Super Mario Run

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on Super Mario Run:

Players have spent more than $1 billion on Nintendo’s mobile games

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Players have spent more than $1 billion on Nintendo's mobile games
That's a reason to jump for joy (if you're a Nintendo shareholder!)
Photo: Nintendo

Nintendo’s mobile games have pulled in more than $1 billion in revenue from global player spending, new data published by mobile analytics firm Sensor Tower suggests.

Nintendo currently has six mobile games, which have received a total of 452 million downloads worldwide. The biggest earner, accounting for 61% of mobile revenue, is the RPG game Fire Emblem Heroes.

Nintendo delays its very first Mario Kart game for mobile

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Mario Kart
It won’t be here until the summer.
Photo: Nintendo

You’ll have to wait longer to get your hands on the very first Mario Kart game for Android and iOS.

Nintendo has confirmed that the launch of Mario Kart Tour has been pushed back to this summer. The much-anticipated title was originally scheduled to arrive by the end of March, but Nintendo says it needs more time to “improve quality of the application.”

It is Nintendo’s second big delay in just one week.

Nintendo’s Dragalia Lost is killing it on mobile

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Dragalia Lost
Are you playing Dragalia Lost yet?
Photo: Nintendo

Dragalia Lost, the latest mobile game from Nintendo, has been killing it during its first two weeks of availability — despite being available only in a handful of markets.

New data reveals the action RPG pulled in an estimated $3.5 million during the first five days alone, making it more successful than the beloved Animal Crossing: Fire Camp. More than half of its players are on iOS.

Animal Crossing enjoys crazy first week on mobile

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Nintendo introduces 2 paid subscriptions for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
Nintendo introduces 2 paid subscriptions for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
Photo: Nintendo

Animal Crossing made the leap to mobile last week, and it’s proving to be another smash hit for Nintendo.

Pocket Camp attracted 15 million downloads across Android and iOS during its first six days of availability, according to the latest estimates. That’s more than double the number of downloads achieved by Fire Emblem Heroes over the same time.

Nintendo disappointed with Super Mario Run profit

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Super Mario Run on iOS
200 million downloads haven't pulled in enough cash.
Photo: Apple

Super Mario Run was the hottest game on iOS for months after it hit the App Store. It has now been downloaded more than 200 million times on mobile, and yet, the title is yet to reach “an acceptable profit point,” Nintendo says.

That’s bad news for fans of Nintendo’s mobile games.

Flower, RoomScan Pro, and other awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
'App weekend, everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

An ethereal, relaxing game unlike almost any other I’ve across is one of the picks for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week.”

In addition, we’ve selected a massive price reduction and big update of a great original Nintendo game for iOS, an app which uses ARKit to help create floor plans of your house, and a Cedars-Sinai medical app for Apple Watch. Check out our picks below:

Super Mario Run gets big price cut as new content arrives

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Super Mario Run on iOS
The game is available for just $4.99 for a couple weeks.
Photo: Apple

If you’ve not tried Nintendo’s Super Mario Run game yet, the company has an offer it hopes may be able to lure you in: a half price sale, along with the addition of all-new game elements.

From today through October 12, Super Mario Run will set users back just $4.99 for every level. The update, meanwhile, adds support for a new character called Daisy, and an extra nine levels, which are playable once you’ve completed the existing stages.

Super Mario Run gets new playable characters, more free stages

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Super Mario Run on iOS
Nintendo's hit game just got a big update.
Photo: Apple

Haven’t played Super Mario Run since the first few weeks after its release? Nintendo is hoping to lure you back, as well as recruiting fresh players, with the 2.0 upgrade of its endless runner game.

The update beings new playable characters, new courses in Toad Rally, new buildings, greater ease of play, and assorted other changes and improvements.

Fire Emblem Heroes, Linea and other awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
'Appy weekend everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Looking to get up to speed on the week’s hottest apps? We’ve got your back!

In a week in which Apple announced record-breaking revenues, we’ve combed through the latest apps to bring you the cream of the crop. Whether you’re looking for Nintendo’s latest iOS game or a great sketching app, we think you’ll find something to entertain you…

App Store made $240M on New Year’s Day to shatter sales records

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You don't need to go through the App Store to install apps now.
The App Store continues to impress.
Photo: Apple

The App Store opened 2017 with a massive bang by shattering sales records. New Year’s Day was its single busiest day ever, with $240 million raised from app purchases.

The record caps an incredibly successful 2016 for iOS developers, who earned a whopping $20 billion last year — up over 40 percent from 2015.

