Mario Kart Tour's Diddy Kong Pack Costs £39, The Same Price As Mario Kart 8 Deluxe On Switch

They just keep sinking lower and lower with this turd.

what a nonsense

That alone tells you all you need to know about this utter garbage

Just let this garbage alone without even downloading it.
I can't believe this comes from Nintendo, what a shame.

This is pretty much smartphone gaming summed up in an article and as soon as Super Mario Run flopped around 3 years ago for using a different purchase model (complete purchase for a set price), it was inevitable this was coming eventually.

so basically nintendo is fully embracing the horrible practices of the mobile market. why is it so expensive? is this like the only game nintendo expects people to play?

And you can obtain it in a loot box too, stop complaining. It's free and there are a lot of other characters.

As people already said, if Super Mario Run hadn't received so much criticism for just selling an entire game for 10 bucks (I got it for half that price on a sale), this kind of monetization wouldn't have happened. People are never happy.

i bought diddy kong for like 3000 or 4000 gold coins. you can easily make 4000 gold coins in gold rush with the 10x multiplier for 25 rubies

How is the racing “decent if not spectacular”? The control scheme SUCKS in Mario Kart Tour. It’s virtually unplayable.

for me, this is an easy decision, not worth buying. I won't even spend a dime for Mario Kart Tour as I already have a Switch and a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I am just enjoying what is free in Mario Kart Tour.

But, I think Nintendo is aiming for a different market where some people with their own reasons are not going to touch the console market.

Yeah, but can you play as Diddy Kong in MK8?

This is unacceptable. A character pack costing £39.99? Nintendo are just being greedy beggars. I mean, yeah switch games are expensive which to a degree I can understand because higher memory game cards cost more. But for a character pack?. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

I’m loving the game. Got diddy kong for free and loads of characters and karts and not paid a penny. Used a 2 week trail of gold for free.

Plenty to do and unlock and you get plenty of rewards without paying

This is all getting abit out of hand now, among all game companies. I was in Game the other day and they were advertising a £79.99 fifa 2020 ingame pack of rubbish. This greed is becoming too much.

I do find this sort of pricing ridiculous for what is essentially gambling with your money but it's how it works on mobile devices. People complained about spending £10 on Super Mario Run which was absolutely worth it. So this is what happens.

To be frank, I wouldn't spend £39 on either. Mario Kart 8 is not a great game.

Now that is ridiculous, deleting app now (even though only played it once on the day it was released)

NINTENDO??? WHAT ARE YOU DOING???
HAVE YOU BEEN TAKEN OVER BY EA???

Looks like Nintendo have stopped doing micro-transactions and are just going for MAJOR-transactions

That's right, you can either spend £39 on what is essentially 20 loot boxes and a digital monkey, or one of the best video games to have released in recent years. Tough call, right?

Nope.

If you have this on your phone, please, for your own dignity— delete it.

This could very well lead to a fatal slide into overwhelming greed for Nintendo. Shareholders will smell blood, and will push hard for more and more of this. Anyone who thinks this won’t affect the company’s approach to their top-tier first party titles is kidding themselves.

Stop supporting this. It’s sugary junk designed to get you addicted. After all, there’s a reason that tobacco companies hand out free cigarettes to children in developing countries.

Mario Kart Tour is on an entirely different stratosphere when it comes to monetization compared to literally any mobile game on the market.

@RainbowGazelle Better than this trash, by a long way.

@westman98 Just you wait. It will creep up. So long as Nintendo has shareholders and people keep downloading and spending. Which they will. That’s the nature of gambling.

Hahahaha, such clickbait but the pricing is indeed bizarre. And to get the 200cc mode which MK8 comes with, you also need to purchase a Gold subscription, which is also triple the price of Nintendo Switch Online (but it doesn't come with any SNES or NES games, sadly.)

I mean, if you try a monetisation model that core gamers like on mobile only far, far cheaper, and the mobile market rejects it, what's the next step?

Do what that market responds to.

Remember at this point Nintendo has never had a game you buy upfront with microtransactions.

This is what that ecosystem demands. They tried the traditional method, I mean it was £7.99, and mobile players said no.

But they'll spend £40 in one go for a character.

That's just how it is. Can't blame them for appealing to the market they want to reach.

I sure hope the subtitle is sarcastic, although Poe's law is extra troublesome when it comes to fandoms. A full console game with physical controls and plenty of content out the gate... or a handful of naturally grindable items and a character who will be a middle tier in gacha pipes and then a star prize and then a coin shop item months down the road?

You know I hold freemiums in higher regard than most folks frequenting this blog do or pretend to (and I've already elaborated before why I probably make an unwelcome customer for these freemiums without any need to talk fanminded and/or sensationalist junk about them 😆), but I've followed some of them for long enough to know where it goes. My formal condolences to the wallets of those who don't and can't be bothered to do research on.

