Nintendo's Share Value Plummets Despite Super Mario Run Downloads and Revenue Performance

Presumptuous much?

What the hell was that spike in July? Zelda?

Anyhow, buy now folks. Or not, because of the internet keeps chugging this way, it'll fall faster than a brick.

Also, gameplay complaints sure. How the price is presented, sure. The price itself? While you hold a VERY expensive device by brand alone (A lot of that cost is brand) that you are probably paying loads of insurance on...and you think $10 is a lot? Guess that white pumpkin spice latte is too good.

@BLP_Software wasn't Pokemon Go launched in July?

lol whoops

this is why mobile is a bad platform for games. people don't want to pay for on their phones.

The game costs about 1.5 months of cell phone insurance — which is virtually required unless you pay full price ($700) for the unit.

Of course, the analysts like that since it keeps bringing in money.

@AlternateButtons You invest, you want money back fast. Humans are short minded sadly.

@millarrp So it was. My brain doesn't remember things well.

Need to buy some Nintendo shares.

Should've just made it 99cents a level after the initial demo. Doesn't look as bad as 10$ to unlock the whole game. They may even make more money with impulse buys that way. Unfortunately that's the way mobile games work as far as purchases go.

Investors are fickle.

So there's this old saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"... well, Nintendo, for decades, has been a global leader in video games because of their consoles, handhelds, and physical games. Everyone has always loved this. Even the sales of the nes mini proved that. So why on earth does Nintendo think it should ever venture into the cell phone market?! That's ridiculous. And making their games digital only regardless of the platform, is a recipe for failure. Time will prove this. Classic gaming, going forward, will not even exist without tangible games now. Nintendo better wise up quick.

@gizmoto I can't stop watching your profile gif, it's hilarious!

those charts say 'concentrate efforts on console gaming'.

@Christmas there's also "disrupt yourselves, or others will do it for you". It applies here.

Before everyone starts attacking the investors for selling stocks

$4 million /$10 to buy game = 400,000

That's right folks, despite MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of users, not even 500k bought a MARIO game.

I think the investors have reason to worry.

And here I was thinking people would enjoy not being nickel and dimed. At every turn. But I guess it's true when they say you teach others how to treat you, and people seem to want to be ripped off

Most complaints are "wah, wah, 10 dollars is too much for a game". If you have money to have an Iphone that runs this, even if it is though a contract, you have 10 dollars to buy the game.

This is the bad part of living in a world where everything has to be of good quality (people complain if games are repetitive, buggy, etc, etc) and cheap, which usually is a bit of a contradiction. At least we have new tech every year, I guess....

@Christmas That huge spike on the graph in July could be argued as a reason why Nintendo might be wanting to venture into mobile.

Just look at the second graph... share values increased around the time when the Mario Run release date was announced, and plummeted when it was released... they were clearly just cashing in on the hype and had no faith on the long term success (which I think is a smart move).

All the bad reviews are centred on the fact that the price to pay comes from an in app purchase. People think they're getting the whole game for free because it says it's a free app when one downloads it from the App Store. People generally like what they get to play for free. They just resent paying £7.99 to complete the experience.

Is it priced too high? I'm not sure it is.

Mobile/casual players complaning wow thats new (sarcasm) Specially about price or gameplay. Again im amused. Its so funny seeing the people least willing to pay or actual have a real conection with a game complaning about its quality.

@joealejos no profanity, thanks.

Their stock price still sits nicely at double of what it was half a year ago, and three times what it was a year into the life of the Wii U.

They are right where they were a month ago, so it'll be fine.

For anyone one that hasn't got it. I recommend it. It's a great mobile game plus has secret levels and bonus levels. Price is high but any Mario fan will enjoy its detail.
I don't know about the casuals tho

Nintendo can't really do anything right, huh. No matter their decisions there will always be complaints because Nintendo doesn't go full 'money grubbing' mode like most AAA developers and especially mobile gaming. Oh well.

Nintendo said there will be no new levels added... not sure toad rally with limited tickets can convince me for $10

@8bitforever
Your complaints are very legitimate, but it seems unreasonable to assume that Nintendo doesn't think or care.

They're likely to have weighed many options before deciding the model they went with, being well aware tat it wouldn't be ideal for some customers.

