Archive for category: Google Play

You are here: Home / Blog / Google Play
, , ,

Super Mario Run for Android Released!…

Finally Super Mario Run for Android has been released. It seems the game was released a day early. You can download the game via the
Google Play Store now. The game is pretty much the same as the iOS version where you can install the game for free but you will need to purchase the game to unlock all the modes. Nintendo had the placeholder up in the Google Play Store for some time which allowed you to pre-register and you would get notified.  😕    Well….. I never got the notification. Go figure.

Super Mario Run for Android apparently has not reached Nintendo’s expectations. I would assume this is due to the $10 in game purchase to unlock all the modes. Nintendo being the newby in this arena hasn’t learned yet how things go in Android world where open and free are one of its features. Apps or games with high up-front or near up-front purchases do not generally do well. To give you an idea of where Nintendo’s expectations are, the iOS version’s gross revenue hit about $30 million in 2 weeks and they were still not satisfied with that. Now it has only been a few days and Nintendo is already running touting horns is displeasure. I didn’t even know it was out yet so I am sure this is true for others. Nintendo should have done a little more to advertise this release then mainly relying on a Google Play front page ad or even the pre-registration process which failed in my case.


Try in the Google Play Store!…

Click Here to install

On another note, Nintendo is not trying to focus on freemium games or apps despite the success of another game they have called Fire Emblem: Heroes. This notion is based on comments made by different Nintendo officials.

Android will allow more people to see the game and so money really can’t be totally the main focus at this point in the game for Nintendo. Of course it is overall the goal but being the newby Nintendo needs to build a larger presence in the smartphone industry. So if Nintendo continues they would be able to make good on claims they have made to use smartphones to introduce their games to a wider audience.

This in turn would in fact open up doors into the next step for Nintendo in their newly released console, the Nintendo Switch, which is doing pretty well it seems so far. If you want the numbers, well approximate numbers now, Superdata and various sources say about $1.5 million consoles worldwide have been sold and get this… 90% are buying Zelda with it. There has been a drop in sales though in the second week of its release so question has arose as to whether the Nintendo Switch will hit mainstream status once…say…the rave over Zelda dies down.

I mention all of this because it is relevant as Super Mario Run is the first step into a new era for Nintendo where portability in gaming becomes a focus. The Switch opens up the door to the next step being portable high-end gaming. Can Nintendo stay on top in this area cause now that the cat is out there will be others in the shadows that will try to copy and improve on their idea.


Sources:

/by
, , , ,

How Well is Super Mario Run Doing?

So just how well has Nintendo’s Super Mario Run mobile game done so far? I would say it did well but Nintendo is not too happy about it. Nintendo revealed that Super Mario Run has made ($53 million) in the almost 2 months time it has been released. I guess Nintendo is still thinking like the company it once was who was pretty good at turning it’s players into payers.  They forked Seventy-Eight million total downloads having more than 5% of those spending the money to unlock everything. Having seen game stats from time to time I would say that is pretty great for a game with a $10 in-app purchase. A lot of apps also having multiple ways to make money though numerous different purchases and a good number of apps cannot hit 5% with lower dollar amount purchases.

I think it is a fine take in for Nintendo. Okay Supercell, the infamous Clash of Clans developer, took in close to $1 billion now 2 years ago in 3 of its games while Super Mario Run is just one freakin’ game. Seriously though I remember catching thoughts numerous times of wanting to play Super Mario on my phone and went looking for ways to do it Check out How to Play Super Mario on your phone only finding at best non-ideal workarounds and replacements. Then I see someone playing it on their iPad and I was already hooked only to find out it was only available for iOS. Nintendo being not totally happy about the number the game took in, well shoot you messed up from the beginning by only offering one version of the game. Sure there are a lot of Apple device users but there are statistically more Android devices out there than just the several choices that Apple offers.

Nintendo is the newbie at the moment in the mobile game venue and higher initial price games have always suffered in sales. The money is in in-app purchases where you as a developer benefit by having several upgrades or levels to offer. Nintendo will learn though, not to mention they have the advantage by having that name that everyone knows. I think the only reason the game has sold is due to the Nintendo name and the fact that people like me actually had the urge to wanna play Super Mario on their mobile devices.

