Mario Kart Tour Has A Paid Subscription Service For Bonus In-Game Rewards

£60 a year for 200cc and Metal Mario? Jog on kitty.

£5 a month is [language] ridiculous, and im some one that happy to pay £20 for online sub when i read people complaining about that. N management have no idea how to do mobile, give up already, already made these same mistakes with smr

Imagine if Nintendo Online members got this for free. I mean after all, your forced to log into your Nintendo account to play the game. Maybe daddy Nintendo could swing that pass our way as a bonus reward

given how lacking the Switch's online services have been, this doesn't really surprise me at all.

That is pretty expensive for a mobile game, I don't plan on playing Mario Kart on my phone so it doesn't really matter to me.

nintendo can go ahead and try diff approaches to the mobile market. but this? nah im good

Was anyone really asking for this? Just gimme Mario Kart 9 already. You can keep your gimmicky phone games.

I don't see why they don't just buy a switch with mk 8, instead people keep spending insane amount of money on smartphone apps.

US$10/AU$15 was apparently "too expensive" for Super Mario Run but somehow the Mareep will lap this up like flies to a turd.

I also wish that Nintendo would release "full" versions of their mobile games on Switch, but that's extremely unlikely given how profitable these scummy F2P games are.

Isn't it nice how Nintendo is now "with the times" and has whole-heartedly embraced some of the worst practices in the industry while introducing some of their own?

<20 quid a year to gain access to almost 50 NES & SNES games on my Switch (and online play I guess) or 60 quid to get some digital stuff for a single mobile game. Yeah, I guess some decisions in life are just born to be easy.

I guess even Nintendo couldn’t say no to that sweet sweet mobile money some people are willing to throw down on these games. Well I like to imagine they are finding future Switch titles.

$ 20 for one year of Switch online.

$ 5 dollar / month for some ingame items in a mobile game.
That's 60 dollar per year.

Remember when Nintendo was worried about tarnishing their brand?

It’s a good game. Play slot of stages but I’m good and won’t be spending my monies but still worth a download especially as it’s free

As long as I can play with all characters and in all tracks I'm okay if I can just play a number of times everyday. But if some key elements (characters, tracks...) are always behind a paywall I won't be playing much, despite being a huge fan of the series.

I mean, I can deal with "you've played enough for today" and not spend a dime, but if the free part is really tiny I'll move on.

@gaga64 You’re not expected to pay every month. Only for the months you want to play it.

Do you also object to the concept of buying a magazine every month?

They've made some nice improvements since beta. This isn't one of them. This is laughable, especially when you only have two weeks to a tour. Games like Fortnite get away with this kind of pass because they give you 10 whole weeks to earn all the rewards, and those rewards are cosmetic. These rewards on the other hand are gameplay effecting. The game is fun, but I'll only be playing with what I get for free. I feel like something they haven't realized is more people will pay for something if the price is lower. At this price they'll only get the whales and nobody else.

Already uninstalled it again. Not going to be promoting these kind of horrible monetization practices by adding to their login metrics.

Refuse to support this!

Mobile has brought out the evil Nintendo.

"You guys can't afford £4.99? Maybe stop living off your parents and get a job lmao."
-Same argument people used for Switch Online.

Got it for two week trail and that’ll be it. Ridiculous price.

Enjoying the game though. Unlocked plenty in my first hour of play.

Not getting it then. Ridiculous price.

Blah blah blah, WHERE IS MARIO KART 9?!?!?!?!?!

I would rather pay up front first that have it spread out

This undoubtedly awful and Nintendo dipping their toes into subscription-style games should be quite worrying to all of us.

Because in spite of the vast majority of us voicing our displeasure about it, this is going to make A LOT of money and when a full-priced retail game earns a fraction of the total of a freemium/subscription mobile game, well.... bad things are on the horizon.

£5 a month....that’s more than the Switch online sub where you can play the original Mario kart as much as you like! Bad Nintendo. This bloody awful to play too.

I honestly hope people vote with their wallet and not bother downloading or using this game. We need to draw a line in the sand and say no to mobile games with subscriptions and loot boxes.

Nintendo this is searsly bad

I hope it makes them tons of cash. They can invest that in games I want to play.

Thanks, I hate it.

200cc was a free update for Mario Kart 8, but here, you need to pay for it. I get that they need to make there money back on their free-to-play games, but this isn't very inspiring for the future.

@patbacknitro18 hear hear!

