Super Mario Run launch lifts Nintendo stocks in Tokyo

Nintendo shares soared by as much as 5.5% on Wednesday as it revealed a launch date for its first Super Mario game for mobile devices.

The Japanese gaming firm said Super Mario Run would be released worldwide on 15 December for users of Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) 's iPhone and iPads at a cost of $9.99 (£7.99) for US users.

It confirmed the app would cost buyers in the UK £7.99 though free access would be available for limited elements of the game ahead of any purchase.

Nintendo was yet to give a date for a broader sale to Android users.

The game marks a significant departure from the company's historic refusal to enter the mobile gaming sector - previoiusly preferring to concentrate its energies on its core consoles business.

The success of the Pokemon Go phenomenon helped drive the tentative shift in its thinking.

Nintendo's shares more than doubled in July - making it more valuable than Sony (Hanover: SON1.HA - news) at one point - as the game exploded in popularity leading to half a billion downloads worldwide.

It later emerged that the company did not own the licence to the game - erasing some of the added market value.

Its stock closed almost 3% higher on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday with investors seemingly encouraged by its mobile approach which Nintendo plans to expand.

Neil Campling, an analyst at Northern Trust Capital Markets, said: "To set a low incentive and then a low total cost when engaged could set Nintendo on a differentiated path, which ultimately could be a game changer."

Nintendo cut its sales and operating profit outlook for the year last month as the strength in the value of the yen hit its earnings. Pokemon Go's popularity, it said, had failed to offset sliding sales of 3DS and Wii U games.

A new hand-held console called Switch had already left investors underwhelmed.

Nintendo recruited Japanese mobile specialist DeNA last year to develop its mobile games with help from Shigeru Miyamoto - the creator of the puppet-inspired Mario character more than 30 years ago.