lately behind on everything.