Nintendo Co. soared to its highest in over four months after announcing its upcoming smartphone game, Super Mario Run.
The company has given fans an opportunity to test the app in the Apple retail stores before the game’s release on December15.
According to IGN, the first three levels are available to gamers for free, but it will cost 10 dollars to unlock other content, including 21 more levels.
The stock rose to its highest point since July 19, going up by 3.7 percent by midday in Tokyo. The shares are still 8 percent below a six-year high it reached after the release of the Pokemon Go game.
Super Mario Run has been created solely by Nintendo, unlike Pokemon Go, which was made by Niantic Inc., a San Francisco-based company.
Nintendo will receive all the profits from the game, but will also be solely responsible if the game is not well received. A failure with Super Mario Run could delay the company’s anticipated growth in the mobile app market.
To date, most response to the game has been positive.
Engadget commented on the quality of the game’s graphics, and they believe that “replayability should be excellent.”
According to Time, the app is simple and the gameplay remains rich and addictive” when compared to previous Super Mario games on Nintendo consoles.
Mic.com believe that the game is fairly easy, writing that “Mario veterans will be shocked to find that they can run right through enemy goombas.”
The title is estimated to gross $71 million dollars in the first month with over 50 million unique downloads, according to research done by SensorTower. In September, the same company said that Pokemon Go was downloaded over 180 million times two months after its release.
In October, Tim Cook from Apple stated that over 20 million people had signed up to be notified of Super Mario Run’s release.
Nintendo has begun their marketing campaign to promote the game through television interviews and other media.
In an interview with Time, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto said that users will be able to play other characters besides Mario to encourage users to replay the game.
A video of Nintendo’s U.S. head Reggie Fils-Aime on the Tonight Show has exceeded 500,000 views in less than 24 hours after its upload.
In a separate appearance, Fils-Aime debuted the first live-demo of the new game. Its graphical performance was praised by fans on social media.
Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima said in an interview in October that the game will appeal to users of all ages.
“In terms of the game itself, you can download it and play a certain part of it, and then pay a fixed price and then play it over and over as many times as you want without having to pay anything extra. And that should give peace of mind that kids can play it. And we’re hoping that will help it become more popular.”