But let NO fan out there so much as suggest that 40 pounds for a temporarily premium in-game pack is "too much" without remembering that time when 10 bucks for a complete Super Mario Run was too much for us.

No amount of buzz will let us ever escape the bitter truth about the real root of all freemiums, lootboxes and whatnot. And no amount of buzz will completely do away with them until we all acknowledge AND address that root.

Nintendo is only doing thing because they think it’s what the public wants. Let’s prove them wrong by leaving poor reviews and, most importantly, not buying this garbage.

Instead, support some of the great Switch games out there or download Super Mario Run if you haven’t already, which is a bargain.

@Knuckles-Fajita It's a perverse system, I agree. It seems that the mobile game market has spoken and the best way to make bucketloads of money is to have a "free" game combined with a variety of noxious monetization schemes.

I know Nintendo probably doesn't dislike making bucketloads of money, but didn't they say at one point that gameplay and a high-quality player experience were more important than profit at any cost? Nintendo has a reputation for making great games, and that reputation has been built on many years of delivering quality gameplay and a delightful player experience, not on making bucketloads of money via microtransactions.

My God, people are so unfathomably stupid.

US$10/AU$15 was too much for Super Mario Run for a one-time purchase where the customer knows exactly what they're getting, and they get it permanently.

Meanwhile, this is probably going to cost AU$60 for ONE character. ONE!!! And some in-game currency where you don't even get to choose what you spend your money on. What a deal!

And I hate Nintendo right now for indulging this sort of B.S., because it will come back to us, and things will get worse for console gaming. When a fifth-rate Mario Kart clone like Crash Racing has microtransactions, the future doesn't look particularly bright.

It would not surprise me in the least if Mario Kart 9 adopts similar mechanics, even if it's "only" to allow faster unlocking of content out of the gate, and woe unto Nintendo if they dare.

Or you can get him free with the in game currency.
The same way you get karts and gliders and tyres with the coins in Mario kart 8 deluxe

It’s a mobile game. What do you expect. Look at Mario run. It wasn’t a hit. I bought it day one but I have spent more time on Mario kart tour without spending any money

@blecch For them, as has been stated numerous times, the opportunity of these IP appearing on mobile in the hands of millions of players isn't for the money, but for the marketing.

Much like with the theme parks and upcoming movie, they want their brands to be more recognised. This is just one form of marketing for the Switch. Introduce these IP, and then people will see the Switch and their games, and some will move over. Not all, but some.

And if the mobile games make money, well some of that can be funnelled into making more mobile games, advertising more IP, more people into Switch games, rinse and repeat.

@Incoherent1 Unfortunately it IS what the public wants. They did want the £7.99 Super Mario Run. Core gamers did, the audience the game was made for, didn't.

But THIS is what they want.

Don't know how much money Nintendo may make from mobile games, but it doesn't matter which franchise they or any publisher offer, not a penny of it is coming from me. EVER.

The only way to make your voice heard is to vote with your wallets. It's the only language these increasingly greedy mega-corporations understand.

Nintendo omitted Luigi because they're already getting more than enough "death stares" from gamers over this fiasco.

@BenAV Maybe you're right - instead of draining the cesspool of mobile gaming perhaps Nintendo has decided to swim in it.

Tour did one thing for me, it made me realise I wanted to play real Mario Kart and go buy 8 and a switch. Absolutely loving the switch so far.

Yeah....Nintendo seem to be pretty clueless when it comes to microtransaction prices. Not that I ever intend to buy anything for this game. I'm keeping in mind when my 2 week gold pass trial ends so I can cancel it when I've got all I can from it.

The smallest amount of rubies you can buy is 3 for 1.99 which wont even get you a pipe thing which surely would be the main attraction for microtransactions. The main purpose of the microtransaction model is to make it cheap enough that plenty of people will go "oh go on then, that's not expensive and I want another go". Had the smallest unit been 5 rubies for 0.99 i suspect itd work out better for gross income.

But that's ignoring that the microtransaction model is inherently predatory and shouldn't be so widely used as it is, much like the random loot box model. I may be fairly resistant to these models but there are a lot of people who dont realise how much they're spending, even if it is their own choice using their own money.

@HappyMaskedGuy
Nintendo has done a good job separating their mobile efforts from their Switch efforts, so I'm not at all concerned that Mario Kart 9 or Breath of the Wild 2 will suddenly be littered with microtransactions.

But you can do you and fearmonger all you'd like.

@AtlanteanMan Nintendo's not exactly a mega-corporation; they are a ¥1.2 trillion company, but they only have like 6,000 employees. Activision/Blizzard, EA and Ubisoft (and Take Two if you count its subsidiaries) each have more employees than Nintendo.

Sony, Microsoft, and Apple are much larger than Nintendo, though obviously they do more than games.

I'm just wondering if this is ever going to sale significantly. I would think pricing a pack like this much cheaper would net you more money in the end, since so many more people would buy it.

@westman98 Yes—because such things have never affected big first party games by other publishers before...

