New Super Mario game now on iPhones around the world
NINTENDO has released Super Mario Run, its first iPhone game and a key test of its foray into mobile gaming, hot on the heels of the Pokemon Go craze.
The game is now on sale in 151 countries and regions and will become available on Android-based devices later.
The release comes after the Kyoto-based Wii console maker refused for years to move into smartphone gaming or to license its characters for online play.
But, as it struggled to repair its finances, the firm changed course and announced last year it was teaming up with Japanese mobile specialist DeNA to develop games for smartphones and tablets based on its host of popular characters.
In March, Nintendo released its first mobile game Miitomo – a freeto-play and interactive game that allows users to create avatars.
Then Pokemon Go – based on Nintendo characters – exploded into the public consciousness, being downloaded more than half a billion times.
But it was only partly Nintendo’s creation – the game is owned by San Francisco-based Niantic – and it has had little effect on the firm’s bottom line.
Super Mario Run, based on Nintendo’s iconic Italian plumber, is the firm’s most important move so far into mobile gaming.
Randy Nelson, head of mobile insights at US-based industry analyst group Sensor Tower, said it was likely to be a hit in the first month or so.
“We have no doubt that firstmonth downloads of Super Mario Run will be historic – likely much greater than Pokemon Go – thanks to months of prominent featuring by Apple, extensive media coverage, and more,” he wrote in a blog.
But a nearly $10 (R140) price tag to buy the full version could scare away some potential customers.
Pokemon Go is free, and Android users will not be able to buy Super Mario Run until a later date.
Macquarie Securities analyst David Gibson told Bloomberg News: “It’s not as if it will be like Pokemon Go with 500 million downloads in two months.”
Instead he estimated about 200 million downloads by the end of March.
“Nostalgic Nintendo players will almost certainly spend.
“But what matters is if the marginal customer says: ‘This is good, yeah, I’ll spend the money’.” – AFP