The Nintendo Mobile Initiative has been Nintendo’s way of trying to break into the mobile market at large. First came Pokemon GO (which technically wasn’t made by Nintendo, but it’s still in it), but then, the first “true” Nintendo mobile game came out via Super Mario Run. It was a simple endless runner that gave players the chance to play Mario on the go via their phones or tablets without needing a large time commitment.
However, despite massive initial buzz, Super Mario Run got a lot of controversy at launch. Despite it selling massive amounts, especially in the first few days, many players (including our very own Aaron Sanders as he notes in his review…) felt that while it was a Mario title…it wasn’t a good one, and certainly not a great one, and certainly not worth $10, even if it wasn’t a “one-time” pay.
According to Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima in an interview with Asia Nikkei, Super Mario Run didn’t live up to the expectations of Nintendo. Which is understandable when you see the dip in sales and the negative reviews surrounding it.
In a twist, though, the President, and other Nintendo officials have stated that the Super Mario run pay model is still the one they see moving forward. They don’t like the freemium model that many games, including their own Fire Emblem Heroes (which we did like, including our own Tyler Kelbaugh in his review…). They dubbed this an “outlier” in regards to the pay model.
So what does this mean going forward? It’s hard to say. The next mobile title is said to be Animal Crossing, but who knows what that game will be like. For more talk about the Nintendo Mobile Initiative and what it could mean for Nintendo, the Nintendo Switch, and the Nintendo 3DS, check out the latest episode of the Nintendo Entertainment Podcast!
