Put Your Wallet Away, Mario Kart Tour Will Be "Free To Start"

Mario run was good value for the price. I dig this method.

I hope this more like Mario Run free to start.... I'd much rather a demo with a paid full version than a bunch of micro transactions...

so...
Karts = $1.99
Tracks = $0.99

i must know NINTENDO!

joking side, i hope it's good. (ACPC and FEH were done right, with mostly as F2P games)

I’m interested as long as a sequel is also in the Switch’s lifetime. Heck a Mario Kart Maker might even be better than a sequel!

If the Switch wasn't portable, these new phone games Nintendo is coming out with would be the best toilet games around.

I wonder how successful these mobile games have been for Nintendo? I lose interest in them almost immediately after release.

Angry Birds go was a decent Mario Kart clone. Controls can work, just not as good as in a real console. I hope for something even better.

Do pay attention to "free to start" instead of "free to play". The second one stays for free and uses micro transactions, while the other one is the Super Mario Run model. My guess is that this will work similar to Mario Kart DS with download play. You get a limited amount of tracks with only 1 character to play. If you want the full rooster + tracks, it will probably between the 5 and 10 euro/dollar.

@Moon Their business model relies on the concept of synergy, getting people interested into the brand and then converting them to buying Nintendo's hardware + games. Its a common misconception that these games should be a full experiences, while it should be a companion app to get people into your brand. The money that they make from these games is not the only return on investment (ROI), you should also calculate the conversion rate into this.

Hahahahaha!
Another crap “game” like Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp!!!

Free to Start = Pay something later.
Well...
I still prefer Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Then they'll run you down with microtransactions. Oh, and you just know this will need to be always connected to the internet in order to play.

It's been ten long years where online multiplayer in real-time action games on iOS/Android have been -almost- possible, but never ideal, due to unpredictable latency between devices and services.

But relatively functional examples exist now. And maybe Mario Kart is finally able to arrive.

Not surprised at all. Nintendo saw that releasing super Mario run for set price ended up losing out on bigger revenue.

@RETRO_J This is satire, right? This reads like a joke, but you can never know these days...

@RETRO_J good observation. I’m not an expert in economics but, as I understand it, if you have shareholders, they demand growth above all else. I think this can blind companies and allow them to forget their core values. It’s up to us, the market, to remind them these things are important. Money talks as the cliche goes and if people don’t but it, the message will be clear.

This said. I really did enjoy Mario Run on the iPad. Loooked great, was decent fun and felt like Mario to me.

I’ll try the mobile game out of curiosity but all my gaming funds will be going to the Switch for the foreseeable future.

“Free to start” means “Our business model still depends on you paying us; we’re just going to be using deceptive psychological tactics to compel you to do it.”

so it's a demo. i'm fine with that. better than free2play with microtransactions

Unrelated, but I'd love it if Nintendo made a 2d Mario game with the art style of the Mario kart picture in this article.

Driving game on smartphone is cr*p... motion-controlled or touchscreen just doesn't work well with driving games.

Free to play. But Nintendo can sell blue shell each for $1. Red shell each for $0.50. Don't wanna buy? Then suffered the shells from others.

free to start hopefully you get a few tracks and racers. The rest of tracks and racers your have to pay for how are they going to get it working on a smartphone?. We said the same thing about Mario and that worked. but how are ninty going to get this to work hopefully they find a way!.

I preferred the Mario Run type better, no microtransactions...

Heh. Sweet.

@Nincompoop
Did you even bother to read the article?

@iMarkU LOL. I never read any articles on Nintendolife, I come here to comment, not to read.

No surprise here...
As many people still think that a "Smartphone game" should be "free" or "super cheap" and they don't value when a complete game on a smartphone has a "price" (especially for the work of employees), (in other words do not value the work ...); most companies adopt that their games are Free to start..., well...

Well, at least, I hope it is not "exaggerated" like Asphalt 8, even though it is a great game, everything is "expensive" to buy, and really abuse, oh well...

@Nincompoop I'm playing lots of race games on my Android device and I've never experienced one problem.

It'll cost you to play as your favorite character, pulling a page out of the smash bros playbook. I bet they'll start with a small roster.

@Nincompoop HAHA well its free entertainment anyway.

I really like their smartphone games so far, except maybe Miitomo. I played Animal Crossing a lot when it launched, and I still play Super Mario Run now and then. Can't wait for Mari Kart, but since it will launch in 2019, I'm trying not to think about it.

I’m hoping for a Mario Run style of game, with a free demo and a flat fee to buy the full version, but I highly doubt it. Then again, I hate the idea of playing Mario Kart with touch and tilt controls, anyway. Smartphone gaming sucks.

Free-to-start can mean almost anything, from a demo like SMR to FE to AC, it's basically meaningless.

I've guessed since the announcement that it will be just like MK8, though instead of getting 16 tracks for $60 and buying 8 in 2 separate DLC 4 packs for $6 each we'll get 4 tracks for free and have to buy each new 4 pack for $1.99 and there will be a new 4 pack every month or so for 5 months bringing the total cost of the game to $10 like Mario Run.