Yeah five dollars a month for Metal Mario and some different car options plus 200cc aren’t really appealing to me so I can live without it... and I will.

I think someone in marketing got hit by a rogue koopa shell to go ahead with such a foul plan.
£5 as a one-time payment = can work
£5 per month = 🙄🤬🤬🤬

Anyway, the only 2 apps I actually bother with are Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes as they're sufficient for a quick play and when I don't have my 3DSXL at hand and also they earn Nintendo Points (although they're pretty worthless in itself nowadays but that's for another thread...)

Meanwhile, Mario Kart 7 is still selling well with New 2DSXL packages with all the trimmings. I don't like to pay to play unless it's for a proper console🎮

I guess this is what happens when you let “See You Next Tuesday” Share Holders get their way

I don’t think I’ll be downloading. Too many other games anyway.

@patbacknitro18 This would literally be the perfect Switch Online bonus reward. “Hey, you’ve already paid for one service, why not have this one on us?”

I’ll stick with 8 Deluxe thanks

"Oh, how come you're so critical? Why can't you just back everything Nintendo does like a good True Scotsman?"

T H I S

@Bass_X0 If it's overpriced, no one will buy the first magazine, much less subscribe. Nintendo effectively just ensured that this game is played for the first month and then becomes shelved and forgotten.

@patbacknitro18 Actually, that would be pretty smart. It would also give us a reason to keep playing their modile games, making us more likely to buy stuff from them, as opposed to this sub which hardly anyone will get.

@Bass_X0 the difference is this a subscription, not a series of one-off payments. How many people will forget they have the sub and keep paying long after they’ve given up on the game?

£5 a month seems a little excessive for a relatively small set of add-on content that is only rented and could be lost if you cancel the sub. Compare with the one-off payment of £11 they asked for Mario Kart 8’s DLC on Wii U, which included 16 extra tracks and a bunch of characters. And 200cc was given away free!

Of course the difference there was the base game wasn’t free...

If anything, it makes me wonder how much content the base game has, and how much it asks for money other than this.

@Xaessya “$4.99? Maybe drop off a Twitch sub of a streamer out of many you support but you’re not really watching and start pay for some quality content.” Sadly, this is the truth. Emotes dont make the cut against Mario Kart. If a Twitch sub deemed worthless is as valued the same as the Gold Pass yet the Pass has more content, then yeah, its a staggering big thing. Time to think if one your $5 monthly payments you pay anyway is really worth it these days, even if it doesnt end up getting the Gold Pass.

2003: Mario Kart Double Dash
2019: Mario Kart Direct Debit

If it was £5 one-off fee, similar to Mario Run's extra levels then i'd be happy. But a month, certainly can jog on.

Crazy. For $4.99 a month, I'd rather get a different new premium mobile game each time. It blows my mind that Nintendo are serious about this after Apple Arcade is already a thing.

@Xaessya I work and run my own household, so have learned to get the most out of my money. $60 a year for a few skins and 200cc for 1 game, or $20 for a years Switch online with a 50+ NES/SNES titles.

60$ a year is a lot of money for such a thing

It is probably Dena fault but come on Nintendo!

$1.99 would be reasonable. Even then I played the beta for a whole month, and that version didn't have in-app purchases, so I can definitely play this game without paying a penny.

With this one Nintendo has out done EA and Activison. Incredible

@Prof_Yoshtonics The mobile market is largest on the planet. 6 billion people with a mobile or 40 million with a Switch. If I ran a gaming business for sure I would release mobile games. £5 a month is not that bad if those that pay it are free from micro transactions.

I rarely ever mobile game as I like my games more complex and free from Micro-transactions. It is the same reason I do not game on X-Box.

Playing the game here, It's offering me to purchase a 'New York Set' for €22! It includes 45 Rubies, Mario and 5 Star tickets. This game is WAY worse than Mario Run, I didn't mind purchasing Mario Run for €10, it was a one-off fee. But people moaned a lot about that and Nintendo admitted it was a mistake.... and now they bring out this? Baffling to say the least.

This is pretty ridiculous to pay that much for one game, and a mobile game at that. I wonder how many people will actually pay this amount.

This pay or subscription model is a bit too much. I thought Nintendo was reeling back their micro transactions. It doesn't feel that good to play.

$5 every 3 months would be seen as better, but $5 a month is a lot better than other similar services. $5 a month seems fine until you realize you get a lot more for Switch Online at $20 a year. Nintendo knows this.

Gamble mechanics only you're getting a subscription for it.

