Meet Pictonico, Nintendo’s new smartphone app that turns your photos into mini-games
Pictonico! is now available in India and other major markets via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
(Image Source: Nintendo) Nintendo has a new smartphone app, and it’s something so weird that only the Japanese gaming giant could think of – and pull off. It’s called Pictonico, and the app lets you turn any photo of yours into fun mini games. Here’s how it works.
What is Pictonico?
Pictonico, as the name suggests, transforms photos taken with your smartphone into instant mini-games. The app has been co-developed with Intelligent Systems, the studio behind the WarioWare game series, which began in 2003 with the launch of WarioWare: Mega Microgame$ as a Game Boy Advance exclusive. Its unique sales pitch was simple: one cartridge packed with hundreds of games, each lasting no more than five seconds.
Over the years, WarioWare titles have appeared across various Nintendo platforms, often taking advantage of each system’s core technology. For example, WarioWare: Twisted! on the Game Boy Advance used a gyroscope and rumble feature built directly into the cartridge. To each to the strength of the platform, a WarioWare would require a touchscreen, a gyroscope, an accelerometer connected to a remote, a camera to support user-generated content.
(Image Source: Nintendo)
‘Pictonico turns photos into minigame using your phone’s camera’
As in the case of Pictonico, which shares a lot of similarities to WarioWare but is designed for smartphones, utilises the phone’s camera. Pictonico uses photos from the Photo Library or pictures taken with the phone’s camera directly from the game interface. In one example, a person’s mouth opens wide to chomp on corn with a tap, while in another, a person is wrapped up like a mummy, and the goal is to unwrap them. In a total, each player go through 80 minigames to play through, with normal, high-speed, and danger-zone modes. As players progress through the levels, the difficulty increases.
Nintendo says the photos remain on the device and are not sent to its servers. To play these mini-games, a “constant online connection is not required,” according to Nintendo, though temporary network access may be needed during the first launch and when purchasing game volumes.
‘Not a free-to-play game’
While not entirely free-to-play, Pictonico is free to start. Simply put, you can download the game and try a few mini-games at no cost, with the option to purchase additional volumes for access to more content. The first volume of mini-games costs Rs 499.
Share
