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Super Mario Run 10M+ downloads Day 1, over $4M revenue, biggest Appstore launch ever.

It's definitely the most polished platformer I've played on a mobile device. It's a shame that the mobile market has basically been trained that games that charge are a bad thing. I hope Nintendo and some of the other developers entering the mobile market like Sony, can change that thought process in the future.
How many platformers have you played on mobile? I am curious how dependent the perception of the game is based on one's experience with mobile; like, for me, this is certainly one of the top tier runners, but one of the best platformers on mobile? When there are games like Leo's Fortune and Shadow Blade?

No that in itself is good, but when only 4% of those that downloaded it actually bought it, I'd say that's fairly disappointing.
That's par for the course with mobile, and the game is #1 in Top Grossing. I was not expecting that
 
No that in itself is good, but when only 4% of those that downloaded it actually bought it, I'd say that's fairly disappointing.
4% is almost the half of Rayman LTD on Android in just ONE day... What did you expected? And that number is going to grow.. a lot.
 

bart64

Banned
We need to remove emotional connections from our arguments and look at the bigger picture. People are conditioned on free mobile games that have ads and paying a couple of bucks for the in game currency to advance the game when they get stuck. 10 bucks is a HUGE barrier to many people that want a quick time sink when they have a few minutes to kill.

Nintendo left a lot of money on the table IMO by pricing it as high as they did. Sure a Mario game is a premium name, but you are losing large chunks of your customer base every generation. If the main goal is to bring people back into the fold, you need to price it accordingly. They didn't do that very well.

Isn't the bigger picture to get people to buy a nintendo console? if people have a propblem spending $10, how will they ever spend $60? They are investing in building that bridge, and paving the path for a more healthy mobile market at the same time.
 

Polygonal_Sprite

Gold Member
How many platformers have you played on mobile? I am curious how dependent the perception of the game is based on one's experience with mobile; like this is certainly one of the top tier runners, but one of the best platformers on mobile? When there are games like Leo's Fortune and Shadow Blade?

Would you recommend those two ? Never really played much on mobile. The Rayman game is also meant to be good too right ?

I think SMR is limited but great for what it is.

Maybe Nintendo wasn't sure about the price tag so took a chance, if it doesn't work out long term they can always release a different pricing model later and clean up after getting a couple of million people to spend $10 on it.
 
Isn't the bigger picture to get people to buy a nintendo console? if people have a propblem spending $10, how will they ever spend $60? They are investing in building that bridge, and paving the path for a more healthy mobile market at the same time.
Excellent point.
 
Isn't the bigger picture to get people to buy a nintendo console? if people have a propblem spending $10, how will they ever spend $60? They are investing in building that bridge, and paving the path for a more healthy mobile market at the same time.
You're making the assumptiom that they don't already have consoles or don't already buy games.
 

heringer

Member
How many platformers have you played on mobile? I am curious how dependent the perception of the game is based on one's experience with mobile; like, for me, this is certainly one of the top tier runners, but one of the best platformers on mobile? When there are games like Leo's Fortune and Shadow Blade?


That's par for the course with mobile, and the game is #1 in Top Grossing. I was not expecting that

I don't want to get too much into the distinction between a runner and a platformer, but I definitely do prefer SMR as a game than both of those. Sometimes a runner can be just as good as a regular platformer, just like I personally think Mikey Jumps is better than the other Mikey games.
 
Would you recommend those two ? Never really played much on mobile. The Rayman game is also meant to be good too right ?

I think SMR is limited but great for what it is.

Maybe Nintendo wasn't sure about the price tag so took a chance, if it doesn't work out long term they can always release a different pricing model later and clean up after getting a couple of million people to spend $10 on it.
Honestly, I can play platformers on mobile just fine, but I think it's very much dependent on the person and their ease with touch controls. For someome getting into mobile, I'd recommend stuff like The Room, Dark Echo, Hitman and Lara Croft GO, 80 Days and Sorcery, the Rayman games, Device 6, Monument Valley, Card Crawl, Hoplite, Wayward Souls, Hero Emblems, Nitrome's Icebreaker
 

oti

Banned
Didn't you said that making more money is better than making less?