No way! I think I won't even play this game as I'm not into this kind of paying games.
I prefer buying a full game $25 or something, rather than $5 + $5 + $5 + $5, etc.

Am I shocked?

No.

Do I like this?

Certainly not.

I think I've decided that I'm not even going to download it, I don't like touch screen controls for this type of game and I just can't get into the whole pay to play pay to win type microtransaction mechanic. If I wanted to spend several hundred dollars I would buy a new game system.

I’ve been trying out the game this morning, it’s pretty fun, I won’t be buying the monthly pass though

@Northwind You sure Nintendo have anything to do with Pokémon Masters?

But this is entirely optional, right? I can play 50cc, 100cc or 150cc to my heart's content for FREE. That's fine by me.

HELL no. No no no no and a thousand times more no.

LOL definitely not. If I won't subscribe to Apple Arcade at only $5.99/mo Canadian even though it comes with a lot of games for that price and with even more on the way, then why would I pay even more in subscription fees for just one mobile game. I mean, Mario Kart is great but not that great especially when I have Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch which is a MUCH better single and multiplayer karting experience!

I'm kinda nonplussed over Nintendo's mobile offerings and their pay for play tactics. I was fine with Mario Run's $10 fee. I won't be buying this and have no desire to spend money on their other apps. However, at least they aren't abandoning console versions for mobile ones. We still got a Fire Emblem title. We're getting new mainline Pokemon games. A new Animal Crossing in March

@Moroboshi876 It seems after playing today that characters are randomly unlocked via a gotcha game played after winning some gems. So, I got Toadette, Peach, and Bowser but only two carts. I won't be spending much more time with it honestly. I

Wow oh boy oh jolly. I cant wait to spend my life savings on metal Mario

@8bitforever I've tried it myself minutes ago and yes, you're right. I got Peach and Toad from the beginning, and unlocked Baby Mario with the minigame. Well, for now it's entertaining.

Downloaded it, played for a few minutes. No, literally, only a few minutes. Less than, actually, since the game takes too long to get to actual racing gameplay. I might give it another whirl, if things change in the future, but I highly doubt it. So, for now, it's uninstalled. It'll probably stay that way.

Let's be realistic here: Nintendo has discovered the riches to be gained w/ pay-to-play/win mechanics. Video games as a whole are plagued by the concept of co.s wanting to become a service, that constantly brings in profits, as opposed to a one-time payment, and the game is yours, either in physical, or download.

Super Mario Run I am totally fine with, because I paid a fee once, and the full game download became mine, along w/ future bugfix, and gameplay updates. The problem is, as I said, videogame co.s want to be a service, or subscription, because it's a continuous stream of profits. With a download, or physical game, they can only get your money once, unless they release dlc that costs.

I'll pay £60 at launch + £20 for a season pass for Mario Kart 9 on the Switch. I'm done with Nintendo's mobile games.

If you ask me, comparing this to Nintendo Switch Online isn't a good idea.

The mobile market is different from the console market. Nintendo knows that. They are also experimenting with different things. Just because someone downloads Mario Kart Tour doesn't meant they have a Nintendo Switch, or pay for the NSO service.

Yeah, it would be cool if Nintendo offered NSO subscribers this for free as part of their sub, but they're two different things, so this should not be expected.

This is the worst thing Nintendo has done. Maybe they are trying to get bad numbers on this so they can stop attempting to make mobile games. Subscription service for a single mobile game is insane and comical. Interested to see how many people actually drop cash on this

Not sure why they thought this would work well given how Mario Run went. That game was perfectly fair at ten bucks, but making it a subscription takes away a lot of the fun. Not every game needs a battle pass.

I don't like this. Hopefully Nintendo has enough sense to keep subscription models out of their actual games - they probably will, but this isn't a good sign when it comes to their freemium efforts.

Na, Just another mobile game I pass to my nephew in the car to keep him entertained

He moves to another F2P game in the folder when bored of the free content. Nintendo will see $0 from me on Mobile.

No need to get it. And think of it this way - it can finance the development of some lovely future games for Nintendo consoles

And one of the rewards is random? The one with question mark implies so? So a year for 60, then what? Would you even end up with same amount of content that would be found in a proper Mario Kart release?

Basic controls -Not bad

Drift - Pretty awful

Not sure this game is worth spending any money on.