I think the game will start with 4 drivers, maybe add 2 new ones with each 4 pack of tracks. I really don't see them doing micro transactions for items or lives or anything like that, then it would be free to play. Hard to mix free-to-start and free-to-play into 1 game but who knows, maybe this will be a first.

If I can get full access with a single payment then I’m Game.

However, scrub the always online. I tend to mobile game when reception is low or non existant. I bought but rarely play Super Mario Run because whenever I want to I can’t.

Free-to-start implies the Mario Run model. FE and AC are free-to-play.

Too often free-to-start means that the game starts off fun, but will quickly turn into a frustrating grindfest unless you pay to speed it up. If Mario Kart Tour uses the same payment model as Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, then I'll just skip that game.

Yeah, pretty sure Nintendo still wants you to get your wallet out.

I'm curious where this will sit. These games that are meant to lead people to the 3DS and Switch are just never going to be squarely aimed at anyone that comments on these stories. We already play on those devices and want the real deal.

Super Mario Run was actually pretty good as a mobile experience. Definitely missed a couple targets, but it can be good fun on the go.

All the others lost me in a day. (Actually, now that I think about it, I played with Miitomo the most!)

All that said, there's no way I'm not going to try this. I just can't imagine what it will be in specificity.

Yeah, Super Mario Run was free-to-start and look at how bad things went for them. Not to mention the game barely worth the $5 (when it was on a temporary price cut).

I'm not sure how Kart can be monetized as F2P without turning it into an EA style cluster. But I can guess they need to keep it cost prohibitive to keep $300+60 for MK8 appealing.

@crimsontadpoles True, though have you looked at the state of AAA gaming on other platforms? $60 game + $30 expansion + $20 "season pass" which usually means a few bonus items, on QoL improvement that the game is broken without, and stacks of virtual currency for the game (of which you can buy more for even more money outside the game) that's really essential to not grind like crazy. Looking at the ENTIRITY of Ubisoft's output for the past 2 years, plus EA, Destiny.....it's like F2P but with a $60 entry fee.

@Moon You lose interest because you have a Switch with tons of better games and no real downside. I think these mobile games are more appealing for non-Switch (or 3DS) owners. Though FE Heroes actually is kind of addictive on its own (I'd argue it's a better FE game than Fates....but can't touch Echoes.)

@chardir : Exactly!!! I’m confused by the suggestions to the contrary.

The SMR’s free to start model was a flop in every respect, except to the folks who paid a one time fee of $10. An incredible gaming experience for those willing to pay 1/6th the price of a console game.

@Cheechzilla
"I’m interested as long as a sequel is also in the Switch’s lifetime. Heck a Mario Kart Maker might even be better than a sequel!"

Mario Kart Maker is an AMAZING idea!

They referred to Mario Run as Free to Start and FEH and ACPC as Free to Play so I'm taking that as meaning Mario Kart will have that Mario Run approach which is the way I was hoping for, its a much nicer system than Free to Play.

@The_Mysteron I know, right? Take my money please!

I’m very nervous about this. I prefer to just buy the game outright.

I just hope there aren't limited-time events. Completely ruined Pocket Camp for me.

@iMarkU @Saego @Nincompoop

Don't feed the trolls guys! Nincompoop gets people so easy. It's actually hilarious to watch. Troll Level = Master

@SLIGEACH_EIRE are smartphone ever not connected to a network?

Well, that's nice. I actually preferred Mario Run's payment method, and I ended up getting it (after using a survey app to get $10 in the playstore). Nintendo themselves said they prefer the Free to Start method, even if the F2P model is generally more profitable.

I know there's a lot of people going on about how they already have Mario Kart 8 DX, or that they should be working on a new Mario Kart for Switch instead, but I'll address both:

1. I think the purpose of Mario Kart Tour is to get people into Mario Kart (or back into it), who either haven't played it, or haven't touched it since the N64. Of course we all have the most recent Mario Kart games- because we're Nintendo fans. But the point of these mobile games is to expand Nintendo's reach. They made that pretty loud and clear when they were getting started on this stuff.

2. Y'all really think the Mario Kart dev team is working on a mobile game? More likely they're working on a new project (maybe something different, just like how they did ARMS). We'll probably see another Mario Kart for Switch in 2020-21.

@ValhallaOutcast Network connection and internet connection are 2 different things.

@daveh30 You and me both.

We're still gonna get a new Mario Kart for Switch though, I hope.

This will likely go the same way as every mobile game I've played. I'll download it, play it for a an hour or so, realise it's extremely shallow and wish I was just playing the real thing, then go and play the real thing

@SLIGEACH_EIRE still though it’s a smartphone what percent of people buy smartphones but don’t have 4G/LTE always on, and wifi hotspots everywhere I can’t imagine having to be connected to the internet would be a huge deal anymore

Every time you hit an item box you have to spend 99C to unlock the item. Loot Boxes on the go!

Your cart has ran out of fuel. Please enter your credit card details. This is not aimed at me, but I hope it owns in the mobile market. After all, the more successful Ninty are, they less they can claim they can't afford to compete with the big boys with specs.

I hope it goes the Mario Run model than something like Dungeon Keeper Mobile where it took ages to unlock anything unless you pay. Hope it's good.