Nintendo’s forays into mobile and micro transactional gaming have been tentative up til now because Nintendo is an overtly cautious company. But they are nonetheless governed, like most companies, by the whims of shareholders. This isn’t ‘fear-mongering’. It’s pointing out very obvious trends that affect ALL companies. The biggest being:

‘What’s that? MORE money you say??’

@Knuckles-Fajita True besides they may make Diddy Kong unlockable without paying down the line, this is only for people who really want to play all of Mario Kart Tour without waiting

your have to be stupid to buy this but some people love wasting money..

@HappyMaskedGuy
If Nintendo wanted to put microtransactions in their Switch games, they would do so right now via software updates. There is no need to wait 3-5 years to see their monetization strategy on Switch games.

@SuperCharlie78 This comes from DeNA.

@westman98

Nintendo wouldn’t alter the entire structure of their pre-existing games to do such a thing. Making a game micro-transactional requires such a mechanic to built in from the foundation. To change all of their games to suddenly utilise lootboxes would be weird and expensive, for little reward and a LOT of negative press.

They could only reasonably implement such mechanics in new games.

@Swizze You won't regret it – the Switch is a great system and the Nintendo titles alone are worth the price of admission. Add some other games (a few third party exclusives/timed exclusives like Astral Chain, Octopath Traveler, MUA3, tons of indie games, some third-party current-gen games like Overwatch and DQXI, tons of last-gen ports like Skyrim, etc.) that you can now play on a handheld system and it's even better.

As much as i was enjoying Mario Kart Tour, then fun doesn't last for very long... the whole gacha rubie system really puts a huge dump on the fun of the game... it gets to the point where it feels like you aren't really getting rewarded in-game anymore due to constantly being given the same repertoire of gliders, karts, and characters in an attempt to make you keep spending rubies to gamble your luck in an endless loot box cycle... i spent 45 rubies the other day and got the same glider 4 times, that's 20 wasted rubies in a flash, i don't think is really worth it in the long run... the game gets stale after a week or two, sadly...

Just buy a Switch+MK8DX if u want to play MK, its probably cheaper than to unlock everything in this mess of a game

@blecch : The games you have mentioned are third-party titles, however, Astral Chain is a Nintendo IP.

@Silly_G True; maybe almost a second-party exclusive although Platinum makes games for other companies (e.g. Nier Automata for Square Enix, exclusive on PS4.) And I guess Pokémon is Nintendo exclusive but is actually owned by the Pokémon Co./Game Freak. I guess the point is that there are other great Switch games that are exclusive and not made by Nintendo proper.

@blecch : Nintendo also partly owns the Pokémon IP, but not entirely, and concessions are made to allow Pokémon games to be published on PC/Mac and mobile, with the main attractions being exclusive to Nintendo hardware, of course.

I weep for the wallets of parents.

@Silly_G Indeed - actually the Pokémon Co. includes Nintendo, who apparently specifically owns the trademark. Feel free to add more clarifications/details if you feel they are relevant. I could have been more specific but I was referring primarily to the mainline Pokémon games like Sun/Moon, Let's Go: Pikachu/Eevee, Sword/Shield, etc.. Nothing against Pokémon Go but the "real" Pokémon games are great, as is Astral Chain. (As are the "real" versions of Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing.)

What the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

I played it once, and it was as good as expected ... terrible.

They can charge what they like, and much though I disagree with the whole loot-box practice, if it gives Nintendo more money to spend on actual game development and console R&D, then go for it!

When microtransactions cease to be micro...

@blecch

I have Astral Chain and Octopath being delivered next week. Can't wait! Currently learning my way through Fire Emblem Three Houses as well!

That is absurd.

I'm sorry, but that is so ridiculous.

People need to take a stand on this stuff.

I haven't downloaded any of Nintendo's phone games (or any other company's, for that matter), and I never will.

@chardir : I don't know why we continue to use the prefix "micro" as it is horribly disingenuous.

Heheh, I totally didn’t buy this when Peachette was in the store

This game is bringing horrid MTX practices a bit too close for comfort, in regards to a lot of my favorite game franchises.

As other have said, you can get Diddy for free. As in, the same amount it cost to download and play the game. I've played Tour, Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem, and Super Mario Run without spending anything. Just like I'm playing Asphalt 9, Kirby, Fallout Shelter, Pokemon Rumble, Fortnite, Paladins, Warframe, Gem Quest all free.
This isn't some new thing. The hand-wringing is so strong that small fires are breaking out.

@chardir "macro-" ?

@RainbowGazelle i think mario kart 7 was better than mario kart 8 thats just my opinion. What didnt you like about mk8?

I don't think Captain Ahab and Nintendo would see eye to eye on the subject of whales.

Diddy Kong pack price is so big and horrendous, I would start thinking that Nintendo already knew from the start these practices are gonna bomb anyway. The pain is too obvious to ignore, especially after all this time. Whether DENA is the cause or not remains to be seen. Anyway, glad I earned Diddy Kong tho.

