If you still feel like there aren’t enough distractions on your smartphone, Nintendo has a solution.
The video game company announced Wednesday that it is bringing the massively popular Mario Kart game to smartphones by March 2019.
The game features some of the most iconic characters from the Super Mario Bros. universe and beyond, racing against each other in a variety of courses, all while using items like shells and bananas to toss at opponents and gain the upper hand.
Nintendo released the first installation of the series in 1992, with the latest version — Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — coming out for the Nintendo Switch last April. According to USA Today, over 7 million copies of the Nintendo Switch version of the game have been sold so far.
For context, there are 14.8 million Nintendo Switches that have been sold, according to Techcrunch, which pointed out that half of all the consoles have the Mario Kart game.
Now make way for Mario Kart Tour, which will enable users to race on the go.
The checkered flag has been raised and the finish line is near. A new mobile application is now in development: Mario Kart Tour! #MarioKartTour Releasing in the fiscal year ending in March 2019. pic.twitter.com/8GIyR7ZM4z
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 1, 2018
Few other details are known about the upcoming installation, which is set for release sometime between April 2018 and March 2019. But that hasn’t stopped the internet from getting excited.
— Jess (@jessypruneda97) February 1, 2018
Goodbye productivity
— Peter Mowery (@p_mowery) February 1, 2018
Here we goooo!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!
— Charles Martinet (@CharlesMartinet) February 1, 2018
Mario kart is gonna be an app. this is the best news I’ve ever heard on a Thursday morning
— ellie (@rachelbaIlinger) February 1, 2018
Mario Kart coming to the phone it’s lit
— The Life Of (@CamSteezy) February 1, 2018
It’s just the latest smartphone adaptation for Nintendo games, as noted by The Verge. Last year, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Super Mario Run were released.
The latter amassed over 200 million downloads in October, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima said to investors in Japan, according to Rolling Stone. The Wall Street Journal also reported that the video game company is working to get a version of “The Legend of Zelda” up and running on smartphones, too.
But don’t just expect to see Mario and friends on your cell phone — Nintendo is also working on a movie starring the red-hatted plumber, the Independent reported. That movie will be created by the people who worked on the Minions movie.