In other words, a DEMO

Mario Run was a basic version of Mario, but it was still fun and challenging. Hopefully Mario Kart Tour will be the same.

Of course it's not going to have the same precision driving as the console versions (duh), but hopefully it'll be a fun diversion before MK9, which I'm sure will come out for Switch in the next couple years.

@chardir @bluedogrulez it's worth noting that "free to start" implies nothing. When Nintendo got into the free to start/play model they decided they didn't like the term "free to play" since they felt it wasn't honest, so they decided to use "free to start". In Nintendo's eyes "Free to start" is identical to "Free to play" and thus have no implications on a Super Mario Run vs Fire Emblem: Heroes system.

https://www.geek.com/games/nintendos-mobile-games-will-be-free-to-start-not-free-to-play-1618748/

https://www.nintendo.com/games/free-to-start-games

I'm done with Nintendo's F2P games, Animal crossing was fun, but got boring and repetitive in less then a week. Fire Emblem was over simplified and the biggest cash grab garbage out there. Mario was the only value buy to date for Nintendo and even then it ends up being repetitive play everyday drivel. Still well worth the $10 imo. The rest are not worth spending anything, unless you enjoy spending money accomplishing nothing.

But where are Nintendogs, Brain Age, and Pushmo?

Ok

Unfortunately Nintendo will never make another one-off payment game like Super Mario Run again due to the backlash, because let's face it, the overwhelming majority of paying mobile "gamers" are morons. It's crazy to think that Fire Emblem Heroes, an instalment in one of Nintendo's lesser-known franchises was so much more successful because it exploited the poker machine business model instead.

I dabbled a bit with Miitomo and I bought SMR, but I won't look twice at their abominable casino-esque crap.

A bit worrying, but they did call Super Mario Run "free to start", and I liked that model. Pay once, get everything.

@Remerkin: Free to start implies exactly what is meant in SMR. You can start the game but cannot progress past a certain point without paying to unlock the rest of the game. It was not a demo, nor was it free to play the full game.

SMR was a glorious experience for $10 measly and obviously I am a bit chaffed that most of the gaming world thinks it was a rip-off. Truly obscene.

@bluedogrulez if you look at the geek.com article in my previous post you'll see where there is a quote from Iwata that talks about how they view "free to play" and how they refer to all "free to play" as "free to start". Free to start has no implication that it will be a one purchase unlockable situation like SMR.

"“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.'”"
source: http://time.com/3747342/nintendo-ceo-satoru-iwata/

Now obviously there is different leadership (rest in peace Iwata-san), but I believe they are using the same marketing in this area. So when you hear "free to start" that is just Nintendo's version of "Free to Play" in general.

Edited: Typo

@bluedogrulez And don't get me wrong, I totally agree that SMR was a steal at $10, i totally got my time out of it, and i haven't spent any money on any of the other Nintendo mobile apps, so in my mind it would be great if they did more of this going forward. I just don't think you can infer anything from the marking phrase "Free to Start" that's all.

@Remerkin: "Free to start has no implication that it will be a one purchase unlockable situation like SMR." Good point, ***TIPS CAP***

I will once again rail against the insanity of wanting (from a consumer's perspective), a series of micro-transactions than a less expensive, one-time purchase.

@Fath Noone is putting a gun to your head to buy it. I loved the Mario run demo, and so happily paid to unlock the full game, and I I felt I got my money's worth. Giving people the chance to try the gameplay to see if it's for them, maybe with allowing only 1-2 characters and tracks before committing, seems like the perfect solution.

My guess is that you will start with 8 characters with more as pay DLCs in the future, perhaps only 2 cups (1 new and 1 retro) to begin with, and then they throw these in the game as optional microtransactions with little customization to start:

New Character unlock: $2.99
Character specific power-ups: $0.50 each
New cup tracks: $1.99 each
Retro cup tracks: $1.99 each
Arcade cup tracks: $1.99 each
Mirror cup tracks: $1.99 each
New custom wheel parts: $0.50 each
New custom float: $0.50 each
New kart or motorcycle: $0.99 each
150cc: $1.99
200cc: $1.99
Ultimate Battle Mode: $1.99

I also would prefer they use the coin system in the game to at least let us unlock the kart parts, floats, and cc. Anyways like all other companies that release junk on smartphones, I probably would not bother with this either. The only two games I still had on my phone are Tetris and Angry Birds and that's all and the only reason they are still there is cause they are time killer and works best as phone games.

However they monetize it, I'm hoping for a solid entry. I've been mainly using Beach Buggy Racing to scratch the "kart racer with items" itch on my Android devices.

I swear, if NIntendo starts nickle and diming people like Capcom and EA, I'm gonna boycott Nitnendo.

Good luck I say to how this Non-Main Mario Kart game turns out. It would probably be like the Arcade Mario Kart games in a way, such as with a different style of cups. It could also have a currency to have you pay for stuff to put up, My Nintendo Points, a way to keep you playing the game for sometime, and new content coming through updates in coming months like with Nintendo’s Other Mobile Games. Hopefully it will release before the end of 2018.