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Posts tagged with "nintendo"

Super Mario Run Arrives in the App Store→

The announcement of Super Mario Run for iOS was a big surprise during Apple’s September 7th iPhone event. It feels like hardly a week has gone by since then without some sort of news about the game.

The wait is finally over. As of a short time ago, Super Mario Run began rolling out worldwide on the App Store. The game features three modes, an endless runner-style mode in which you tap the screen to help Mario reach platforms, collect coins, and avoid enemies, a head-to-head competition mode called Toad Rally, and a building mode called Kingdom Builder. This gameplay video posted by Nintendo last week walks through each part of the game:

Super Mario Run requires a constant connection to the Internet. Nintendo says it implemented the feature to combat piracy of the game – a decision that has been roundly criticized as user-hostile in the days since the requirement was revealed.

You can download Super Mario Run from the App Store for free, but a $9.99 in-app purchase is required to unlock the full game.

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Super Mario Run Requires a Constant Internet Connection→

Adam Rosenberg, writing for Mashable, interviewed Shigeru Miyamoto on the upcoming release of Super Mario Run. According to Miyamoto, Nintendo had to implement an always-on requirement for an Internet connection due to “security” concerns, which he clarified thusly:

Just to be clear: When you say “security,” you mean the risk of piracy, right?

That’s correct.

Unlike our dedicated game devices, the game is not releasing in a limited number of countries. We’re launching in 150 countries and each of those countries has different network environments and things like that. So it was important for us to be able to have it secure for all users.

Miyamoto also argues that two of the game’s three modes rely on an Internet connection, and it was easier to go all-in with the requirement. Nintendo may have their reasons, but I don’t think this will go down well with customers who will pay to play a game that was advertised as ideal for one-handed gameplay on subways, where Internet connections are spotty.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo reverses the decision, at least for the main mode. If they don’t, it’s still a disappointment.

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Super Mario Run is Coming

The Super Mario Run marketing blitz has begun. With the launch of Super Mario Run on iOS just one week away, Shigeru Miyamoto was interviewed by The Verge and BuzzFeed News. The creator of Mario spoke at length with both publications about the game, Nintendo’s goals for it, and how it was made.

Miyamoto discussed the thought process behind Super Mario Run’s gameplay with The Verge:

“We felt that by having this simple tap interaction to make Mario jump, we’d be able to make a game that the broadest audience of people could play.”

Nintendo’s strategy to expand its audience extends beyond gameplay though, as Miyamoto explained to BuzzFeed News:

“Kids are playing on devices that they’re getting from their parents when their parents are upgrading,” Miyamoto said. “We wanted to take an approach of how can we bring Nintendo IP to smart devices and give kids the opportunity to interact with our characters and our games.”

It’s a strategy that makes a lot of sense given the dominance of smartphones and rise of casual gaming.

Nintendo’s goal to make Super Mario Run a one-handed game necessitated designing it for portrait mode, which led to new opportunities for Nintendo’s creative team. Miyamoto told The Verge that:

“Once we did start to focus on the vertical gameplay and one-handed play, we were surprised at how much having that vertical space in a Mario game could add to the verticality of the game itself and how that added a new element of fun to Mario,” Miyamoto explains. “They’re all brand new levels that we created for this game, but because of the vertical orientation, it gave us a lot of new ideas for how to stretch the game vertically. I think it’s been maybe since the Ice Climbers days that we’ve had a game where you’re trying to climb a tower.”

Miyamoto also shared with BuzzFeed News that the inspiration for creating an “endless runner” style Mario game was influenced by fans who do speed runs through Mario and other games. You may have seen videos of speed runs; there is no shortage of them on YouTube. BuzzFeed explains that:

Watching online videos of these gamers’ astounding speed runs and other feats of gaming skill, Nintendo employees noticed that the gamers never let up on the D-Pad. Mario always kept running, and all of the skill came down to the incredible precision of the jumping. What if, the Nintendo braintrust reasoned, all players could have that experience?

In addition, Nintendo executive Reggie Fils-Aimé and Shigeru Miyamoto paid a visit to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night, demoing Super Mario Run and the Nintendo Switch console that is slated for release in March. If anyone wasn’t sure before, there is no doubt that Jimmy Fallon is a huge Nintendo fan and geek. This video is wonderful:

Super Mario Run Launching on December 15

With a press release issued this morning, Nintendo has announced that Super Mario Run – the company’s first Mario game for iOS devices revealed at Apple’s September event – will be released in one month, on December 15.