@westman98 what do you mean?

I'm more worried for the day Nintendo brings such microtransactions to their full price Switch games.

@Rayquaza2510 Thankfully, all the investors see the mtx in mobile. Strangely enough, it doesnt matter where for them as long as they see the $$$ and no one is bothered to suggest putting them in mainline titles. Their nature is fully satisfied.

I'm not mad at this. I think it is a terrible thing for me personally, but it is a wise business decision. There will be enough people spending the money for this pack to make up for all of the people that won't. IF they priced this game at $9.99 like they did Super Mario Run, people would complain and they wouldn't sell a lot. To keep math Simple, they sell 1 million so they make $10,000,000. Now, the people that spend $40 for this pack will probably spend more than just the one time purchase, so let's say they spend $100 on it. Then only 100,000 people need to buy in order for them to make the same amount. However, what I read somewhere is that people that spend money on this stuff, actually spend way more, and would buy ever "event" bonus or whatever this is. So Nintendo gets $40 from them every two weeks for a 3 months or so until the player gets tired. But in that time, they made $300 or whatever. So then they only need 33,000 people to play instead of a million.

I'm currently playing SEGA Heros on my phone (or whatever the game is called) and it's a fun match 3 game, but there is SO much paid content and the grind to build up characters takes so long. I've never really been into buying stuff on mobile, but spent like $50 to power up my players and now just suffer through the grind. I almost felt "obligated" to pay the $50 not because I wanted to skip the grinding, but I genuinely have fun with the game and wanted to give sega something for all the hours I've played.

The best business model when looking at mobile gaming is in my opinion done by the company Ironhide Games. They’re specialized in tower defence games. (Kingdom Rush)

You pay 5 bucks to play the game. And if you want a different hero than the four you start out with, you pay an extra 3-4 bucks. But you’re able to fully play the game with the first 5 if you want to. I applaud this practice and bought all heroes in all the games.

This is in my opinion how Nintendo should have done it. You pay 5 euro, get one character at random, where every char has a different skill, and if you want a different char or costume, you pay a fixed amount.

I've really enjoyed their other mobile games so far especially fire emblem heroes but tbh the pricing in fire emblem, animal crossing and dragalia are pretty much just as expensive

I'll bet for the next tour, this will become the "Luigi Pack," meaning if you were waiting to have him in the game, you'll need to buy him if you want to avoid relying on RNGesus to get him from the pipe.

@Stocksy I wouldn't say there is plenty to do, I'm just sitting around waiting for the next lot of cups to unlock as i've 100% everything I possibly can for the most recent tour, including the challenges took me under an hour to do all this too

I downloaded this game and played one race to try it out. It looks decent but the controls are horrible. To me, it's not fun to play. I guess I just don't understand the appeal to playing these types of games without a dedicated controller.

I've been playing Asphalt 9 on Switch however, which also has a load of micro-transactions, but I've been having a lot of fun playing it and I only dropped a dollar on a Porche so far. I don't mind paying some finite amount of money if I get enjoyment out of the experience. I deleted Mario Kart Tour immediately.

This is mind blowing to me. I'm so happy I own a Switch where I can play reasonably priced games. I'm outta here.

If he's relatively trivial to get in the free game then what's the problem? If forty quid doesn't mean anything to you then you can buy the pack. If you're not that stupid with money then unlock him by playing.
If this was an exclusive thing then i could understand the vitriol. As it is I'm confused why people are upset with this. How impatient do you have to be to feel that this is extortion?

FFS Nintendo. We know you have a major pricing structure issue on first party titles but did you have to screw up mobile as well?
You'd have to be out of your damn mind to pay that.

@Nintendofan83 the game is free. The expensive bit is an optional quick character unlock. That's the same pricing model as a load of free to start games on switch.

@earthinheritor i can see why you're upset.

The game was enjoyable enough for being a free ios Mario Kart. However, now that my free gold pass has expired, the game seems sort of self-defeating. You need specific characters to advance and unlock resources for a chance to get those same specific characters you need. Resources are insanely limited even with the gold pass, without it, there really isn’t much you can do for free.

@Sabroni while it’s technically free, the game is structured in such a way that if you don’t have specific characters and equipment, you won’t be able to compete in rankings, nor will you be able to unlock all stars in later stages that require high scores. That’s a pretty big portion of the game that is locked behind a recurring paywall.

@Maelwolf That's a shame because I tried it last night and thought it might be okay for free just on the odd occasion I might be on the bus or something and want to play

Typical mobile phone shenanigans

What concerns me, is Nintendo going to start adding micro transactions and stuff to their Switch games? I hope not, they're one of the few big companies left that DONT put MT's in their AAA games and I respect them for that.

I'm actually enjoying it. It helps when I commute, but I don't spend real money on it. As a completely free experience it's not that bad. The game will fail if they do t adjust the prices

I've seen more people play this game and talk about it in public more then any other Nintendo games, and that makes me sad.

