Mario Creator Says Smartphones will Introduce New Players to Nintendo

Nintendo

Nintendo’s Super Mario Run for iOS, the company’s very first game for the platform which was also announced by Apple at the iPhone 7 launch event, is due for release on December 15. Just ahead of Nintendo’s big game release for the iPhone and iPad, legendary designer and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has shared his thoughts in an exclusive interview with The Verge. He believes the smartphones will introduce new players to Nintendo as well.

“I feel like Mario was what introduced millions of people to video games and interactive entertainment, and I think that Mario will continue to serve that role,” says Miyamoto. “And I think with Super Mario Run that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

Miyamoto says that Nintendo has been toying with the idea of a one-button Mario game since the days of Wii. “As we were doing those experiments, we thought that that kind of approach would perhaps best be suited to iPhone,” he says. “So that became the basis for Super Mario Run.” But whether it was for Wii or iPhone, the goal behind this streamlined Mario was the same: to bring the distinct flavor of Super Mario to as many people as possible. 

Miyamoto said that Nintendo has been making Mario games for a long time, and the longer you continue to make a series, the more complex the gameplay becomes, and the harder it becomes for new players to be able to get into the series. “We felt that by having this simple tap interaction to make Mario jump, we’d be able to make a game that the broadest audience of people could play”, he added. 

The designer also shared his experience of creating Super Mario Run for iOS, saying that it hasn’t been exactly like the old days. “I was hoping that by developing for mobile things would get simpler,” Miyamoto said, “but they actually didn’t”.

You can catch the entire interview at the source page.

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.