Nintendo is finally bringing its famous mascot to mobile, with Super Mario Run landing on iOS in December. The good news is it's free to try. The bad news is it's expensive to buy.
At the beginning of September, Nintendo announced that Mario was finally getting his own mobile game. This would be an endless runner, and it would debut on iPhone and iPad. Which is why Shigeru Miyamoto announced the game at the same event as Apple unveiled the iPhone 7.
Details were rather thin on the ground at the time, but Nintendo has now joined the dots. a press release, the appropriately named Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, said:
"The wait is almost over for a Super Mario game that can be played on mobile devices. Developed under the direction of Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Super Mario Run brings a new take on the series’ beloved action-platforming gameplay to iPhone and iPad for the first time."
Free to Try, Expensive to Buy
Super Mario Run will land on iOS on December 15th. It will be available to download for free, and you'll be able to try all three game modes without paying a penny. These modes being World Tour, Toad Rally, and Kingdom Builder.
However, the free elements will only be a small part of the whole game, which will require an in-app purchase of $9.99 to unlock. This may not seem like much money in the big scheme of things, but it's rather expensive for a mobile game.
Super Mario Is a Valuable Brand
Nintendo clearly thinks Super Mario Run is well worth $9.99. Or is at least confident that the Super Mario brand retains enough cachet that people won't begrudge paying the asking price.
Nintendo should also be applauded for keeping things simple with a one-time fee, when so many other mobile games tempt players in before hitting them with a whole roster of in-app purchases.
Super Mario Run will initially work on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices running iOS 8.0 or later. The game supports multiple languages, and will launch simultaneously in 151 countries on December 15th.
Are you looking forward to playing Super Mario Run? Will you be sticking to the free version or buying the full game? Do you think $9.99 is a fair asking price? Will Nintendo regret its decision to release mobile games? Please let us know in the comments below!
Image Credit: Joseph Thornton via Flickr