I love the game. Completely free and Diddy was free too. A lot of people are judgeing this game just by reading the headline. Try and play it first. It’s free to play

NL is so good at riling up crowds. Yes, you can buy him in an overpriced bundle, like every other gacha ever. But he’s quite easy to get for free. His not the highest rarity so pulling him with free pulls isn’t too unlikely, and he (like all characters) can appear in the shop daily for coins - as long as you pick and choose what to buy, saving up enough for characters isn’t too bad. I have like 8 or 10 characters already, and I don’t focus on getting them. This game gives you a lot of free stuff. If you’re weak enough to spend 40 on one character, that’s on you, all the characters are obtainable for free.

This is absolutely disgusting. Free to play or not, these prices are absolutely disgusting and just makes me wish this game didn't exist in the first place.

I'll just stick with the superior Mario Kart. Which is literally every other Mario Kart.

@SuperCharlie78 You realize it was DeNA not Nintendo that developed this game

@HappyMaskedGuy
Nintendo doesnt have to "change the structure" of their games to include microtransactions. Adding an in-game store to existing games - particularly multiplayer games - where real money can be spent is no technical or structural challenge at all.

Mario Kart Tour isn't even some massive money maker - 2017's Fire Emblem Heroes is Nintendo's biggest mobile game by far, yet here we are 2.5 years after its release and there are no microtransactions to be found in Fire Emblem Three Houses.

Bleh! Surely all Switch and previous Nintendo console owners are smart enough to remember how great it was when we were couch gaming and realise that even if it's a little more hassle to boot up a Switch game outside, it's still miles better than this garbage? I mean, this MUST only work on those who never really played Nintendo much and love crappy phone games?

I really hope that Nintendo can see (since it was linked to my Nintendo account) that me, a dedicated switch fan with over 100 hours in multiple 1st party switch games, downloaded Mario Kart Tour, played 2 races, and then never played again.

Diddy KONG, DIDDY KONG IS HERE

I see it as buy 90 Rubies for $40, get Diddy Kong and a quick ticket for free vs just 93 Rubies for $50.

If you're interested in just the driver you can buy it with gold (in-game currency) for 3,000 when available in your shop. Did that with Mario and Rosalina.

@TheLightSpirit People like me? I haven't spent one cent in this game. People who pays for this is who ruins gaming, because they legitimate monetization. Just play until things got unlocked by themselves.

There's a fact some people are severely overlooking and it's simply that the crowd playing this game and spending money on it won't necessarily go buy the console and MK8D, that's not how it works. Sure in the grand scheme of things this is a free advertising for the actual experience and anyone expecting that sort of thing out of a mobile game are just setting themselves for disappoinment but Nintendo has made it very clear the mobile titles are a whole separate thing from their traditional games, and it's up to people to spend actual money seeing you can get stuff without investing a cent with a little more patience. If you don't like it just ignore it and play the real thing instead, thus far these kind of games haven't interfered with their big budget brothers on Switch so I don't see why folks should get all worked up

God imagine how cool it would be to get more characters and seasonal costumes and such on MK8Deluxe. Oh well. This is a ripoff obviously but whatever. Hopefully we get Mario Kart 9 at some point on the switch considering I had the Wii U so MK8 is old for me and Deluxe didn't hold my attention for long and mostly just have it for when I'm playing with friends as I already played it tons on my Wii U.

I play Mario Kart Tour the same way I play any other Gacha game such as Dragon Ball Legends or Fire Emblem Heroes.

I enjoy the game and all the free content that's on offer. If you grind and play enough in these games, they generally offer enough in-game currency to unlock some good stuff off summons. That, and they often offer tickets, and free characters you can unlock.

I'm a proud f2p player, and I've enjoyed Mario Kart Tour. Play well, and the game offers enough to enjoy yourself.

Mario Kart is on my phone and I can play it anywhere I go. That is awesome and I'm having a blast without spending a dime.

@westman98 - nice convo going on w/ @HappyMaskedGuy I just wanted to reply to 1 sentence you wrote -
"so I'm not at all concerned that Mario Kart 9 or Breath of the Wild 2 will suddenly be littered with microtransactions"

I guess that depends on your definition of microtransaction. $39.99 certainly doesn't seem micro to me. And both MK8 and BotW HAD extra purchases. I paid Nitnedo $20 just to have an invisible line in the game colored green. Sure, there was more to the season pass than that, but I paid the $20 to be able to see where Link had been, which was already in the game, you just couldnt' see it until you paid the $20. I also spent $15 on the Wolf Link amiibo b/c I really wanted that wolf Link companion. I always like having a pet sidekick. He came in really handy in a few spots as well. But I needed to buy that Wolf Link amiibo to get him. I bet people buying BotW today dont' even realize their is code in the game to have a wolf sidekick b/c it's been so long since that amiibo was last on sale. Even if you buy the season pass you still don't get the wolf, you need to also buy the amiibo. And you can't just borrow it form a friend once to unlock it, you need to scan it every time, so buying is really the only option.Unlike DK which can be unlocked for free in MKT.

