Chris Kohler over at Wired did an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto about Super Mario Run [Free] and all things Nintendo. It's a great interview, but Miyamoto's discussion on why classics like the original Super Mario Bros. won't come to iPhone is interesting. Granted, there's the obvious reason (virtual directional pads) but there's a more unexpected rationale:
He?s got one more thing to say about that. ?If we did put Super Mario Bros. on the iPhone, (people) would say, ?Wow, this is well-done, but are you actually going to expect me to pay money for it" Why isn?t this free"?,? he says. ?We try to create products that have value that people are willing to pay for.? I mean, he's not wrong. Just look at the folks who got the first Mario game on a non-Nintendo platform ever, and they're complaining. The interview reveals that this is the first Mario game that Miyamoto had a heavy influence on since Super Mario Galaxy, and it could certainly be the last one he ever works on. And people are griping about it. People would complain about having to pay for Super Mario Bros. Enough wouldn't to buy it, but really, do we need the drama of people complaining about paying for a gaming classic that they can take anywhere" No. Do check out the interview on Wired.

...