Apple, Nintendo Partner to Bring Super Mario to Smartphones for First Time
After opening with a James Corden Carpool Karaoke piece, Apple CEO Tim Cook took to the stage in San Francisco.
Cook noted some impressive statistics about Apple. For example, Apple Music now has 30 million songs and 17 million users, rendering it a legitimate competitor in the music streaming market.
“It just keeps getting better,” Cook said of the service.
One hundred forty billion apps have now been downloaded from the App Store, Cook continued, and this year generated twice the global revenue of Google’s Android app store. With 500,000 games on the App Store—the most popular app category—the iPhone and iPad have become the world’s most-used gaming devices.
“The App Store has forever changed the world of software,” Cook said.
Building on this, Apple has partnered with Nintendo to bring Super Mario to iOS. A new game, called Super Mario Run, will be released soon for iPhone and iPad. Similar to the original Super Mario, Run is designed to be playable with just one thumb. The game is slated to launch in November for a set, currently undisclosed price.
Super Mario stickers will also be available for the updated iMessage app when iOS 10 is released later this month.
