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The year 2017 was unmistakably the year of Switch in the video-ludique domain vidéoludique, even beyond. Elected "gadget of the year" by Time Magazine (Élue « gadget de l’année» par le Time Magazine), it revolutionized the practice of the video game with hybrid format in both living room console and mobile.
With the critical success, it was also a hit with the public. Therefore, Nintendo has recently reported its financial results for year 2017. Figures without appeal are shown: about 15 million of the Switch have been distributed their outputs in the world until December 31st, 2017. It is very simple: in a period of ten months, it did better than Wii U, the elder daughter, in five years (sold up 13.56 million copies).
From the view-point of game library, it should be recalled that Switch benefited from a launch booming with Zelda Breath of the Wild welcomed unanimously by the criticism. In spite of this departure standard, the continuation remained masterly with a rhythm of release at least a good title per month (Splatoon 2, Arms …). Results: 52.7 million games were sold, which is a half of WiiU park! As such, this old Mario has (still) got out while the going is good because Super Mario Odyssey was distributed to more than nine million copies. If we believe the estimations of Vgchartz site, more than 3.6 million units of the game would have been sold, what makes it the sixth best-seller title in the year. A performance when we know that Super Mario Odyssey was released on October 27th, 2017.
Mario makes cinema
Following these excellent results, Nintendo made two major quite surprising announcements. First of all, the former plumber will be entitled to new adventures in the cinema in a full-length film produced by Shigeru Miyamoto personally and Illumination Entertainment, an American film production company managed by Chris Meledandri to whom we owe Me, Ugly and Nasty or even The Minions.
Will Mario thus be a cartoon’s object? Nobody can say because, at the moment, no information of the project has been leaked out. It remains that this announcement amazes while the previous adaptation didn’t stay in reports.
In spite of the presence in the casting of John Leguizamo, Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper, the movie is a critical failure and a commercial oven. Independently, the (bad) quality of the movie, it is necessary to say that with the cyberpunk universe cheap compound of dinosaurs, Super Mario Bros was rather faithful to the original work. With Miyamoto at the controls for the new adaptation, let pledge that the universe of the games is respected.
In all the cases, this new raid in the cinema proves the will of Nintendo to spread the universe of its mascot outside the frame strictly speaking of the video game. It is advisable to remember that in 2015 Nintendo had reached an agreement with Universal Parks and Resorts to build stamped amusement parks "Mario and Luigi".
Mario Kart, the shells and banana skins on smartphone
Besides, the game Mario Kart will release on mobile under Mario Kart Tour’s name. It will be the fourth creation of Nintendo in this domain after Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing: Pocket Park. At this time, Mario's "magic" operated in a reserved way. Certainly, the free application of Super Mario Run was downloaded two hundred million times. It has twenty million monthly users. However, concerning profits, Nintendo is an only man satisfied with a word: "acceptable". For a very good reason: it was necessary to pay out less than 9.99 euros to unlock the whole game.
Consequently, it is not said that this model is renewed for Mario Kart Tour. Nintendo could opt for a free-to-play following the example of Fire Emblem Heroes. It means that the basic game would be free but that options or additional levels would be available via micro transactions.
In any case, we can access to the knowledge of Nintendo and its capacity to offer us a striking and friendly playful experience. Mario Kart lends itself particularly to the portable format as shown by the cardboard of Switch, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe version, with more than four million copies sold in 2017, according to Vgchartz.
Mario Kart Tour is planned for the next fiscal year which begins on the April 1st 2018 and ends on March 31st, 2019.
Article written by Thierry Randretsa