How Super Mario Run screws up mobile monetization

VentureBeat: "I’m not sure that Nintendo’s much heralded free-to-start (F2S) monetization model was worth the wait. It was a year-and-a-half ago that it was first touted, with Nintendo CEO, Satoru Iwata’s famous statement that indicated Nintendo would not be hunting for whales."

[Gamble20]

The most frustrating part of it for me is not being able to share the in-app purchase on family sharing. If I'm paying $10, for a game requiring always-online, I should at least be able to share that with my wife and kids.

[MrMoe]

Buying stuff before informing yourself? It's your own fault! Are you a zombie that must buy games, stuff ect or do you have a brain? No offense

[ninsigma]

He never said he wasn't informed when he bought it.

[Smok91]

MrMoe you fool.

[Elimin8]

Don't blame you one bit but you really can dl it on other devices. It says $9.99 but it asks you if you wanna dl it for free again. Unless they changed it. Just make sure it's downloaded from the same account that made the purchase.

[Deadpooled]

I think the biggest problem is not that the game is 'pay once for the full experience' (which is imo how all games should be) but how much the game costs and it requiring always online connection. £7.99 is a heck of a lot for a runner that more or less plays itself, and being always online is not user friendly for those who live in bad connection areas or travel on the tube etc. I think the sweet spot for the game is £2.99 max (about $4), the game is well made with a lot of replayability relating to the number of worlds, the pink/purple/black challenges, various characters to unlock, killing more enemies gives more coins, the kingdom builder, toad rally which is a great mode, and beating your friends on coins per level/number of toads and toad colour etc.

[Hotabang]

didnt know ppl like microtransactions now :/
i like paying once and getting the entire game. and honestly it feels like a proper game not just another "mobile game"

[DiscoMan]

The mobile market seems to enjoy microtransactions from what I see.

[slavish0]

Why not allow both? Buy it or do micro but Nintendos usually behind the times

[_LarZen_]

Just shows how fucked up the mobile game industry is when people want micro transactions over a one time purchase. And complains about the asking price that is pocket change.

[luckytrouble]

1. The game is barely an hour long if you really push it. Kingdom building yields no actual reward which makes Toad Rally a relatively worthless mode, which effectively killed replay value in the main game. The entire experience is an interconnected failure.

2. $10 is a lot for a mobile game for a lot of people. The most I've spent on plenty of games that offered WAAAAAAYYY more content is a dollar or two to remove ads. That has built the idea that a game should be either only a couple of dollars for a full experience, or with microtransactions simply offering faster progression rather than locking progression behind a paywall. The mobile market is a different place, and you can disagree with the basic ideas of the mobile pricing model as much as you want as long as you recognize why it is so desirable and successful.

3. What is with this misconception that the only way to design a mobile game is to make it unwinnable without microtransactions? You can fully enjoy hundreds of free to play mobile titles that include microtransactions without spending a dime if you don't mind slower progression. Just about the only mobile games that are truly pay to win are competitive titles that use microtransactions to offer boosts in PVP experiences. I have yet to spend a penny in games like Temple Run or Temple Run 2, and the presence of available microtransactions have just made my accomplishments I've achieved for free all the more worthwhile.

[Hotabang]

U almost had it... But then u compared a proper game to temple run XD

[luckytrouble]

Eh, I expected disagrees when I walked in and saw this was effectively an anti-mobile circlejerk. It's abundantly clear most of the people who commented have absolutely no idea how or why the mobile gaming market functions as it does when considering the volume of games and distribution of content. And comparing Super Mario Run and Temple Run is very appropriate. If you want a comparison that makes Super Mario Run look even worse, just look at the Rayman titles. Very similar games with more content for a smaller pricetag.

I enjoy being intelligent and not just jumping to Nintendo's defense out of pure ignorance.

[TuxedoMoon]

What's this? A major company releasing a full game on a mobile device with no microtransactions in sight?
What were they thinking? This game should have been free to play and littered with microtransactions, because you know, I'd rather spend $400 on a stupid little game than $10 up front. <- Sarcasm

And it's because of people like this why we have microtransactions in games. They support it, so companies sees it as a good thing even though in most cases it's shady.

[Elimin8]

i hate the ALWAYS on portion of it.

[jholden3249]

So... yes. Nintendo probably forfeited a good chunk of change by foregoing all microtransactions. So that's bad for THEM.

But why on earth are GAMERS complaining about it? They basically gave up tens of millions of dollars so each of us here can enjoy the game free of cool down timers, ads and microtransactions.

But like I said before, if the sheeple insist on being nickled and dimed then they should go for it. Nickel and dime the livin **** out of em. Just keep the full price options for people like me who are smart enough to recognize a blessing when we see one.

[IanTH]

It's not that people don't like a buy once upfront model. I prefer that myself, but I don't find $10 for that game a good value. Partially due to the fact that the only part of the game they let you try ended up lasting about 4 minutes and felt pretty boring with Mario jumping half the things on screen on his own, but also because if you look at the mobile landscape $10 is a lot.

Most top tier games in the mobile category are $4.99-$6.99. If it were a true Mario game rather than an auto-runner, something in the vein of 3D Land or something, then I wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger at $10 (or a game of its quality and length at like $20 even). But asking for $10 in the mobile market and asking us to be happy about it is akin to someone in the console/PC space making a game for $90 and asking us to be happy about it. "You don't need to worry about a season pass, it's just $90 upfront so we aren't nickle and diming you". Some might be OK with that, many others wouldn't.

Hell, most of the games I buy for PC/console I get on sale for $20 or less. I spend $12 on Humble Monthly and get 6 or more generally solid-to-amazing games. You have to evaluate your market when you are looking for your price point, and I don't feel like they did. If $10 feels like a good deal to you great, but I don't think it is hard to see why other people might not find their incredibly limited demo (and hilarious 20 seconds of the 1st castle) a good enough taster to put down $10. It's a tough line to straddle, but I wouldn't call people who don't want to buy into this "Sheeple" or that you are considerably smarter than them given they don't see this pricing as a "blessing".

[ZeekQuattro]

The amount of money people spend on PSN/Live subscriptions, DLC, special editions of games, microtranstions and unlimited data plans is a whole lot more than the $10 it takes to unlock Super Mario Run. Its like people are butthurt that Nintendo didn't take the free to play approach of pay to unlock higher jumps, more stages, more characters and most importantly reduce those pesky cooldown moments where you can't play for a while unless you pay up. You know stuff the typical mobile gamer is so used to that apparently paying one time is straight up anti consumer when paying as you go is so much better for fans. Never mind that you will most likely spend more than $10 trying to get that one UR character you like in DBZ Dokkan or that limited edition Spidey in Marvel Avenger Academy. Those are just some examples of why I laugh at people that complain about paying $10 for Super Mario Run. lol