Super Mario Run launches on the iPhone and iPad
The app marks the first time the firm has created a smartphone game based on its most famous character.
It follows the successful release of Pokemon Go earlier in the year. Nintendo owns a minority stake in the Pokemon Company, but the title was developed by a third party.
Experts predict the new game will also prove popular, but suggest an anti-piracy feature is misguided.
"Mario is one of the best loved and established icons of gaming and I think this is going to be tremendously successful," said Piers Harding-Rolls from the IHS Technology consultancy.
"To open up the full game you have to make an in-app purchase - it's quite big but it is a one-off and I don't think people will think Nintendo is trying to rinse their audience."
The free version acts as a brief demo, but paying a £7.99 fee offers full access to three modes:
Nintendo had initially shunned smartphones, preferring to focus on its own hardware.
However, weak sales of its Wii U console and a decline in demand for its 3DS handheld caused the firm to sustain large financial losses, putting it under pressure to change tack.
SOURCE
It follows the successful release of Pokemon Go earlier in the year. Nintendo owns a minority stake in the Pokemon Company, but the title was developed by a third party.
Experts predict the new game will also prove popular, but suggest an anti-piracy feature is misguided.
"Mario is one of the best loved and established icons of gaming and I think this is going to be tremendously successful," said Piers Harding-Rolls from the IHS Technology consultancy.
"To open up the full game you have to make an in-app purchase - it's quite big but it is a one-off and I don't think people will think Nintendo is trying to rinse their audience."
Build to unlock
Super Mario Run takes the Super Mario Bros format - where the character sprints from left to right, collecting coins, jumping over obstacles and squishing enemies - and tweaks the gameplay to make it easy to play one-handed on a touchscreen.The free version acts as a brief demo, but paying a £7.99 fee offers full access to three modes:
- World Tour - a story mode spanning six worlds, which Mario must travel across to save Princess Peach
- Toad Rally - a multiplayer mode, in which players compete to show off challenging moves and collect coins to get the highest score
- Kingdom Builder - a creation mode, where players use the coins they have earned elsewhere to add buildings and decorations, some of which unlock bonus characters and other extra content
Nintendo had initially shunned smartphones, preferring to focus on its own hardware.
However, weak sales of its Wii U console and a decline in demand for its 3DS handheld caused the firm to sustain large financial losses, putting it under pressure to change tack.
SOURCE
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