Nintendo Share Prices Decline in Reaction to ‘Super Mario Run’ Pricing

Mitchel Broussard, writing for MacRumors:

Nintendo and developer DeNA’s shares have declined over the weekend in reaction to negative user reviews facing the new mobile game Super Mario Run, which currently averages a 2.5/5 star rating on the iOS App Store, based on around 54,000 user reviews. Shares in DeNA have gone down 14 percent since Super Mario Run launched on December 15, while Nintendo’s stock has fallen about 13 percent in the same time frame.

Although many of the top reviews for the game remark on Super Mario Run’s better qualities, the harshest criticism remains to be Nintendo’s decision to make the game free-to-download, but $10 to unlock all of its content. Users can play nearly all of World 1 for free, but gaining deeper access to the remaining five Worlds, along with Toad Rally and Kingdom Builder modes, requires the $10 fee.

I looked through the reviews on the App Store — the first 20 or so negative reviews were entirely about the price. It’s an embarrassment that a game this good, and this high profile, has such terrible reviews because it costs $10.

There are legitimate things to complain about, particularly the always-on-internet requirement, but if you look at the reviews, it’s all about the price.

★ Wednesday, 21 December 2016