From the press release:

The first-ever mobile game featuring the most iconic video game hero of all time goes on sale for iPhone and iPad on Dec. 15 in United States time zones. Super Mario Run can be downloaded from the App Store at no cost, and players can try elements of the game’s three modes for free.

“The wait is almost over for a Super Mario game that can be played on mobile devices,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “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.”

Super Mario Run will be available in 151 countries next month, and it’ll be a free download from the App Store. A single $9.99 In-App Purchase will unlock all three game modes, which we previously detailed in our overview of Super Mario Run.

Super Mario Run will be modeled after the tradition of “endless runner” games for iOS that can be controlled with one hand by tapping on the screen to make Mario jump.

Update: You can watch a new gameplay video of Super Mario Run below.

The Man Behind Mario Explains Nintendo’s New iPhone Game→

Matt Peckham, writing for Time, spoke with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto shortly after today’s Apple keynote where it was announced that a new game, Super Mario Run, would be coming to the iPhone this December.

Time: When I asked [late Nintendo CEO Satoru] Iwata back in early 2015 about Nintendo’s smartphone plans, he said “that being ‘unique’ or ‘unprecedented’ was appreciated far more than being ‘better’ than the others.” How are you working to differentiate Super Mario Run from existing mobile runners?

Miyamoto: That’s true. So the basic premise this time was, we started by wanting to make a Mario game that you play one-handed. And if you think about Mario games up until now, generally Mario games are very simple and anyone can play them. But as you get deeper into the mechanics it gets more challenging. For some people, they have a hard time running, using the ‘B’ button to dash, or jumping while trying to run and dash at the same time. So the approach we took was, “How can we take that essence of the simplicity of Mario and bring it to mobile devices?” And that meant thinking about a game that would run automatically, on its own, but where there’s still the challenge of jumping and things like that, that are uniquely Mario.

We’ve also prepared the battle mode, as you saw, and this is really geared toward people who just have a few minutes to play. It’s a short mode you can play very quickly. And the other thing is we’re bringing in a number of elements that add skill and technique. As you get better at those skills and techniques, you’ll have a lot of motivation to compete for high scores and things like that.

Despite the fact that this was quite a brief interview (comprised of 5 questions), Miyamoto’s answers are quite detailed and provide some real insight into Nintendo’s thinking with this new Mario game. Super Mario Run has been designed to “take advantage of the uniqueness” of the iPhone and “perfect for that sort of simple interface and broader user base”. Nintendo is hoping that new people will discover the joy of Mario and seek out other Mario games that exist on Nintendo’s own hardware.

So of course as you’ve seen with Pokémon Go, we have millions of people who may never have played a Pokémon game, or maybe just knew the name Pokémon, who are now playing that game and learning the names of each individual Pokémon. And the result of that is that we’re also seeing sales of things like our original Pokémon Red and Blue games on the rise as a result of that. We think we’ll see a similar effect with Super Mario Run, and especially as we continue to develop Mario games for our own platforms that have more robust action and those sorts of elements, we think those will be appealing to the audience playing Super Mario Run on mobile devices.

If you’re interested, be sure to read Matt Peckham’s full interview with Miyamoto on Time.

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Nintendo Brings Mario to iOS

Apple kicked off its media event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium today with a big surprise. Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo took the stage to announce that Mario is coming to iOS in December, just in time for the holiday season.

The game, called Super Mario Run, is reminiscent of the classic Super Mario Bros. game on SNES. From Business Wire:

“We have created Super Mario Run to be perfect for playing on your iPhone,” said Mr. Miyamoto, who first devised the Mario character more than 35 years ago. “Super Mario has evolved whenever he has encountered a new platform, and for the first time ever, players will be able to enjoy a full-fledged Super Mario game with just one hand, giving them the freedom to play while riding the subway or my favorite, eating a hamburger.”

Super Mario Run has three play modes. The first is a single-player mode where Mario runs automatically to the right similar to other endless-runner, platformer games on iOS. Tapping the screen makes Mario jump to do things like reach platforms, collect coins, and avoid enemies. The longer you tap, the higher Mario jumps. The goal is to reach the flag at the end of the level before time runs out.

Second is a battle mode called Toad Rally where you play against the scores of friends or other players from around the world. Toad Rally does not have a flag at the end of each level. Instead, you race against the clock collecting coins and impressing toads to try to beat the score of the person you challenged.

The final mode is a building mode where you can create a Mushroom Kingdom. Using coins collected in the first two modes, you can decorate and customize your Mushroom Kingdom.