Did you purchase the game for yourself to know that the content isn't worth more than $5?

Because it sounds to me like you didn't, because you can't family share it, which I totally understand as an issue.

Well doesn't help it's only on iTunes.

@CapricornDavid well they can do things right.just didn't help that's it's only on I tunes

The F2P mechanics were obvious:
5x lives per day
100x coins = extra life
First 12 levels free
$2 for next 12
$5 for Super Mario Bros theme (8-bit graphics)
$5 for Super Mario World theme (16-bit graphics)
$1 each for extra characters using the SMMaker amiibo sprites (Shulk, Kirby etc)

$10 add-on for Mario Maker on WiiU to build Mario Run levels.
$3 unlock to download on idevice

@slim80

That absolutely helps. Games that start out on iOS generally get more buzz, and are perceived to hold more value, so they also gain better traction when they eventually release on Android.

@XCWarrior But that's partly because it's an iOS exclusive right now. Apple's market share in the mobile industry isn't as large as it used to be...

This article discusses the problem. It's worth reading: No, Super Mario Run isn’t too expensive, you’re just too cheap.

They're scared by negative reviews on the App Store? So, Nintendo investors don't understand video games OR the App Store, then?

I swear my colon is still easier to please than the stock market.

Am I the only one who did not think twice about the price? £7.99 in my book is a bargain. You pay loads to have an Apple phone but they still expect things for free.

It's kinda sad really the majority of those negative reviews are not even actual reviews at all just whining over how they have to pay 10 dollars for the whole game. Also from what I have heard app store reviews are like Youtube comments usually toxic and completely meaningless.

Mario Run costs as much as a basic meal at Mcdonalds hardly expensive if you ask me. I honestly think the reviews would be better if people weren't spoiled by Apples 99 cents for everything policy

@Wolfgabe Profanity filter doesn't like female dog references being used, thanks.

@8bitforever Tanking? Last I check the game was number 1 on the AppStore. You might want to check those numbers.

I like the game, but...

1. The pricing system is terrible. While I don't mind paying $10, I wish there was an option to pay for each world individual rather than ONLY a one-time payment.

2. You cannot play if you aren't connected to internet. This isn't a big deal for me, but it's something worth pointing out and may discourage people from playing.

3. The amount of content. Once you beat all the levels and collect all of the coins (which does take a fair amount of time), there isn't much to do besides Toad Rally, which is boring and repetitive. Because the game focuses on the main campaign like normal video games and not Toad Rally like a normal app would, I feel like the entire game works better as a 3DS eshop title rather than a mobile app, and if I could have purchased it on the eshop, I would have at the first opportunity.

$10 for a mobile MARIO game??? Absolutely unacceptable! I will stick with candy crush thank you very much!!!!!! I've only had to pay $224 to buy more lives so far. Much more reasonable. <_<

Something like $7 would have been a bit better for mobile. Even if it's brilliant value for Mario.

@Billsama: Finally, some excellent perspective. SMR is really fun; there is more content than meets the eye; and I know we are used to sharing app purchases via family share or by using the same Apple ID on multiple devices, but honestly, can you blame Nintendo for curbing that cheat?

Hopefully, quality and actual user experience will win the day, but it didn't in the Wii U's case, so I don't know how this will end....

Oh, Toad Rally boring and repetitive?!? It's anything but. Plus, I like filling my burgeoning kingdom with toads; much better than a stamp/badge reward system.

Guys, you have to admit $10 is overpriced for this specific mobile games. There are tons of other paid mobile games that cost way less and offer more content.

@bluedogrulez Hrm, well I guess this is a bad sign to those expecting a unified account system if Nintendo's going out of their way to ignore it even where it's the norm.

Interestingly no one is speaking about the DRM that's attached to SMR. I could just be in the minority to not appreciate that set back imo. But come on.. If I can play Candy Crush offline I should be able to do so in SMR also. 9.99 isn't a bad price at all for the game. I'll remain humble in my opinion that Nintendo is a little shady with SMR. I still respect Nintendo, I just don't respect this restriction..

It seems that a lot of the reviews are from people who feel they've been tricked by Nintendo. They downloaded the app, played the first few levels, and then a pop-up appears telling them to pay $10 for the rest of it.

