Nintendo fills summer drought with Mario’s debut on mobile: iPhone's Super Mario Run
Now the Pokemon Go furor has died down (for now) as Nintendo expects limited profits from the Niantic-owned title, the company is set to roll out its heavy hitter, Super Mario, to mobile to rebalance revenues during the summer gaming drought.
Super Mario Run
The Apple iPhone (iOS) will play host to new mobile title Super Mario Run, aping the seemingly endless archive of ‘Runner’ games that have flourished on mobile as they require limited user input to play, dodging obstacles on a 2D plane - perfect for the lack of control offered by touchscreens.
The game was rolled out during the Apple Event Wednesday (7 September) where the new iPhone 7 was debuted (analysis here). Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto took to the stage alongside Apple chief executive to give his seal of approval to the game citing how “anyone can pick up and start playing”.
“You can even play it one handed, while you’re holding onto the handle on the subway, while eating a hamburger, or even an Apple," said Miyamoto.
Super Mario Run will represent Nintendo’s first fully fledged swing at mobile, having released chat app Miitomo, and Niantic’s Pokemon Go. It now holds full control of its IP on mobile. The game by Nintendo's mobile partner DeNA, a company which promised almost a year ago that its use of Nintendo properties could raise as much as £17m a month once it gets a few titles on the mobile platform.
There’s been much debate about Nintendo’s future on mobile. It faces the unique challenge of turning ‘downloads into dollars’ as its console and handheld sales shrink as the next generation NX console looms.