'Super Mario Run' set for Android Release Today
Android users will finally get to play Nintendo's side-scrolling, auto-running video game "Super Mario Run" on their phones. The Japanese technology giant has announced that the game will be launched on the said platform this March.
According to Dual Shockers, "Super Mario Run" will be available for Android on March 23. Although not many details have been released, reports state that the game will arrive with the Version 2.0.0 update.
Previously, many fans have been lamenting the fact that "Super Mario Run" could be played on iOS devices but not on Android. In January, Nintendo promised that they had plans to make the game available for other smartphone users by March.
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Although the free download will reportedly come with sampling levels, players still need to cash in $10 to unlock the courses. According to Nintendo, about five percent of the players have already paid in full, boosting the sale revenue by several millions of dollars. When "Super Mario Run" was first released exclusively for iOS devices in December last year, Nintendo reported that they recorded about 78 million downloads.
Veteran designer Shigeru Miyamoto explained in a December interview with Mashable that the Apple exclusivity was due to security factors. He also talked about Nintendo's plans for the mobile expansion of the game. He said that by going mobile, they could reach out to a much bigger audience.
"While we still have that opportunity on our platforms, what's new now is that smartphones have become a device that virtually everybody seems to have, and it's something that they carry around with them all the time and ... check it everyday. For me what it means is it just opens up this possibility for us to reach a much larger audience and introduce them to our games and our characters, but do it in a way that introduces them with a playstyle that's suited to that platform," Miyamoto said.
"Super Mario Run" will be available for Android starting on March 23.