There's a perception issue there. Nintendo needs to update the listing in the app store to make it very clear that it's "$9.99 for full game. Download and try the first 3 levels for free!"

They lost my sale when they announced the game required an online connection. I was all set to buy it day one, but instead I haven't even bothered downloading it. If I buy a game I expect to own it everywhere. I'm done with mobile game shennanigans; it's the reason I gave up iPhone gaming years ago and returned to console and dedicated handheld gaming. If a mobile game is even slightly shady, peace.

I thought the whole point of Nintendo's mobile games was to attract new customers to their consoles, but by adding such a high price tag (for a mobile game) the only people willing to buy it will be people who are already hardcore fans. I hope Nintendo will learn from this for their next mobile game (also please no DRM).

People these days are too moronic to justify a review system IMO. They always abuse it, or think their "Wahhh price is too high!" complaints are legit.

@Billsama That article covers exactly what I've been feeling for a few years about the mobile market.

People are so used to "Free!" and $0.99 purchases, anything more than that seems like too much (not that some arguments arent justified). Ironically, it's the low price and F2P format why mobile games are usually so low quality or are built to make you wait (seriously??).

The game is good, but it's not really any better than other games like it on mobile, and most those games are free, basically they're asking too much for this game, is what the big complaint seems to be.

Also, the drop in shares could be because Nintendo doesn't have anything big to offer other than Dragon Quest until March, and even then ppl are concerned the Switch is just another underpowered, gimmicky system.

Honestly, the share drop can be a number is reasons, but hopefully things start looking better for Nintendo.

I guess the the always online thing is a big complaint?

I downloaded and played it and whilst I appreciate the presentation and graphics, it's just not for me. I've never liked this type of gameplay but i can see the game appealing to those who do. As for the shares.... I would take no notice, it's probably share holders with large stakes selling to try and scare off smaller investors and buying all the shares back up. It happens all of the time. When the switch is released I would imagine the share price will rise and stay quite steady for quite a while.

@seb5049 exactly. It's a great game but I'm a Mario fan. I don't expect casuals to pay that much even if they slightly interested

Overpriced! Market on IOS is saturated with free games. People don't want to pay $10. Not nice!

Nintendo should have just released SMR for the 3DS eshop. The pricing would not have become the issue that it is right now. A large portion of people in the mobile market are too used to the "Free", less than adequate games in the App Store to appreciate quality games.

Once again, we have Nintendo trying to be a market disrupter and the market not responding like they want. Personally, I think $10 is fair and there is no way you can convince me it makes more sense to pay micro transactions that will ultimately add up to more than $10 in the long run. And I know. I fell for the model while playing Angry Birds Friends. Its much more easier and comforting to pay in upfront price and then go from there.

Problem is, the mentality of the mobile market is very different than the mentality of the console market.

I believe Mario Run offers enough content to pass as a GBA game 10-15 years ago, which would be about $20-$30 back then. WHILE I'll admit $10 is VERY high for a mobile game (IMO, while worth it, Dragon Quest 4 Android for $15 almost put me off), I'm claiming we've all probably payed more for less at least once.

Unless the game is under $5, it's hard to convince the mobile gaming community that it's worth the price. Most of the top grossing mobile game, as stated in the article @Billsama linked to, are FP2 games that profit in microtransactions. That is, players pay real money in exchange for imaginary money, currency a console gamer is used to grinding for. They think the game they are playing is free with paid add-ons, but they are really playing a game designed to pilfer the pockets of the weak-willed. (Why I don't care for most F2P games).

Mario Run, a game produced by Nintendo, is aimed at the former.
Pokemon Go, a game produced by Google and Niantic, is aimed at the later.

While I do admit the reactions of the investors are silly, they aren't mad at Nintendo for not producing a quality game. They are made at Nintendo for not pandering towards the mobile market. Investors don't give a damn about the quality of the game, they aren't gamers themselves, they just want money.

@gizmoto i am actively choosing to ignore the context of this article and focus solely on your avatar .gif. I cannot stop laughing.

