Nintendo has announced some impressive statistics for Super Mario Run with more than 10 million downloads within a few days after its launch. It immediately rose to the top to become the most downloaded app in both the United States and Japan. It was also the top-selling app in the US. Despite this, however, a lot of those who downloaded the app cannot help but express their disappointment.
Most of the complaints about the game come from its price which a lot of people think is too expensive for a mobile game. Super Mario Run is initially free to download but you will have to pay $10 to play the full version of the game. Critics say that the app has a lot of features to justify its price tag, yet it is still expensive thinking it's just a mobile game.
There are other complaints, like Super Mario Run requiring an Internet connection all the time in order to play it. However, players still go back to griping about the price of the game.
"I believe this game is worth the $10. However, it was extremely shady and dishonest not to mention any price during the keynote announcement or when you buy the app," said one review of the game on the Apple Store.
This was in reference to the fact that neither Apple nor Nintendo indicated a specific price for the app. All they told the audience was that there will be a single in-app purchase.
Nintendo has decided to use the traditional approach in selling the mobile game where they offer a few levels for free and tell people to buy it all at once. Mobile games, however, do not work that way because mobile gamers would rather try the game first before paying upfront.
Michael Pachter of Wedbush Security observed this and advised Nintendo that if it really wants to stay in the mobile game industry for a long time, it should learn the skill how to do it.
