Nintendo's Mario takes driving seat in race for mobile hit

DeNA Co

24/09/2019 08:02

* First major Nintendo console franchise to come to mobile
    * Mario Kart Tour launches worldwide on Wednesday
    * Release is test of Nintendo expansion outside consoles
    * Game expected to feature Japan's gacha in-game payment
mechanic

    By Sam Nussey
    TOKYO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Nintendo Co Ltd  7974.T  is set
to bring one of its most successful franchises to mobile for the
first time on Wednesday with the global launch of Mario Kart
Tour, in a test of the gaming firm's strategy to drive growth
beyond consoles.
    Mario Kart Tour will feature gameplay familiar to longtime
Nintendo fans but with controls optimised for mobile devices.
Players steer characters such as Mario, Wario and Toad as they
race karts through Tokyo and other cities while laying traps for
opponents.
    Bringing the Mario Kart franchise to smartphones offers the
Japanese firm a chance to reverse a run of lacklustre releases
including this year's Dr. Mario World, a reboot of a minor title
which gamers criticised as unpolished. Since its 1992 launch,
the Mario Kart series has sold tens of millions of units.
    But Mario Kart Tour faces potential roadblocks of its own.
It will initially lack a multiplayer option - which analysts
expect to come later - and is likely to use an in-game payment
system popular in Japan but which has been compared to gambling.
    "This is probably Nintendo's most critical mobile release in
a long time, if not ever," said Serkan Toto, founder of game
industry consultancy Kantan Games.
    Expectations among investors and gamers alike have been
heightened for Mario Kart Tour because of the franchise's
console success and due to the title's long development time,
with the release date pushed back from early this year, Toto
said.
    For a graphic on Mario Kart, click the link: https://tmsnrt.rs/2kEf2zX.
    
    YOU PLAY, YOU PAY
    A test version of the game developed with partner DeNA Co
Ltd  2432.T  featured in-game payment mechanics including gacha
where players pay to receive random rewards - such as rare
drivers and karts.
    A mainstay of Japan's highest-grossing mobile titles, gacha
has been criticised for encouraging impulsive spending.
    "It's going to be a challenge to apply Japanese-style gacha
mechanics in the West," said Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush
Securities, who sees Mario Kart Tour struggling to hold players'
interest long enough to sustain in-game spending.
    It also remains to be seen whether Nintendo will be able to
square the use of gacha with its famous family-friendly image.
The Japanese firm is known for cartoon-like games that eschew
the realistic violence and gore found in Western rival titles.
    
    'IT'S-A ME, MARIO'
    Mario Kart's mobile outing is the latest title steered by
the moustachioed plumber Mario, known for his exaggerated,
Italian-accented English. Since his debut in the game Donkey
Kong in 1981, Mario has become Nintendo's virtual face and a
mark of quality for many of the industry's top-selling titles.
    For a factbox on Mario, click the link:  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N26D01I
    Despite the rise of mobile gaming, Nintendo remains
committed to developing its own hardware for its top titles.
    "For Nintendo, hardware and software are one," said analyst
Hideki Yasuda at Ace Securities. 
    "It sees smartphones as an optimal way for users to come
into contact with its intellectual property and to connect to
hardware sales," he said, adding that monetisation of mobile
games is a secondary goal.
    Mario Kart Tour's release comes ahead of a number of games
for Nintendo's hybrid home-handheld Switch console designed to
appeal to more casual players, including two Pokemon titles in
November and island life simulator Animal Crossing: New Horizons
in March.
    Analysts expect those games to drive demand for the Switch
Lite, a handheld-only version of the device that launched on
Friday retailing for a third less than the original.
    Nintendo, which is yet to incorporate the new device into
its forecasts, expects to sell 18 million Switch units in the
year ending March.

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GRAPHIC: Mario Kart goes Mobile    https://tmsnrt.rs/2kEf2zX
FACTBOX on Mario's infinite lives     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N26D01I
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 (Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by David Dolan and
Christopher Cushing)
 ((sam.nussey@tr.com; https://twitter.com/SamNusseyRTRS;
+81364411596;))