On a brighter note, Nintendo has some light at the tunnel (the light is already there) which is a Super Mario Run release for Android marked for March. Nintendo also has 2 other games on the way, Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing, which could get them possibly equal to that of Supercell but that depends on Nintendo’s delivery which is not looking too promising. Nintendo has delayed release of Animal Crossing yet again to the next fiscal year which is roughly around April 2017 to March 2018. So that may not be till next year which is okay, I guess. I am not sure how well these 2 titles will do though. Has anyone who has had a Nintendo system heard of these games? Have you?



Leave a comment and let me know if you have heard of these games.

Sources

TheVerge

Wall Street Journal

Nintendo Report

/by
, , , ,

Super Mario Run for Android – Coming Soon

Since Super Mario Run arrived in the App Store in December 2016, users of Android have been waiting  for Nintendo to make a version of the game for other mobile platforms.

While no release date has be revealed, Nintendo has opened up a pre-registration for Super Mario Run on the Google Play store on the evening of December 28th. Like the “Notify” button that appeared in the App Store after the game was announced, the “Pre-register” button on Google Play will allow Android owners the same chance to find out as soon as the game hits the store for Android devices.

When Nintendo showed off Super Mario Run in September, it was not clear if the game would be released on other platforms. The question was later answered with a Nintendo press release saying the game would be available “first” on iOS, which leads into the notion that the game would pop up eventually on Android. I assume with Nintendo’s status the way it is now Windows Phone fans shouldn’t hold their breath.

The release date is still being unknown, it would make sense for some sort of Apple exclusivity to last for a period of time. Who knows…but no such details have been revealed so the game could be out at any time.

The description on Google Play is virtually identically to the one on the App Store, right down to “paying a set purchase price” for the full game. I wonder if Nintendo will be able to keep up with updates on the Android version as any Android Developer knows the Android world has new challenges to face with so many different phones available. We will see…

Update

January 19, 2017



Okay we have some news now on when Nintendo intends to release Super Mario Run for Android which was shorter than I expected. Yesterday evening on Twitter Nintendo made it known. Not much is known currently about how similar it will be to the iOS version or what the in-app purchases will look but I think it can be safely said it will align up closely having a free version with only a few levels to entice you and then boom you will need to kick out about $10 to unlock the full game along with smaller purchases being available for some added glamour.

So you think the news makes the wait any better?   😀

/1 Comment/by
, , , ,

How to play Super Mario on your Android

For all you Super Mario fans you may have wondered how to get that Super Mario addiction under wraps as you are on the go. To get to the point you can do so through the use of game emulators. Wikipedia defines emulator as:

In computing, an emulator is hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the host) to behave like another computer system (called the guest). An emulator typically enables the host system to run software or use peripheral devices designed for the guest system. Emulation refers to the ability of a computer program in an electronic device to emulate (or imitate) another program or device. Many printers, for example, are designed to emulate Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printers because so much software is written for HP printers. If a non-HP printer emulates an HP printer, any software written for a real HP printer will also run in the non-HP printer emulation and produce equivalent printing. In the 2010s, some video game enthusiasts use emulators to play 1980s arcade games using the original 1980s programming code, which is interpreted by a 2010-era system.

There are many emulators out there for your PC and your Android devices. If you wish to see what is available you can visit EMUParadise for quite an extensive list of emulators that you can use to play whatever old school games you want to play. The newer gaming consoles will be harder and less stable when attempting to get games playing with issues in non-smooth play, no audio, slow frames per second, or simply won’t play at all. The communities for these emulators are usually working together to fix issue found but how well that goes depend mostly on popularity.

So in here the topic is getting Super Mario going on your Android device.


Nintendo DS - New Super Mario Bros.

What you need….


Here we are setting up playing New Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo DS.  It is one of the newer versions of the game that can still be played pretty easily without having to worry about Mario actions that required some movement or gesture.

First you need only to download 2 items.

DraStic DS Emulator  The demo version limits play time so test it out to make sure it runs well on your phone then consider purchasing the emulator. I suggest this one though because it is one of the best one for the Nintendo DS.

Paid Version    Demo Version

And

the Super Mario Bros file

Once you have downloaded the emulator and the file to your phone/device open the emulator. You should see something like this:



Now you could go into the options and ‘change options’ in the menu like to get better looking video. I would not suggest doing so at this point unless you have a high end Android phone like a Samsung Galaxy Note series phone. So let just tap on ‘load new game’. The emulator is pretty good at finding the file you just downloaded and should show up on the list. If so tap to start it.

From here on watch my video to help you get used to using the drastic emulator…


/1 Comment/by