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Nintendo to Develop Mario Runner for iPhone

Super Mario Run to debut on iOS devices later this year.

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Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto made his way onto Apple's iPhone 7 press briefing stage this morning to announce a new game that will debut exclusively on iOS devices. Super Mario Run is an auto-runner built using New Super Mario Bros.-style graphics and sound, with some light competitive elements found in the game's "Toad Rally" mode.

No Caption Provided

The primary control seems to be tapping the screen, which causes Mario to jump. Longer taps result in taller jumps. Mario automatically runs through the level, like an endless runner, but the game has flagpoles that end stages in its default mode.

The game also has an asynchronous competitive mode, Toad Rally, where players make their way through a course until time expires. Players will see the ghosts of other players' runs and "daring moves" will impress different Toads, which then appear to funnel into some kind of larger score or customization feature.

Super Mario Run will be released for free, with a one-time purchase unlocking the full content of the game. The game will debut on iOS devices (which I assume means it'll eventually hit Android) in December.

Nintendo will also supply a collection of Nintendo-themed stickers for use in iOS 10's new messaging features.

Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

74 Comments

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Mirado

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I got you by 30 seconds, Jeff!

Here's some shots from the stream of Miyamoto on stage during the demo:

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deactivated-5b85a38d6c493

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Could be neat. Would really like to know the pricing though.

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Mirado

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Edited By Mirado

@magmamud: Whatever it is, they said there's no microtransactions, which is nice.

EDIT: The official page is listing it as having in-app purchases, so now I'm not sure who is correct, Miyamoto or the page...

EDIT2: Turns out it's going to be a free demo, followed by a one time purchase to unlock everything else.

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BallsLeon

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You can play using one hand....! It's fun...!

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Brake

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Finally, we can pay to jump higher. Right?! No? Fine.

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stalefishies

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This seems like a very smart business move that I don't care much about.

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xxDrAiNxx

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Here We Go !

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DrDarkStryfe

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And Pokemon Go and Fire Emblem is heading to the Apple Watch.

Nintendo stock has jumped 14% since the start of the Apple event.

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caseman

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Edited By caseman

This news so hot it burned down my house

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officer_falcon

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Not surprised that this was their approach. It makes sense to use Mario this way.

I'll be curious to see how the levels get constructed. Without full control of Mario there are certainly designs that won't work well in this format.

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Dreamfall31

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Yay. I'm fine waiting 2 months to play a mediocre endless runner on Android.

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Error52

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@mirado: it'll be free to download and it'll basically be a demo, but then you buy the rest

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Sessh

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Not a bad start to their mobile phone gaming plans I guess.

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Mirado

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@error52: Hmm, well, that's ok then. I don't mind paying in as long as it's a one time thing.

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ChrisTaran

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Sounds awesome! Can't wait.

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deactivated-5f8907c9ada33

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I'd be down for this. Those Rayman running games are quite fun to mess around with.

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fatalbanana

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Huh

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ArbitraryWater

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But what if you could pay 99 cents and have Mario jump a little higher?

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Obeast

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Edited By Obeast

Outside of Miitomo, I think this looks like a neat start for Nintendo's entrance into the mobile gaming platform. Although, part of me wishes they took a cue from Mario Maker and let you play using assets (and possibly gameplay mechanics if there's more to this game than tap-to-jump) from the older Mario games since I do prefer the look of the older games over NSMB.

Edit: Here's the video of the presentation via Kotaku. It looks like there will be some actual gameplay mechanics like blocks that reverse/stop Mario. I'm actually a little more excited for it now.

Loading Video...
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BelowStupid

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Edited By BelowStupid

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEP

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Amppelix

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TheHT

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http://slackwise.net/files/images/Adventure%20Time/Adventure%20Time%20-%20BMO%20Rocking%20In%20Fear.gif

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paulmako

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I don't see 'entering mobile gaming' as the real end goal here. I see this as part of their Coca-cola style aim for ubiquity.

