Nintendo's first smartphone-based game is here

Nintendo announced this week that it will release its first smartphone-based game in the United States on Thursday.

Well, sort of a game. "Miitomo" is more of a social network based on Nintendo's Mii figures - those round-headed, cartoonish avatars that players have been able to make since the launch of the Wii. Miitomo will allow users to communicate and socialize using their Miis, through quizzes, chats and shareable photos.

Users will be able to customize the look of their avatars by purchasing various outfits and accessories for them and will be able to link Miitomo to Facebook and Twitter to fill up their friends lists quickly.

The app will be available on iOS and Android devices. Miitomo has already launched in Japan, where it gathered 1 million users in just three days and debuted second in the Japanese version of Apple's App Store.

It, of course, may not be exactly what many Nintendo fans had hoped for when the company first announced that it would start developing games and apps for mobile devices. That said, Miitomo does show that Nintendo is working to develop a mobile strategy that extends beyond converting its existing catalog of games to modern devices.

The company also announced that it will launch a new rewards program called My Nintendo, which the company describes as a "comprehensive service that rewards users for interacting with Nintendo products and services in a variety of ways." Players will be able to earn points by playing and purchasing digital games, which can be traded in for other games, digital accessories and other downloadable items.

Nintendo is also going to open an online shop for Wii U and 3DS games on Nintendo.com, to supplement the stores that already let users buy games on the consoles themselves. According to Nintendo, it will have more than 2,000 games and will give users the opportunity to earn points for their accounts.