Super Mario Run is first game in series made for other hardware
What happens when one of the best-selling games in history comes to the most popular category of electronic devices in the world? A mustachioed plumber in overalls is about to reveal the answer.
On Thursday, after nearly a decade of doing its best to ignore the explosive growth of smartphones and tablets, Nintendo planned to finally bring a game based on its beloved character Mario to mobile devices.
People have been able to play Mario games on portable devices made by Nintendo since the early 1980s, but the release of the new Super Mario Run represents the first time Nintendo has put out an installment of the series for devices made by another company - in this case, iPhone and iPad from Apple.
It is a watershed moment for a game character who is as recognizable to many as Mickey Mouse. Mario is widely estimated to the best-selling game franchise ever, with more than a half-billion copies sold since the plumber first showed up in the game Donkey Kong in 1981. So iconic the character that Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, appeared at the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this year dressed as Mario to promote the next Summer Games in Japan.
Releasing Mario on phones and tablets was once an unthinkable move for quirky company that had for years insisted that making both game software and the hardware it ran on was essential to its magic.
Nintendo finally relented as general-purpose mobile devices increasingly cut into sales of its portable game players. Other games publishers filled the void on mobile devices left by Nintendo, threatening to erode the relevance of its game properties, including Zelda and Donkey Kong, for a new generation of players.
“They've really let their brand wilt the last few years,” said David Cole, a games analyst with DFC Intelligence. “But I think we've seen how strong that brand still is. There is potential to bring it back.”
Nintendo made some curious choices with Super Mario Run that suggest it is not yet entirely comfortable with mobile devices. The game will require a constant internet connection, which could make it difficult to play on airplanes, in subways and in other areas where connections are unreliable or nonexistent. Company executives have said in interviews that Nintendo is requiring an internet connection, in part, to prevent piracy of the game.
“We remain confident that the play style means that the game can be played in a wide range of locations an situations,” Kit Ellis, a Nintendo spokesman, said in an emailed statement.
Nintendo is also pricing the game in an unconventional way for the mobile market. While it will allow players to sample portions of Super Mario Run for free, Nintendo will charge $9.99 for full access to the game. A vast majority of mobile games are free, but some provide players with opportunities to pay $1 or more for useful items inside a game or for access to new challenger.
Only a few mobile game - Minecraft is one notable example - have successfully charged as much as Nintendo plans to, analysts said.
“Ten bucks for the mobile environment is really high,” said Joost van Dreunen, chief executive of SuperData Research, a firm that tracks the games market. “That's a tough ticket.”
Still, it is hard to overstate the passion players feel for Nintendo games, sustained by an almost bottomless well of nostalgia for the company's products from the 1980s and 1990s. Earlier this month, a $60 miniature version of an old Nintendo console, called the NES Classic Edition, sold out in stores within minutes of going on sale. And Nintendo-themed areas are coming to Universal theme parks in Japan, Hollywood and Orlando, Fla.