They might had made money, they can make several times more money on mobile. That's not even looking at the increase of costs in each new gen. Which is the real problem of this market stagning.

So yes, answering your second question, is entirely possible to sony to release only mobile games in the future. The first step on there: They are going to release several mobile games.

I don't think you realise that the mobile market isn't as simple as "throw good IP at it, make tons of money". In your head you're going "Clash of Clans X Mario = €€€€€". That's as far as investors think who olny have short-term money on their mind.

Giving up your own hardware business for the promise of the mobile market is far riskier that you might imagine. Yes, you can make a lot of money with mobile, but it's also a nightmare business that only veeeeery few can survive on. Could Nintendo make a lot of money on mobile if they disregard their position on ethics and monetization, something Iwata stressed out throughout his presidency? Sure! The possibility is there. But why not sell your own hardware to your fan base that values you more than mobile gamers ever will PLUS sell mobile games as well? Nintendo is pretty much the only company that can make great games on every platform. Using that potential for synergy makes way more sense in the long term than fast quick F2P money on the short term.

Remember Angry Birds? Ever wondered why there's no Clash of Clans X Angry Birds?
 

lt519

Member
Wonder how much they spent on advertising and development. I know it has a ton of ancillary effects, by just curious if the game itself is making them money.
 
The more Nintendo rebels against the typical mobile paradigm, the better chance that the mobile market might actually have a chance to reform. Though I don't count on it, the mobile market is the fucking worst.
 

Polygonal_Sprite

Gold Member
Honestly, I can play platformers on mobile just fine, but I think it's very much dependent on the person and their ease with touch controls. For someome getting into mobile, I'd recommend stuff like The Room, Dark Echo, Hitman and Lara Croft GO, 80 Days and Sorcery, the Rayman games, Device 6, Monument Valley, Card Crawl, Hoplite, Wayward Souls, Hero Emblems, Nitrome's Icebreaker

Thanks for the list, I'll check them out.
 

hollomat

Banned
Love the game and it's a steal for the $10 price. I just wish it wasn't always online so I could play on my commute, but understand they did it to combat piracy.

Now when are the micro transactions coming so I can pay for Mario to jump higher?
/s

For everyone who has it, I encourage you to post your friend id in the OT thread. The game is much more fun with a bunch of friends since you can see their high scores for each lvl.
 
The more Nintendo rebels against the typical mobile paradigm, the better chance that the mobile market might actually have a chance to reform. Though I don't count on it, the mobile market is the fucking worst.

Or the more Nintendo falls to irrelevancy by the mobile and younger crowd. Double edge sword.
 
I played the demo stages and collecting the pink coins is already quite challenging due to the fact that you cant stop unless the game lets you and cant go back.

Im a bit dissapointed that its only 6 stages compared to the standard 8 stages and the fact that they choose the nsmb style

Also the always online requirement sucks.. how am i suppose to play on a plane?

The price is okay though
 

idwl

Member
So when are we getting new level packs ? :p I'm only half way through but I do want more . Didn't think I'd enjoy one handed mario so much
 
I played the demo stages and collecting the pink coins is already quite challenging due to the fact that you cant stop unless the game lets you and cant go back.

Im a bit dissapointed that its only 6 stages compared to the standard 8 stages and the fact that they choose the nsmb style

The price is okay though
You can use a bubble to go back
 

Ganondolf

Member
So if I'm calculating this right 400k purchases on the first day.

Looks like Nintendo's mobile strategy is off to a good start
 
Ten million downloads, and less than half a million sales. Everyone who said that $10 was too high a price for the mobile market was correct.
 

Matt

Member
Based on this data, the performance so far of SMR is basically the best it could have reasonably been expected to be.

All the naysayers in this thread are just plain wrong.
 

Oersted

Member
I remember one of the first threads about this game when the price was still unknown and people were convinced it would be 15-20 bucks. And now the masses are complaining that not only do they have to pay, but that it's 10 bucks which is almost seen as obscene for a mobile game. I said the sweet spot would be 5.99-7.99 and that would still probably be seen as too much.

