Shigeru Miyamoto explains why Mario runs on his own in Super Mario Run, launching next week on iPhone, and says the game will introduce new players to Nintendo
The creator of Mario on how smartphones will introduce new players to Nintendo — In 2004, Nintendo released …
Context & Ripple Effects
Super Mario Run reaches iPhones on December 15 as a free download with a $10 unlock for the full game — a premium model announced back in September when Nintendo committed to bringing Mario to iOS first for the holidays. The Verge's hands-on found it plays like classic Mario with simplified controls.
This piece is Miyamoto supplying the design rationale: Mario runs automatically so the game works one-handed, and the bigger bet is that a phone-native Mario becomes the first Nintendo game millions of people ever play.
First-order effects
- iPhone and iPad owners get a flagship Nintendo character in a one-touch runner next week, with the $10 paywall replacing the free-to-play monetization most mobile publishers use.
- Nintendo's stated goal shifts the metric from app revenue to player acquisition — the iOS release is explicitly framed as an introduction to Nintendo, not a standalone business.
Second-order effects
- If the $10 unlock converts, it sets a pricing benchmark against the free-to-play norm on mobile; if it stalls, rivals' premium experiments lose their strongest proof point.
- Apple gains a marquee exclusive for the holiday season, raising the bar for what other console holders must offer smartphones to stay culturally relevant.
Third-order effects
- The long arc suggests mobile functions as a funnel into Nintendo's console ecosystem rather than a revenue center — consistent with Miyamoto's later position that mobile apps will not be the primary path of future Mario games after two moderately successful but dwindling iOS releases.
The trend: Nintendo is using smartphone Mario as an on-ramp to its console business, with mobile success measured by new-player acquisition rather than app-store revenue.