Already gone from my iPhone. Love your switch and games, but on mobile, you are the worst Nintendo

I thought all the Nintendo fans here thought Nintendo was better then free to play. I don't know why anyone thought Nintendo was anything but a company. Just because they market more towards kids doesn't mean they don't want every last cent of the consumer. The proof is in this release with its micro transactions, their new dlc addiction, their full price remaster, their paid online. I'm a happy consumer who loves my Nintendo content but these people are not my besties. They're just a company no different than xbox or PlayStation.

Nintendo sucks mobile. Again and again. Ridiculous pricing. I wonder who takes decisions for this over there. Should get fired, that person. It's a shame to the company.

Wow, this makes overpriced Wii U ports like Mario Kart 8 for Switch a bargain.

A little steep is subjective, good value or value for money is a better measure.

Nintendo know that value for money for many gamers is not a priority, must have is their priority.

Nintendo know that many gamers will buy an Amibo with a game adding 50% to their spend, it's a form of addiction for many.

Likewise, these mobile game developers rely on this mild form of addiction (some refer to it as collecting) to hook gamers in.

I guess some gamers can justify their spend by comparing this to a console game that is downloaded at a cost of £50. Unlike a physical game where you buy something tangible.

@Silly_G The thing is there are already full versions out there. Every smartphone game Nintendo released (except for Dragalia Lost) is just a smartphone optimized version of already existing games with an added "allstar vibe" (because more characters means more reasons to pull).

At least FEH, Pokémon Masters and Dr. Mario bring in new art assets. Pokémon Rumble and SMR even recycled those.

@Bensei : I understand what you're saying, but you've missed my point. Most of Nintendo's mobile games have reused assets from past games, yes, but I'm saying that it would be good to have these mobile games in a "complete" non-F2P form on Switch.

The fact that they are mobile iterations of console franchises does not take away the fact that they are new games. And it would like to see series such as Pokémon Rumble and Dr. Mario return to Nintendo hardware rather than being relegated to garbage mobile fodder.

While it's great that a handheld device can house complete home console style experiences, I miss the bite-sized games that were commonplace on previous Nintendo handhelds. Not every game needs a 40+ hour campaign to justify its existence on Switch.

very expensive, if it was 1 or 2 dollars then we could be talking about it.

@Silly_G Sorry, I think my point didn't came across: I have nothing against smaller games, a new Pokémon Rumble or Dr. Mario. But the mobile games were designed for mobile and F2P models.

You can't compare them to handheld experiences. When Handheld-Games are Bite-Sized, Mobile Phone Games (from Nintendo) are "little bits". Mini-mini-bite-sized.
Most of them really don't work if you take away the F2P mechanics and the drip-feeding of updates, as most of the long-term motivation is gone.

Every other game would need so much changes that it would essentially be a totally different game:

Pokémon Rumble -> Making a new version for Switch makes more sense, as the game is even simpler than the WiiWare-Original.
Best example actually for why player's just wouldn't care for mobile games being ported to switch: Take away the FOMO-feelings of the rotating updates and you only have a game about Pokémon running a straight line with changing backgrounds and Pokémon.

Pokémon Masters -> Why use a gacha system to randomly unlock Pokémon when you can just hunt your favourites in Sword and Shield?

Dr. Mario World -> That one actually works without much change. Would still prefer a new Dr. Mario in the style of Dr. Mario 64/Gamecube, but it could work.

Dragalia Lost -> This would also totally work. Would still prefer them doing a proper Switch "remaster" with stuff like a connected overworld, towns, button controls and more complex mechanics during gameplay, but the main campaign would easily work as a budget action-rpg.

Super Mario Run -> Isn't F2P, but still, porting it wouldn't work. If it's not a phone, why let Mario run automatically and control him by tapping (or A button presses?). If you make him freely controllable (like run left and right), you could just make a New SMB Switch.

Fire Emblem Heroes -> Fire Emblem All Stars is neat, but would have too much content to release at once. It's also not enough content to motivate someone playing it at once like with a proper Fire Emblem game.
It would need rotating updates, and you can't finance that with a one-purchase model. Every Nintendo F2P game with an upper limit stopped updates after a few months.

Mario Kart Tour: Same as above: When you remove the rotating updates and the forced auto-gas and touch controls (which don't make sense on a console with a working controller) why not make a proper Mario Kart 9?

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp: I refrain from rating this as I really didn't enjoy that one. All the fun parts of AC (e.g. slowly structuring your own world) is gone and replaced with endless grinding mechanics, thus emphasizing the part I hate most about AC.

tl:dr;

Consoles and Mobile Games work totally different in their game design. Porting them straight won't work in most of the cases.