This game is costs way too much for a mobile game even if it has good gameplay
And 24 levels is still too short
An average casual would not spend 10 dollars on a game

Here's where I would rather put my $10

http://www.nintendo.com/games/game-guide?pv=true#filter/wii_u&3ds|-|-|-|4.99&9.99|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|featured|des|-|-

I didn't really mind the price myself, even though it is kind of premium compared to the Rayman runners. The thing that bugs me much more is the annoying online requirement. Pretty much puts a huge dent in the whole "mobile" part. I was looking forward to having it there when I'm in my car in between jobs, but that's over with because there's no wi fi there.

Are these people stupid? Despite the high price, Mario Run is currently the top grossing app in 50 countries. What did the investors expect? A second Pokemon Go?

I really need to buy some stock.

@BLP_Software That spike was Pokemon GO

@gizmoto I love your pic.those was the best days of wwf

@hieveryone I agree the average casual won't spent that much.
It's 24 levels
3 special levels and 5 bonus levels so actually quite a lot of content plus toad rally

@3DS_excel: That is a really interesting take. I keep thinking when the SMR revenues are revealed, the game will be deemed a success in financial terms.

But following your logic, and all the naysayers commenting above (including many who obviously have not played the game), I am concerned that people will hate on The Switch regardless of merit. They'll point at it lack of power, lack of backwards capability or other minor design choice, and hate on Big N again. Mind you, it will likely be sold out everywhere because it's going to be great . . . .

The day when internet trolling beat a company's stock.

@XCWarrior
I believe that is $4million on December 15th alone. Not the entire time the game has been out.

@seb5049

That's a curcular argument though. People who won't pay $10 for a Mario game aren't going to buy a $300 console and a $60 Mario game. Oh sure a few will, but the reality is this is another stream of business, not something that will drive people to spend hundreds on console games.

I can't recommend the game. It's your basic runner with a Mario theme. It's very short, and I don't really want to go back and play it. For 99 cents, I'd say pick it up if you're bored. But you're paying 8.99 for the Mario brand. I wouldn't have a problem paying $20 if it was worth it.

Why are people complaining when the share price is still 1,5x higher than all the first semester of 2016?

@UK-Nintendo other mobile games has way more content and way cheaper and free

@bluedogrulez If it has taken $4 million in one day I cannot believe that it would not be a financial success.

There is a lot of buzz around the switch launch but no doubt people will dump on it regardless. That's the Internet for ya I hope it's a massive success as I want to play third party titles as well as the Nintendo staples. Only time will tell I suppose!

They aren't concerned about initial sales. They care about sales in months from now.

@3DS_excel: agreed on both accounts.

Hey, did anyone else notice that 3 Christmas items were added to SMR today? Pretty cool if Nintendo is going to support SMR like miitomo with item updates.

@hieveryone
I totally agree what your saying even I think it's expensive and I bought it. I feel nintendos made a mistake with the price 5 pounds would of been fair

£1 or $1 per world would have been a better pricing model and would give the opportunity to add more worlds at same additional cost. I purchased it though. First game I bought and actually played on my phone. People who say there is very little skill to it are clearly not trying for the black coins or paid for the extra levels.

@8bitforever Putting microtransactions in a game is no way to make it better. That is a cheap practice. Same thing with FTP games. They're designed to milk the wallet of the player.

You have to give credit to Nintendo for trying something different. A Mario game for $10 is a good deal. Remember this is Nintendo's most recognizable character, they won't want to low the value of the brand by making a cheap mobile game. They're making a premium, well designed and fun game. People can always opt for a free clone instead. I have tried some and NintendoLife even published an article listing others. Anyone who had played one of those games knows they are really bad and make monetization decisions that ruin the user experience. Quality comes with a price and I think that is what we should get from Nintendo's approach.

Everything as planned. Feel the android power Big N...

Of course mobile users would whine about paying for stuff. It's the nature of the market and part of the reason why I don't think Nintendo will do as well in mobile as they thought. Yeah, the initial reaction of "OH, Mario is on mobile!" will fade real soon and then what will they have? The average uninformed consumer isn't aware of Animal Crossing or Fire Emblem. Those franchises are gonna get buried. Plus with them avoiding the F2P or microtransactions, you'll constantly see those negative reviews. Geez, even if it was loaded with microtransactions, you'd probably still see just as many equally bad reviews.

