Much like in other countries, Super Mario Run has managed to shoot its way up the iOS charts in Japan but what is interesting is how it has also avoided a major monetization pitfall that is prevalent here.
At the time of writing, Super Mario Run is at the top of the Free charts in Japan and fifth in the Grossing chart, beating the likes of Pokémon GO in the process (as that is now in eighth place here).
That said the game is moving slower up the Japanese charts compared to its meteoric rise in the U.S. and players are complaining similarly about the price point of the pay wall for not much in the way of content and its low difficulty.
Personally, I didn't mind the straightforward paywall in the game. It was fair and clear. In addition, 6 worlds with 4 levels each is double what we got with games like Super Mario Land on the original Game Boy. Considering that you can still buy Super Mario Land on the Nintendo eShop on the 3DS for only $3.99, the paywall in Super Mario Run is entirely reasonable by comparison.
I also asked Dr. Serkan Toto what he thought of the release of Super Mario Run in Japan and he had an interesting point to add, in that Super Mario Run has avoided using the contentious ‘gacha’ approach to its monetization and that has been commended by gamers here.
If you didn’t already know, the ‘complete gacha’ approach is a model where players were expected to pay for multiple randomized items, which when collected in their entirety unlocked something rarer.
This was deemed illegal in Japan back in 2012 but the ‘gacha’ approach, as in pay for randomized items, is still quite prevalent here and is also likely to come under regulation in Japan sometime in the near future.
The fact that Nintendo has decided to not use this approach is ultimately a very wise move and indicates that the company is thinking about its mobile ambitions in the long-term.
In that, Nintendo cares about its customers and doesn't want to alienate players through aggressive monetization.
While the markets are somewhat annoyed with Nintendo’s approach, as its in-game monetization is more restrained compared to its competition, the strategy Nintendo is employing is a sound one.
This is because its games are already charting and earning well but Nintendo has avoided the common 'gacha' pitfall when it comes to exploitative monetization in Japan.
In any case, Nintendo has indeed entered the mobile gaming market but it continues to do so on its own terms and is clearly in this race for the long haul.
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