Miyamoto said that Super Mario Run will be paid up front, but the App Store entry for the game indicates that it offers in-app purchase. According to Business Wire:

iOS users will be able to download and enjoy a portion of Super Mario Run for free and will be able to enjoy all of the game content available in this release after paying a set purchase price.

Because Super Mario Run does not come out until December it is interesting that it has an App Store page at all. Instead of a ‘Buy’ button, the page has a ‘Notify’ button you can use to receive an alert when the game is available.

Finally, to tide over fans until December, Nintendo is releasing a Mario-themed sticker pack for Apple’s Messages app, which will be available when iOS 10 launches on September 13, 2016.

You can also follow all of the MacStories coverage of today’s Apple’s keynote through our September 7 Keynote hub, or subscribe to the dedicated September 7 Keynote RSS feed.

Miitomo for iOS Goes Live Internationally→

Nintendo’s highly anticipated iOS debut title, the social free-to-start app Miitomo, is now available in the US and several European countries.

I’ve been keeping an eye on Miitomo – I still don’t completely understand it, but I’m intrigued by the premise of a friend-based network with mini-games and the ability to collect coins. Those coins can then be used to claim rewards and redeem other Nintendo-related content such as games and customizations. I’m curious to see how Miitomo will perform outside of Japan.

This morning Nintendo also launched My Nintendo, their new web service, globally. As I noted on Twitter, it’s a surprisingly well done web app. If you’re going to install Miitomo this morning, make sure to connect your existing Nintendo Network ID and online profiles to earn some free points and easily find new friends to add on Miitomo.

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Nintendo’s Miitomo App Launching in the U.S. and Europe on March 31→

With a press release published this morning, Nintendo has announced that Miitomo – the free-to-start social app for iOS – will be launching on Thursday, March 31 in the United States and several European countries.

On March 31, Miitomo, the company’s first-ever smart device application, is launching in the United States and several other countries. Miitomo is a free-to-start social experience that lets users spark one-of-a-kind conversations with friends in a whole new way using Mii characters. The app recently launched in Japan and was downloaded more than 1 million times in its first three days of availability, while achieving the #1 most downloaded free app status in both the App Store and Google Play storefronts.

Alongside Miitomo, Nintendo is also introducing a web version of the eShop to browse digital games from any web browser. The eShop for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U was launched in 2011 without a web counterpart.

Featuring an expanded catalog of more than 2,000 games, this digital store can be accessed on personal computers or smart devices. The shop serves as an additional purchase option to Nintendo eShop on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, with all purchases being sent directly to users’ Nintendo 3DS or Wii U systems for download. Users can now easily find and purchase games that are new, popular and on sale, as well as use filters to search by genre. Purchases of games from this site, as well as Nintendo eShop, will earn My Nintendo Gold Points.

Leading up to the international rollout at the end of the month, users can pre-register for Miitomo here.

See also: initial details of Miitomo and the My Nintendo service, and Miitomo first impressions.

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Miitomo Is a Strong Start for Nintendo’s Mobile Strategy→

Nadia Oxford, writing for US Gamer, shares some first impressions of Miitomo, Nintendo’s first iOS app that went live in Japan yesterday:

One of Tomodachi Life’s most appealing features made it into Miitomo, too: Outfit collection. Like its inspiration, Miitomo has tons of outfits and accessories for sale, and stock changes daily. You can also play a Pachinko-style game to win super-exclusive outfits. Which, by the way, is how I wound up blowing all my coins. I was trying to score a black cat ensemble. If Nintendo ever does get around to releasing Nintendo-themed costumes for the app’s Miis, I’m definitely going to live my life in perpetual Miitomo poverty.

Speaking of coins, there’s understandably been a lot of worry about how Nintendo will monetize Miitomo. From my angle, Miitomo is fair about in-app purchases. I was happy to see there’s no secondary “hard currency,” a staple of free-to-play games. Hard currency usually needs to be bought with real-world cash (though some games occasionally throw you a bone – or a diamond or gem, as the case may be), and often needs to be on-hand in order to acquire the game’s coolest accessories.

It sounds like Nintendo has thought this through – there are push notifications to keep you engaged a few minutes every day, there’s My Nintendo integration to unlock rewards, and you can even redeem DS games on the 3DS eShop by playing Miitomo on iOS. I still don’t know if this will catch on outside of Japan, but I’m curious to check it out.

See also: Jeff Benjamin’s video overview.

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