@8bitforever
I'm still struggling to get all the colored coins on the first three levels. The levels reconfigure slightly every time you've collected the current ones. But to be honest, I'm not sure I want to pay ten dollars for the full game either.
Not with the performance issues and crashes on iPad2. Yeah, I know it's an old device, but they really should say it isn't supported instead of allowing their game to run in a broken form. That's not a very Nintendo move.

@rdrunner1178 I'm simply working with the number given.

BUT STILL, there has to be like 200 million+ iphone users. And you only got 400k day 1? I'm just saying that's actually a really sad install base considering we are talking about a digital game that isn't restricted to units like NES Mini.

It's early, but the game isn't getting good feedback between the fact it costs money and it eats your data like Cookie Monster eats cookies.

@XCWarrior Bloomberg and some other company are estimating that it has pulled in over 21 million in revenue in three days.

@faint That's a much better number, those are solid.

If that is the case, with Android still coming, then yes, investors are overreacting to a point.

@XCWarrior I think it's a mix of over reacting about ratings and click bait articles. From what I can tell it made 6 mill in the us alone.

@XCWarrior

Thing is, the only people giving bad feedback are the ones who won't spend a dime anyways.

They can cry a river, but any mobile gamer with a shred of common sense who actually does spend money on games, will know when they see those reviews complaining about it costing money that it doesn't apply for them, because they're actually willing to pony up for a game when it's worth it.

And people aren't stupid. I mean, any Joe Blow understands it's better to pay $10 up front and be done, than $3 up front with cooldown timers and $6 micro transaction bundles every week.

The only people who see the $10 up front as a bad thing... are the people who were planning to leech off the game for free.

Ya know I find sad that investors are basing their predictions off app store reviews of all things. I wonder if they even realize half of those one star reviews aren't even actual reviews at all

@joealejos
I wonder why those people still being addicted for very poor games quality on mobile ? Are they satisfied enough with FREE price ? So they don't need paid games because they felt they like a Gamer just because can owned Freebies from Apps Store ? And then called people who buy games with money = Money Waster ?
Even some of my students still complained about the price when I explained about paid games.

@JaxonH
Yup. Tons of Leech gamers around the world. Like Bad Romance lyrics, they want everything as long it's Free.

Love the pricing model, but not being able to play my phone game while I'm not connected to the internet is a deal-breaker for me. I only play mobile games while I'm going place to place. iPhone in airplane mode? sorry - can't play. Makes me feel like I don't even own the game - just renting it from nintendo.

@8bitforever pretty sure it has already turned a profit.

It has made back $4 million in just these couple of days, according to the article, so no, not everyone is too cheap to buy the game or expects something for nothing.

I think we're rumoured to be at $17million dollars in Revenue for SMR now. .

99p per level would have made more sense, with ticket and coin bundles as well.
Tho £8 is nothing to pay if your a core Nintendo fan. Think about how much the VC games are!
My rule is for each £1 I invest in a game purchase, I need 1hr back min gameplay.

@8bitforever you don't have to pay again for it. Simply log in on your account on the other devices- download it and restore purchase. Then log out and log back in to the main account on the device. Hope this helps.

@bluedogrulez yep I can blame them. I don't buy multiple copies of a cartridge or disc just to play on different machines in the house.

@Spoony_Tech Actually, it's about 42 cents for 24 levels, not including the 3 secret ones. So buying them for maybe 40-50 cents a pop may have actually somehow gone over better than $10 outright...

The pricing could have been better thought out.
Typical of big headed Nintendo thinking brain dead iPhone users will buy the game at that price because it has Mario.

@JaxonH I think $10 up front is great. I'd much rather have that instead of microtransactions. But you should get what you pay for, and this game fails on that level.

@WOLF1313
Depends how you look at it. If this released on the eShop $10 would be a steal. But by being on mobile it seems like a lot (yet when compared with $3-5 games + microtransactions even on mobile it seems fair, maybe not a steal... but fair)

@JaxonH If SMR were released on the eShop, it might actually have some real controls worth paying for.

There's always a reason for shareholders to be negative...

@8bitforever I'm pretty sure you can it's the same as creating an id for games out on US store and purchasing for your phone here in the UK which I've done
Once the game is on the phone it's there
Then all you do is sign out of the account and back in to the normal one
So I can't see how this won't work but since it's my idea I'll put my money where my mouth is and give it a go when I get home 👊