And MK8 on Wii U was 1 of the first Nintneo games to have DLC. Good DLC, with a discount, if you bought both packs, so nobody complained, but I wouldn't be so sure things don't get a bit messier next time, like a "Drivers Pass".

So sure, neither MK9 nor BotW2 will have 3 for $1.99 rubies, but extra characters, a season pass, mo money mo money mo money, I'd bet they do. Call them what you want, it's still more money. Probably nothing locked behind amiibo at least, those things haven't really served any purpose in awhile. MP on 3DS maybe.

Anyhoo, enjoyed your convo, now onto the topic at hand -

I've been enjoying this game a bit for what it is - a time filler while waiting for my kids to get out of various places when I pick them up - I have to say I was a bit startled by that $39.99 price when I first saw it, that's insane. Last tour Mario was $19.99 and I thought even that was a bit much, but under $20 so I didn't think too much of it, but $40 is way past nuts.

But for those who like doing the $40 for Diddy vs $40 for MK8D math, here's some other Nitnnedo math for you.

SSBU - 60 characters $60 = $1 per character
SSBU fighters pass - 5 characters $25 = $5 per character

So a very big YES Ninnteod DOES INDEED have these types of microtransactions in their Switch games. Not the same price but the same microtransaction practice. Whether it's $5 or $50 your still paying per character.

MKT free + $40 DK = $40
SSBU $60 + $25 FP = $85

For all the people who argue - well SSBU is a "complete game" you don't NEED the fighters pass, well guess what, MKT is a complete game too, and free, you don't NEED Diddy Kong either. And you dont' need to pay for him, unlock him free in the game,

Cant' have it both ways. You can try, but you can't.

Ohh you mean the monkey I got for FREE in the coin shop? LOL.... clickbait article I expected more from you Nintendolife

"Now, we can't believe we're saying this, but this technically works out as a good deal compared to the app's usual pricing."

No! It's just somewhat less super shitty.

Stop giving this game attention!

@rjejr: Absolutely well put.

The problem is that a lot of people are going to pay that absurd price in the mobile game.

I’m trying the free month of Apple Arcade right now and it reminds me of how mobile games use to be. I won’t keep the subscription, but I wish we had the option to buy these games outright with one price for everything in the game.

@Yorumi It's funny that people honestly think this, since Nintendo has always played just as dirty as their rivals, while wanting to line their pockets with gold coins.

I love Nintendo and their games, but they can be just as greedy as their rivals. They are a business afterall. This is what they are doing this with Mario Kart Tour.

Their first attempt at making money off mobile phone games failed with Super Mario Run. With Fire Emblem Heroes, they struck gold with the Gacha business model.

With Mario Kart Tour, they are trying something new with the passes. If people bite, they will keep doing it to make money. If it fails to catch on, Nintendo will just try something else.

But why people think Nintendo is some kind of chartiy is beyond me.

@TheLightSpirit No no, please, I'm not defending it. I was just pointing out that there is a way to get the things without worrying too much about the money. They eventually might unlock. I mean, we don't want to pay whayt they ask for the goodies, but honestly, if the game itself is free, and you can race all the times you want, I can't see why I should complain. It has plenty free content and everything else is the rush to get everything at once.

I see that people only complains, but the game should be judge by its merits too. What about gameplay, tracks and stuff? Why does everybody talk about monetization only?

I'm happy I've not spent any money on this. I did sign up for the Gold Subscription but just to get the 2 free weeks. After that, I'm cancelling the subscription so I don't get charged. I only did it to help me get enough stars to grab Yoshi before the New York Tour ended last week.

Man, what happend to nintendo? Didn't they have a good model with mario run? Did they take fifa as standard this time?

@rjejr great comment

@Moroboshi876

Tbh you seem to be a little bit naive. Mario run had nothing to do with the monetization of games like feh or mario kart, despite it being mentioned somewhere.

Nintendo didn't invent the predatory gacha system but they have fully embraced it. They didn't have to follow suit but they did.

You have to know, gacha games prey on the weak and vulnerable. People who for whatever reason feel spending tons if money on a single game (which they actually never own) makes them happy.

Thats all there is to it. It's a topic as old as gacha games themselves.

The thing is, in regard to feh, a lot of people would buy orbs if they were reasonably priced, like 10% of the actual price. I would.
But nintendo and other game companies arent out for occasional spenders, they are out for those who are willing to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on a waifu or husbando.

Tell me, isn't it sad when you think about it?

@Yorumi Sadly they can be good or not it's there choice..

