Nintendo's decision to charge a one-time $9.99 fee to unlock the whole of Super Mario Run takes the annoyance out of using in-app purchases. Many titles on the App Store rely on continuous in-app purchases to make money, but even popular games like Pokémon Go can lead to a bad experience when the game constantly tries to convince users to hand over more cash.

Of course, Nintendo could offer players the option to purchase Super Mario Run in smaller, cheaper increments. The company's solution is to provide the full version of the game as an in-app purchase. Apple is known for not allowing trials or beta software in the App Store, which means the only way Nintendo can get this game on players' phones and tablets for free is by offering the actual game itself. Nintendo's method for charging users to play Super Mario Run is no accident. Is Super Mario Run going to be free? No, but here's why that's a good thing

If it's exactly like that demo, gamers can look forward to playing the first three levels for free, along with a brief sample of the fourth level.Īfter that, Super Mario Run players will have the option of paying $9.99 to gain access to the full title.

There's still no official word on how many levels this version will include or whether it will be a carbon copy of what we played at Apple's store. While the main version of the app can be downloaded for free, that only gets you a short demo version of Super Mario Run.

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