We need to remove emotional connections from our arguments and look at the bigger picture. People are conditioned on free mobile games that have ads and paying a couple of bucks for the in game currency to advance the game when they get stuck. 10 bucks is a HUGE barrier to many people that want a quick time sink when they have a few minutes to kill.

Nintendo left a lot of money on the table IMO by pricing it as high as they did. Sure a Mario game is a premium name, but you are losing large chunks of your customer base every generation. If the main goal is to bring people back into the fold, you need to price it accordingly. They didn't do that very well.

I think you forget one audience. Parents. They will download the game for themselves and for their kids, knowing their will be no nickle dime sheanigans.
 

Interfectum

Member
Based on this data, the performance so far of SMR is basically the best it could have reasonably been expected to do.

All the naysayers in this thread are just plain wrong.

Yup. Though it is fun watching them talk about things they know little about.
 

Two Words

Member
Why is anybody surprised by this? What was the last iOS game that had this much pre-release publicity, including being on tv programs like Jimmy Fallon?
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
Ten million downloads, and less than half a million sales. Everyone who said that $10 was too high a price for the mobile market was correct.


Considering that they are getting more downloads, an higher redemption rate thsn usual at a higher price, I would say you are incorrect
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
The problem is there isn't sustained revenue as it's a single buy in point.

It's a good launch. Yet how many iOS consumers are gonna keep buying in at this price point over the next month? 3 months? 6 months?

The fans that are already in you got their money already. So with no micro transactions or dlc on the horizon there isn't gonna be any recurring money from owners who already purchased.

Edit: I do wonder if Mario nostalgia would have kicked in for way more people at $5 entry point. More than enough to offset the pricing difference between $5 and $10.
 

Oersted

Member
Why is anybody surprised by this? What was the last iOS game that had this much pre-release publicity, including being on tv programs like Jimmy Fallon?

I do think that literally noone is surprised and you are literally the only one claiming surprise by someone unspecific.
 
The problem is there isn't sustained revenue as it's a single buy in point.

It's a good launch. Yet how many iOS consumers are gonna keep buying in at this price point over the next month? 3 months? 6 months?
.

The market is volatile, but even mobile has "evergreen" paid titles. Look at Minecraft, consistently at the top of the charts since release. (Among others)

Additionally, Apple is going to be promoting this game for a considerable length of time. It's already made a lot of money and apple tends to promote successful apps quite heavily. Every time an update is released it'll likely get an App Store feature. There are always new customers.
 
10 million in two days? God damn

And I wonder how many people bought it in those 10 million, probably a good %

I mean its probably gone up from the 4 million in revenue but

4 mill / 10 = 400k purchases

400k / 10 mill = 4% buy rate

So at best we're look at 5-10% buy rate of downloads to purchases
 

Oersted

Member
I mean its probably gone up from the 4 million in revenue but

4 mill / 10 = 400k purchases

400k / 10 mill = 4% buy rate

So at best we're look at 5-10% buy rate of downloads to purchases

Your normal F2P game has at best 2 % buy rate, if I don't misremember.
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
The market is volatile, but even mobile has "evergreen" paid titles. Look at Minecraft, consistently at the top of the charts since release. (Among others)

Additionally, Apple is going to be promoting this game for a considerable length of time. It's already made a lot of money and apple tends to promote successful apps quite heavily. Every time an update is released it'll likely get an App Store feature. There are always new customers.

Minecraft is an outlier to a degree. It's more successful than 99% of the games ever released.

Granted I fully expect sales on this over time which will definitely give it a healthy bump. I dislike the Minecraft comparison though.
 
The market is volatile, but even mobile has "evergreen" paid titles. Look at Minecraft, consistently at the top of the charts since release. (Among others)
Minecraft has sold 30 million copies in mobile. Almost twice as many copies than on PC

And that's $7, already high for a mobile game
 
Minecraft is an outlier to a degree. It's more successful than 99% of the games ever released.

Granted I fully expect sales on this over time which will definitely give it a healthy bump. I dislike the Minecraft comparison though.

Are we expecting this game to need the kind of continued development that Minecraft gets though? Nintendo almost certainly already made a profit on this, factoring in whatever Apple offered them to get the exclusive.

And it's only just getting started.
 
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