I've already unlocked Diddy Kong, no pack needed for me. I also tried out the Gold Pass on the free two week trial and got the golden blooper car but nothing else. The 200cc cups were fun and really only 150cc when you compare them to the Mario Kart 8 as far as speed goes. With the last cup I unlocked nearly everything getting a complete on nearly every single cup and rank 13. But even with all of that I didn't get Mario, Pauline, or any of the special costumes. I like the game enough as a mobile game but even with the Gold trial l didn't get anything worth paying for so I don' t plan to pay anything toward the game going forward.

@SuperEndriu it is sad, but downloading a game isn't mandatory, is it?

About Super Mario Run what I meant was they released a game and people complained about having to pay for it. Then Nintendo changes the way to make money with subsequent games and people doesn't like it either. What then?

I HATE mobile games and this microtransaction crap to the core of my heart. I wish id die out or be forbidden by law. Christ... Really disappointing that Nintendo does such crap now too. The game isnt even that good. Shame on you Nintendo... I hoped you would be better.

Kids these days are so lucky. When I was a kid we had to pay 79.99 for 8 characters and 20 courses. Now you get 34+ characters and 64+ races for free.

And paying up to get things quicker is just an option. There are tens of millions that are using this games server every day. Also, the game is getting a minor update every Wednesday and a major update every other Wednesday. This week alone, Mario Kart Tour got at least 14 new characters and 7 brandnew courses, like the exclusive Tokyo-Turbotour race track and remakes of iconic staples like SNES Rainbow Road and N64 Kalimari Desert. With these development costs in mind 5,49 for a month worth of Gold Pass bonuses seem like a small sacrifice. You can subscribe and cancel it anytime, if you think it's not worth it.

But I think the game goes overboard with all these karts and gliders. If it grows at this pace, we'll be p(l)aying for a long time.

The other thing you can buy (red rubys) are way overpriced though. I wouldn't buy into them. I have enough patience and hope to get the stuff I want eventually. This, unlike Nintendos console games, is not a game to complete 100%, people need to understand that. There are chances as low as 0.3% to get a certain thing and even worse, it's within a limited time. This fact alone should make you not bother going for 100% and just enjoy what you can get for free.

You can't have 100% anyway. They took the achievement medals away (even the Gold Pass ones), when the new missions and gold missions arrived yesterday. Collecting those time-limited medals proved pointless, except for the extra stars and coins.

Yeah, I think Mario Kart Tour is a great version and massively enjoyable so far since it also does many things right. It did not lose its Mario Kart-feel, you can get lots of content for free, the controls work pretty well for a touch-controlled racer, the different progression system is a neat break from the oldschool MK1-8 system, and the new combo system is my favourite new addition, having 3 races and then a bonus mission is always pretty neat, the weekly online ranking with friends (and rivals) is a total joy.

@Moroboshi876

It isn't mandatory. What is your point?

There are so many things in life that aren't mandatory. Doesn't make them good. Like child endangerment for example.

Look, I don't know about people complaining about having to pay for smr but I don't believe nintendo changed its monetization because of it. It was clearly planned this way. I

I say it again, it's a form of monetization that preys on the weak and vulnerable and somewhat tarnishes nintendo's image imo.

And as you said it's not mandatory, I didn't even try this game, what for?

@SKTTR nail in the hammer. Could’ve have said it better myself. I love the combo system. I hope this comes to mk9 also the challenges. People were complaining last week not having Mario to begin with but forgot that you could simply buy him from the shops with in game currency. This week it’s diddy Kong which is also another player you can buy from the in game shop.
I bought both players and didn’t risk the free rubies I had on the pipes but coin rush.
It’s actually similar to how you had to race and collect coins in Mario kart 8/deluxe to unlock karts characters tyres gliders etc.

Yeah, also you can't even play it offline, same with other Nintendo smartphone games, which is absurd for single player affairs. Until they fix that, allow bluetooth headphones to be paired, and stop with all the nonsense microtransactions, I'll stick with Switch games.

This is completely stupid, and one of the reasons I'm never playing this trash game again (the other being the stupid controls).
On Fortnite you can purchase enough V-Bucks to get the battle pass for about less than £10. That battle pass gives you tons of cosmetics. This is a single character pack and costs around 4x as much? Greedy Nintendo gotta be greedy.

I feel like there should be just a little more bonus to these packs than Diddy and a Quick Ticket.

Regardless of how funny these headlines have made this pack out to be, I still really enjoy this game and I find myself putting somewhere between 2-3 hours on this game daily, trying to get a better score. I'd be willing to compare this with the other fantastic Mario Kart games, on a gameplay perspective.

EEVERYOne on YouTube was excited that Diddy was finally back in Mario Kart. Nintendo saw this, then decided to slap a £39 dollar price tag on him. Nice

Remember this next time Nintendo execs and designers get up and criticize mobile game practices. They're better than this and if they don't start selling content for a reasonable price instead of making you gamble and spend way too much money for small amounts of content, then it will be justified to call them hypocrites.

Nintendo: Here, have more amazing games than you can handle on Switch in the latter half of 2019. DK clapping and cheering

Also Nintendo: Here, have the most grotesque version of sleazy mobile practices in the latter half of 2019. DK Facepalm

How's this a tough decision exactly?