Apple’s smartest moves of 2016

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2016 wasn't all missed deadlines and mysterious battery problems for Apple.
2016 wasn't all missed deadlines and mysterious battery problems for Apple.
Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

2016 Year in Review Cult of Mac Apple pissed off a lot of people in 2016. In hindsight, some of Cupertino’s moves look clumsy, and others seem truly clueless, but Tim Cook and Co. also made some brilliant moves during this turbulent year.

Let’s go to our happy place and relive the smartest moves made by Apple in 2016.

Super Mario Run gets off to a flying $4 million start

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Super Mario Run on iOS
Where's he running to? The bank, apparently.
Photo: Apple

The eagerly-awaited Super Mario Run made upwards of $4 million worldwide in its first day on the market, according to analytics company App Annie.

The analytics firm suggests that the game — which represents the first official appearance of  Mario on iOS — was downloaded around 10 million times, and was the top-ranked game by downloads in 60 of the 151 countries it launched in within hours of its debut.

Super Mario Run and other awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
'Appy holidays. Almost.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

It’s the week before Christmas and, if you’re tired of buying gifts, decorating trees, or complaining about the weather, why not download some of the week’s hottest App Store titles?

Check out our picks below. From the long-awaited Super Mario Run and beyond, these are the most notable app launches of the past seven days.

AirPods alternatives and the best TV shows of 2016 on The CultCast

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AirPods aren't the only wireless buds in the game.
AirPods aren't the only wireless buds in the game.
Photo: TBS

This week on The CultCast: An honest look at Super Mario Run; we review better-sounding AirPods alternatives; the cool new stuff in the iOS and tvOS updates; and we reveal the hands-down best TV shows of 2016!

This episode supported by: Jamf Now, the affordable, cloud-based solution you can rely on to manage the iPads, iPhones and Macs in your workplace. Manage three devices for free at jamf.com/CultCast.

Should Apple take on Xbox and PlayStation? [Friday Night Fights]

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fnf_gaming
Would you buy an Apple console?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s product portfolio is crying out for something new. Fans and investors are itching to see where the company will go next, and whether it can revolutionize yet another industry. Should a games console be top of its list?

Friday Night Fights bugSome fans may not know this, but Apple has produced a console before. It wasn’t too successful, but Apple is a different company now, and it’s already serving hundreds of millions of avid gamers with its Apple TV and iOS devices. In some ways, a console makes a lot of sense.

But could Apple really topple the PlayStation or Xbox? Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over whether Apple should build its own console!

Super Mario Run copycats invade Android

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Super Mario Run on iOS
Super Mario Run clones are already bounding onto the Google Play store.
Photo: Apple

Super Mario Run, Nintendo’s first major game for mobile, is already a huge hit on iPhone, but Android users will have to wait until 2017 to get their fingers on the real deal.

However, a ton of Super Mario Run clones are already springing up on Google Play — trying to steal Nintendo’s thunder.

Watch Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto draw Mario on an iPad Pro

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Apple
Mr. Miyamoto tries out a freehand sketch on the iPad Pro.
Photo: Apple

Apple and Nintendo have become a match made in heaven, thanks to the Super Mario Run game that debuted today for iPhone and iPad.

To celebrate the game’s launch, Super Mario Run creator Shigeru Miyamoto showed how he draws the iconic videogame character using an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.

Watch him sketch below:

Ready, get set, go download Super Mario Run for iOS

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Super-Mario-Run-Dec-15
That's today!
Photo: Nintendo

At long last, Nintendo’s long-awaited Super Mario Run has sprinted into the App Store, in what is certainly the biggest iOS game launch of 2016 after Pokémon Go.

Marking the first time Nintendo’s most iconic character has been available on iOS — outside of dodgy third-party game emulators — a demo of Super Mario Run is downloadable for free, while the whole game priced at $9.99.

Shigeru Miyamoto says Nintendo and Apple go together like Mario and Luigi

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Players have spent more than $1 billion on Nintendo's mobile games
Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto opened up to Glixel about his thoughts on his role, and the company's partnership with Apple for Super Mario Run.
Photo: Nintendo

When Nintendo announced they’d be working with Apple to launch Super Mario Run on iPhone, the partnership made a lot of sense. After all, both companies share a similar arc in the history of their respective industries, each defining the early decades of the home gaming and computing industries, respectively. But perhaps the most relevant similarity is in the two companies’ focus on design.

Super Mario Run will require always-on internet connection to play

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Super-Mario-Run-Dec-15
Mario won't run anywhere in offline mode.
Photo: Nintendo

Super Mario Run will sprint into the App Store on December 15, but while there’s plenty to be excited about with Nintendo’s first Mario game to hit iOS, there is one big potential downside for users: the game requires constant internet connectivity.

According to Mario creator and Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, the decision to include no offline mode was made for anti-piracy reasons.