Super Mario Run iPhone Development Was Not ‘Simpler’: Nintendo

With Super Mario run out next week and a playable demo available at Apple Stores, the Nintendo publicity machine is in overdrive. Aside from a segment on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto explained some of the challenges the company faced while making Super Mario Run.

For starters, developing the game was not as easy as he first assumed it to be. Considering that mobile development is perceived to be easier than PC or consoles, this comes as a bit of surprise.

(Also see:  Super Mario Run for iPhone and iPad Release Date and Price Revealed)

Reason being, with the scale of most small screen releases being smaller, there’s no need for a large-sized team to make games for iOS or Android. Turns out that the three game modes that made up Super Mario Run — World Tour, Toad Rush, and Kingdom Builder were made by different teams.

“I was hoping that by developing for mobile things would get simpler,” Miyamoto said in conversation with The Verge, “but they actually didn’t.”

With the game sporting a single price of $10 in the US and Rs. 620, it will be interesting to see how Nintendo leverages the appeal of Mario to benefit platforms it has greater control over, such as the Nintendo Switch, which Miyamoto stated will be getting a Mario game too.

(Also see:  Super Mario Run on the Nintendo Switch? Might Just Happen)

“We have Super Mario Run releasing now, and it’s already decided that we’ll be making a Mario game for our next system,” Miyamoto said. “And similarly with Animal Crossing, the hope is that when we release the Animal Crossing mobile game, we’ll have more people who become familiar with the Animal Crossing world and characters, so that when we next release an Animal Crossing game we’ll have a much larger audience who will be interested.”

Miyamoto also notes that some other franchises, such as pet-rearing simulator Nintendogs, could potentially work better as mobile-only experiences. “Depending on the IP there are different opportunities,” he said.