In rather stunning news, the Apple Conference today contained some honest to goodness Gaming Surprises.
Shigeru Miyamoto took to the stage with Tim Cook to announce Super Mario Run.
The game takes the form of an endless runner style game (think Temple Run) as you pilot Mario through the Mushroom Kingdom.
The gameplay is simple, Mario scrolls right across the screen, you tap to jump. Short taps to short jump, Long taps to Long Jump. You can play the game in portrait mode with one hand if you like.
It will come with three modes, the first endless runner mode as described above, then mode 2 has you challenge other players time trial ghosts and mode 3 features the ability to build your own mushroom kingdom using the coins from the rest of the game.
Supposedly, this is a one and done purchase, with no subscription. Though the App Store Notes do state that the game has in app purchases, I would assume Coins can be bulk bought.
Honestly, this is simple, but massive. Anyone could tell you that Nintendo should be selling a Mario runner game on phones. But for the company to actually make that happen is a massive step in business outlook from where the gaming giant was even a year ago. This could be the start of a whole new era for mobile gaming.
At the very least, some of those mario clones on the App Store are about to get some actual competition.
No word yet on an android release, so this could be the most expensive Nintendo game to access ever. The App is set to release before Christmas, and you can sign up on the App Store now to be notified upon release.
image credit: @Wario64