Racing to Popul Arity, Mario Kart's App Launch Was a Success
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Racing to popul arity, Mario Kart’s app launch was a success By Caitlin Maughan Mario Kart Tour, the popular go-cart racing video game, was released at 4:00 am on the 25th of September for both iPhone and Android users. When the game was first released, a few hiccups occurred that displeased anxious users. Firstly, users couldn’t play right away and scores of Mario Kart fanatics rushed to twitter to complain about the inconvenience. However, the glitch took merely a few hours to set straight. "The servers are experiencing heavy traffic. Your log-in request will be processed in the order it was received," the notification on the app said. Moreover, many players complained about the price of the gold pass. The gold pass, an in-app purchase on Mario Kart, which provides users with exclusive upgrades in the app, costs $4.99. It is expensive compared to Play Pass which offers more than 350 apps and games for the same price. Additionally, the app received a complaint on Twitter from a famous YouTuber, James Charles, who criticized the controls in the game. “The graphics look phenomenal, the controls, however, are extremely difficult to use??? half the time I turn it moves me the wrong way,” James Charles said. An image of Mario finishing a race in 1st place. Mario Kart broke Pokémon Go’s world record for most downloads in the first 24 hours of launching by about 3.5 million downloads. Some of the player's favorite aspects of the game are that users can race their friends, assume the role of beloved and classic characters such as Mario, Princess Peach, Yoshi and more. “I first downloaded it because it was getting a lot of clout and I just had to join the bandwagon,” said Mario Kart user Nate Calafati, “I play every single second of every single day, it’s that good. I really enjoy the competitiveness of the game.” “I downloaded when I saw all my friends playing it the morning it came out. Everyone else had it and I played it on the wii when I was younger. I like that you can unlock new players as you go. I don’t like that it doesn’t have the same characters as the wii version,” Sean Merkle said. But why create an app version of the beloved game? The answer is simple, money. Mobile games make up 45% of the $152 billion video game industry. In the first 24 hours of Mario Karts launch, 20 million apps were installed with a revenue of $1 million dollars. It is no surprise that the app is a success, for Mario Kart is the top-selling game on the switch, Wii, and 3DS. Overall, the launch of Mario Kart’s mobile app was a success and is attracting many users. .