He really wants to be the racing protagonist again uh? Pitching his own pack as a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe alternative

@Moroboshi876 With Super Mario Run, I just think tweaking the price would have been nice, or maybe doing something like allowing for microtransactions, but having a spending limit that basically lets you buy the whole game. The gacha system seems to be the big thing (assuming that the Japanese government doesn't try to go further with their movs on the system) but so far I prefer AC Pocket Camp's microtransaction system, even though finishing events can't really be done without paying. I just want to have an easier time grinding in free-to-play titles, I always feel like I'll hit a wall, and without limitations on spending, people are more tempted to splurge and might lose track of the money lost.

@Andrew5678 I don't know, I just see that I can race though all the tracks and unlock characters slowly but steady, and play the amount of times I want, so I don't need to spend a cent. Thus I can't complain about the game (although I see the prices they want to charge you -want to is different from force you to- are insane), and focus on gameplay and contents themselves.

@Tonyo The completely luck based gameplay. There's basically no way to protect yourself in the lead. It doesn't reward skill at all. For that I just dislike all Mario Kart games. I can see the appeal in a party setting where you don't want the same players to win every time, but I don't play it at parties. So as a single player experience, it's poor.

@rjejr
Smash Bros gets away with it because a) each character comes with a new stage + new music + new Spirits and b) they are all 3rd party characters who are completely new to Smash Bros.

Also, I think using a price per character ratio is pretty disingenuous. I'd certainly prefer Nintendo/Sakurai provide us with a massive base game roster rather than them cutting that roster down just to make the price per character ratio of the DLC fighters seem better by comparison.

Hmm... what a hard decision

@Stocksy the one thing all the ‘complaining’ posts seem to have in common is ‘this is all garbage I refuse to download it shocking disgraceful terrible game’
I’ve played it for half an hour a day since release, spent absolutely nothing on it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. And yes I have MK 8 on Switch.
The in app purchases are an option. Nothing more. Don’t know why people are getting so bent out of shape about it...

You're really milking this, huh?

Don't blame you though. Greedy monetization schemes like this needs to be addressed.

Wow. I played the game for probably about an hour before deleting it to be honest, but that was more because of the controls than anything else.

This is not the Nintendo i love(d)....
The second this practice hits Switch I am out faster than a blue shell.

@Zimon It is the Nintendo you love. They are a business. They will take your last dollar. They over charge for ports and people line up. They sell less powerful systems that cost as much as the others and put the profits in their pockets.

Regardless of whether this game is free, and you can get Diddy Kong in another, albeit grindy, way.

The fact that you can even spend this much on a half-baked mobile game, without even unlocking literally every character, car and item instantly, is already insulting enough in its own way.

Ahhh, the beauty of working for money-hungry investors. The people who ask for endless growth within a finite space. Lovely.

@WOLF13 Thanks for telling it like it is. Hell, some people commented on Link's Awakening being overpriced, and a bunch of others kept trying to justify the price no matter what. All for defending their little lovely company.

But as soon as a (high quality) third-party port costs even $40-50, everyone loses it.

When Nintendo goes to the dark side they sure do commit to being their best at it.

@Knuckles-Fajita That weird baseball game on 3ds had microtransactions. You had to buy each mini game.

@Grumblevolcano Great observation. That $10 SMR one-time fee was an absolute bargain. But most of the gaming world felt otherwise . . . I wonder if they still do....

@SuperCharlie78 Iwata rolling over in his grave. A pirate's life for me lol

You forget people would have to buy a switch first. Phone owners are clearly rich.

A HARD PASS.... Praying we get a proper MK9 on the Switch sometime next year

@Trajan But did you buy the game upfront?

At work everybody plays this app now and it's a lot of fun to destroy my colleagues Highscore again and again. No one spent a Cent on this game and everyone is Level 15 or higher. Some have Diddy, some not, but they have Bowser or Daisy or some other Driver no one else has. Yes, the prices for stuff like drivers, Rubies, cards etc are extremely high and it has a high pay-to-win potential, but it does not bother us and doesn't destroy the fun we have with this game. Sounds, Visuals, even the controls are awesome for a mobile game. You don't have to spend hours and hours playing or walk thousand of kilometers like in Pokémon Go. Even colleagues who "don't like" videogames are in love with this game and that what it's all about and what Nintendo is doing all the time: they create software for everyone's joy (Wii fit, DrKawashima, Anal Crossing etc). Imo it's a outstanding app and don't forget: you are not forced to pay this ridiculous prices. Ignore and enjoy!

@HappyMaskedGuy or maybe download it, play it and don't spend any cent on it? Maybe it's a sign for Nintendo that no one will pay such ridiculous prices and just enjoy their game?

Mobile gaming at its finest...

Nintendo at its greediest! Nintendo should be ashamed of themselves!