Game Drain

Nintendo's refusal to put Mario on your iPhone is hurting

When Flappy Bird, a mobile game made by amateur designer Dong Nguyen, became an Internet sensation recently, you could almost hear Nintendo executives groan. First there was the rumor that the Vietnamese programmer had taken the game down under pressure from the 125-year-old Japanese gaming firm over possible copyright infringement. (Nintendo told TIME that was not the case.) Then there was the fact that, seemingly overnight and despite being free, Flappy Bird was reportedly generating $50,000 a day in ad revenue. Worse, the entire episode was a stark reminder of how much gaming has changed in the few years since Nintendo...

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