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Mario Kart Tour Continues Nintendo's Free-To-Start Mobile Model

Details continue to be scarce for Nintendo's next mobile offering, but we at least know you'll have to shell out some cash at some point.

Charles Singletary Jr

February 8, 2018 7:35 AM

Looking at the performance of Super Mario Run, Nintendo hasn't had the desired impact on mobile devices. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp looks to turn their fortunes around and Mario Kart, a major franchise for the company, will be entering the mobile arena with Mario Kart Tour. Tour should launch before the end of the next fiscal year (so, before March 2019) and an important detail on its structure has arisen. Mario Kart Tour won't be free-to-play or pay-to-win, it will be free-to-start.

DeNA CEO said "Mario Kart Tour," a Nintendo-DeNA smartphone game planned for FY18, will be free-to-start.
— Takashi Mochizuki (@mochi_wsj) February 8, 2018

DeNA is a Japanese company that focuses on e-commerce, advertising, and gaming in the mobile industry. The company shifted resources to focus on their partnership with Nintendo in 2016 and Mario Kart Tour will be a Nintendo-DeNA smartphone game, thus connecting the threads that warrant the DeNA CEO confirming Tour information.

Free-to-start isn't a new designation for mobile games. Super Mario Run had a similar model that required players to pay to access later levels and Pocket Camp encourages some monetary investments in order to skip typical mobile timed event restraints. Does this change your desire to play? Let us know in the Chatty.

Charles Singletary Jr

News Editor

Charles Singletary Jr keeps the updates flowing as the News Editor, breaking stories while investigating the biggest topics in gaming and technology. He's pretty active on Twitter, so feel free to reach out to him @The_CSJR. Got a hot tip? Email him at Charles.Singletary@Shacknews.com.

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 reply
February 8, 2018 7:35 AM

Charles Singletary posted a new article, Mario Kart Tour Continues Nintendo's Free-To-Start Mobile Model
- David Craddock
  
   reply
  February 8, 2018 10:24 AM
  
  I'm cautiously optimistic. If I can pay a one-time fee to unlock the full game--and get grandfathered into new content--then I'm down. Otherwise, I'll wait for Mario Kart 9 on Switch.
- wunderbred
  
   reply
  February 8, 2018 11:34 AM
  
  Have we seen any screenshots of this yet? I'm pretty curious as a long time fan of the Kart games.
  - Serpico74
    
     reply
    February 8, 2018 11:38 AM
    
    Only an announcement. Its one of the best looking games around, I bet it’ll look fantastic on the iPhone
    - wunderbred
      
       reply
      February 8, 2018 11:39 AM
      
      Without Nintendo doing the development, I don't expect any guarantees here...
      - Serpico74
        
         reply
        February 8, 2018 12:14 PM
        
        Nintendo works on all of their mobile games. Tezuka and Konno both supervised Super Mario Run, there isn’t much higher in the organization aside from Miyamoto
- RaptorII
  
   reply
  February 8, 2018 2:20 PM
  
  Er, seems "Free-to-Start" is Nintendo's name for Free-to-Play.
  
  “I do not like to use the term ‘Free-to-play,'” says Iwata. “I have come to realize that there is a degree of insincerity to consumers with this terminology, since so-called ‘Free-to-play’ should be referred to more accurately as ‘Free-to-start.'”
  http://time.com/3747342/nintendo-ceo-satoru-iwata/
  
  It even says "Cost: Free to start (in-app purchases available)" on the Animal Crossing Pocket Camp site:
  https://ac-pocketcamp.com/en-US/site
  
  Point stolen from: https://twitter.com/oscarlemaire/status/961517135162937344