In one of their investor Q&A's from last year or maybe the year before they mentioned their aim of getting Nintendo properties out to as many people as possible, and at as young an age of possible. This works to get people familiar with their franchises and presumably turn them into paying customers in the future.

The example they gave then was the importance to them of putting Mario on toothbrushes. Something that young children would be using daily. The difference is that hey, this iPhone app is still a videogame. But I see this as a supporting product (which may well be perfectly good in its own right) that supports their own dedicated hardware and software rather than the start of a new core business for Nintendo.

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AlvaroFAraujo

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OH MAN this is such a huge step to affirm themselves into the mobile phone industry. We can pretty much exclude the NX rumour of being a tablet system, because if it was going to be Nintendo would use this game as an exclusive

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chekhonte

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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo......................

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deactivated-5b031d0e868a5

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I didn't think they'd go as far as to show actual gameplay.

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emperordahc

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Edited By emperordahc
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Jeldh

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@kingbonesaw: yeah i remember those!

I think this might be good, I would never buy a handheld so I enjoy that they go for the tablet/phone market.

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Skinky

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Edited By Skinky

Miffed its not coming to Android also.

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Zelnox

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I think the craziest part of this is seeing Miyamoto on the stage at an Apple event.

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nickhead

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@skinky: Did they explicitly say iPhone exclusive or is this one of those misleading "first exclusives" with other platforms releasing at an undisclosed date?

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paulmako

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@nickhead: I think it's 'First for iPhone'. So no doubt it will show up on Android within a few months.

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Lurkero

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No, sir. This is just the beginning.

Muhaha

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Skinky

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Edited By Skinky

@nickhead:

After watching the presentation, I get the impression its a timed exclusive. " IOS first" -Bill Trinnen.

The official website is up.

http://supermariorun.com/en/index.html

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UltimAXE

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Whatever helps fuel the games that I actually give a shit about.

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aidros

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Whoa. Touchstone moment here. Video games are-a happenin'!!

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Skinky

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Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem Mobile are coming in March. Seriously hope Android users don't have to wait that long to play Super Mario Run.

http://nintendoeverything.com/fire-emblem-animal-crossing-mobile-games-now-arriving-before-the-end-of-march/

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Nagafen

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Nintendo's Mobile games suck.

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Pierre42

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Don't think it looks much fun...

I mean I've had fun just bolting it through Mario levels before but that's when I could sprint and get actual speed and do the cool-triple hop move.

Jogging-speed Mario running just doesn't look that exciting.

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colourful_hippie

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@theht said:

It's a real sign of the times that Miyamoto is on an Apple stage showing off that

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GrimNacho

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@lurkero said:

No, sir. This is just the beginning.

Muhaha

Well, its the end of console gaming and the beginning of mobile dominating the mainstream market. 10 years from now we'll all have to pay for monthly account access to play Mario. Be ready.

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CountDeDeDe

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deactivated-582d227526464

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Yep, it's the end. Ragnarok has come. Waluigi has seen his shadow. Pack it up.

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mrcraggle

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@nagafen said:

Nintendo's Mobile games suck.

I think that's a part of their new mobile strategy. People dislike their mobile offerings and instead go out and buy a 3DS.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/18/12542206/nintendo-pokemon-go-3ds-sales

They delayed Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem to next year

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deactivated-60481185a779c

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The stickers sound more interesting than a Mario runner.

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icytower38

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I don't care what anyone says, I'm downloading day one, and already clicked the notify me button in the App Store

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RonnieBarzel

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@mirado: Nintendo is offering it as free, with a small portion of content — a demo, really — that can then be unlocked with a single purchase.

From the press release Nintendo sent out:

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.

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BonOrbitz

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Boy, I sure can't wait for Metroid Prime Clicker.

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Mirado

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Edited By Mirado

@ronniebarzel: Gotcha, thanks. I'll edit my post to reflect that.