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Super Mario Is Coming To The iPhone (popularmechanics.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the here-we-go dept.

One of the first announcements made at Apple's iPhone 7 launch event was that Nintendo's Super Mario Bros franchise will be coming to the iPhone. The announcement was short, sparse with details, but certainly well received. Popular Mechanics reports: "Nintendo head Shigeru Miyamoto took the stage early in Apple's iPhone 7 reveal in San Francisco today to announce and demonstrate the new game Super Mario Run, the first Mario game for the iPhone. The game is simple: Mario runs completely, a la Temple Run, and you push buttons to make him jump and try to reach the end of the levels. Miyamoto says 'you can play the game one-handed for the very first time.' There's a battle mode, too, where you try to top friends' scores. Super Mario Run will come out sometime this fall before the holiday season. Pricing is TBA, but Miyamoto promises there will be a single price and no in-app purchases." In a separate report via Kotaku, Nintendo said, "We do intend to release the game on Android devices at some point in the future." The news sent Nintendo's stock soaring, up 29 percent in U.S. trading after the announcement.

13 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. There *are* in-App purchases... by Black.Shuck · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...according to the App Store listing.

  2. Investigative journalism in the comments... by Black.Shuck · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...is how /. works. Sorry forgot about that.

    Kotaku says that Miyamoto got it wrong: It'll be a free download with an in-App purchase to upgrade to the full-game.

    1. Re:Investigative journalism in the comments... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm not sure it's really a case of him getting it wrong, at least beyond semantics. If you can effectively download a demo/trial of the game, then make a single payment in order to have the full product then there is a single purchase and although the purchase is technically in-app what was clearly meant was clearly that there wouldn't be things to buy in game like extra levels, funny costumes etc.

    2. Re:Investigative journalism in the comments... by richy+freeway · · Score: 2

      Is this an iOS thing? If I make in app purchases on any of my Android devices they are carried across to any of the devices I'm signed in to.

    3. Re:Investigative journalism in the comments... by BasilBrush · · Score: 2

      Not true. Consumable in-app purchases, such as if buy a number of PokeBalls for Pokemon Go are not transferable. However non-consumable purchases such as buying the full version of an app are transferable to any other device using the same AppleID.

      So in the case of this Mario Game, a single purchase of the full game will indeed enable it on all phones.

    4. Re:Investigative journalism in the comments... by Desler · · Score: 2

      No, it's not true. In-app purchases like this can be restored on other devices.

  3. Re: The way of the Sega by Bartles · · Score: 3, Funny

    Right. Because temple run is so popular right now.

  4. Congrats Short-Sighted Investors by rsmith-mac · · Score: 2

    Congratulations, investors. Thanks to your shortsightedness, you've corralled Nintendo into making what will surely be a bad Mario platformer. This is how you kill the goose...

    And on a less dramatic note, I really do feel bad for Miyamoto. Just from his body language at the Apple event, he didn't look like he wanted to be there.

    1. Re:Congrats Short-Sighted Investors by Truekaiser · · Score: 3, Informative

      Nintendo's goose is Pokemon. Without it they would have followed sega years ago.

    2. Re:Congrats Short-Sighted Investors by ausekilis · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That depends on your perspective.

      With enough cash reserves to lose $250M a year until 2052 before needing to call for bankruptcy... I'd say they are pretty financially smart.

      Combined with the fact that most Mario games outsell Poke'mon during a given generation of games. Don't forget that Poke'mon is owned by the Pokemon Company, a consortium of three companies of which Nintendo is a part. So Nintendo won't see 100% of the profits from any of those sales.

      You're also omitting some of their other heavy hitting first party titles. Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Smash Bros., Mario Kart, Pikmin, Animal Crossing.

      Nintendo's biggest problem has been third-party developers for their consoles ever since the N64. The GameCube had a few really good titles, but nowhere near the PS2. The Wii hit it big, but again not a wide range of good titles like the PS3 and XB360. Wii U? well, we've seen how well that's been doing... Now if only they'd release that Zelda game and a Metroid or 2...

  5. Super Mario Run?! by zifn4b · · Score: 2

    Oh Nintendo, you missed a golden opportunity here. We have already had Subway Surfers and Temple run for years now. Have you considered either Super Mario RPG or Mario Party? Heck, Mario Kart would even make sense. Square Enix figured out that you could make Final Fantasy into a decent touch-screen app.

    --
    We'll make great pets
  6. Augmented reality by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 3, Funny

    If it's not an augmented reality game, I want nothing to do with it. I want a super mario that jumps desks and pounds on people's heads in augmented reality. Otherwise, it's crap.

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  7. So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    essentially this is just Flappy Bird with the bird swapped out with Mario.