In an interview with video game website Glixel, the legendary developer behind some of Nintendo's biggest franchises such as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong, Shigeru Miyamoto, shared his thoughts on what it was like to work with Apple for upcoming mobile game Super Mario Run.
According to Miyamoto, the notion of Nintendo and Apple having very similar philosophies turned out to be true as the two companies worked together on Super Mario Run.
The Simplest Super Mario Game
Miyamoto said that the idea for Super Mario Run started when his team thought to make the simplest Super Mario game possible, relating to a previous interview wherein he said that the game was born from an attempt to implement a control scheme that only uses one button.
When Super Mario Bros. was released 30 years ago, one of its main draws was its simplicity, as players only had to move and jump to get through levels. Since then, Super Mario games have become more complex, which has made it harder for people to play them.
Miyamoto's team then came up with the idea of a Super Mario game that would only require players to jump, with everything else not needing to have controlled. From that idea, Super Mario Run was born.
Nintendo And Apple Working Together
Miyamoto said that the timing for the release of Super Mario Run was fortunate for both Nintendo and Apple. While Nintendo had not yet decided to release a Super Mario title for smartphones while working on the simplified version of the game, it came up with a base idea that the company then demonstrated to Apple.
Nintendo showed Apple the base idea for Super Mario Run because, in order for the game to run how they want it to, it needed support for the game's development. As the companies worked together, Miyamoto realized the similarities in the philosophies of Nintendo and Apple.
Miyamoto said that one of these similarities is that the companies think about how people use their products, as they create products not based on what customers think they like but rather based on what the companies think would turn out to be great products that users will love. Apple places a lot of effort into the simplicity of its products, which is something that is consistent with how Nintendo does things.
"They're the areas where Nintendo and Apple really see eye to eye," Miyamoto said, referring to the focus on simplicity and making it easy and comfortable for customers to use the products.
Super Mario Run To Be Released On Dec. 15
The product of the partnership between Nintendo and Apple, Super Mario Run, is set to be released for iOS devices on Dec. 15. It will be free to download, but to unlock all its features, customers will have to pay a one-time fee of $9.99.
The mobile title, however, will require an always-on internet connection, which is something that does not sit well at all with gamers.
