Super Mario Run will sprint into the App Store on December 15, but while there’s plenty to be excited about with Nintendo’s first Mario game to hit iOS, there is one big potential downside for users: the game requires constant internet connectivity.
According to Mario creator and Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, the decision to include no offline mode was made for anti-piracy reasons.
While Super Mario Run is a free download, it does offer a one-off $9.99 in-app purchase that unlocks every level.
“For us, we view our software as being a very important asset for us,” Mitamoto told Mashable through a translator. “And also for consumers who are purchasing the game, we want to make sure that we’re able to offer it to them in a way that the software is secure, and that they’re able to play it in a stable environment.”
Miyamoto confirms that the decision was made to protect against piracy, and says that, while initially they had thought about having one of the three game modes (presumably the free one) available for offline play, they realized this would be too difficult.
“We had thought at one point that it would be nice to have the World Tour [story] mode available standalone, to be able to play without that connection. But then the challenge is when that’s operating in a standalone mode, it actually complicates the connection back to the Toad Rally and Kingdom modes. And because those two modes are relying on the network save, we had to integrate the World Tour mode as well.”
The news is likely to be met with disappointment from some users who thought that the idea that Nintendo — which unlike most game developers still builds its own hardware, would bring one of its properties to iOS without compromise — was too good to be true.
Certainly, this isn’t the first time a game has demanded always-on connectivity, but it’s not a decision which proves particularly popular with gamers.
You can check out the rest of Miyamoto’s interview at the link above. While it doesn’t go super in-depth on any one topic, it does lay out some of Nintendo’s philosophy with Super Mario Run — specifically about creating a pick-and-play title designed to be enjoyed in short bursts.
As noted, the game is set to arrive in the App Store next week, although you can currently take it for a test drive at Apple stores.
Will the news of no offline mode affect your decision to buy Super Mario Run? Leave your comments below.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
14 responses to “Super Mario Run will require always-on internet connection to play”
Deal breaker for me… I use the tube/subway most day and this is my main time to play games on my iPhone. They made a big thing that the game was designed for being played on the subway only you can’t because most subways don’t have internet access.
Yeah, I’d prefer the app just “phone home” on launch to authorize the current session. Constant contact makes me think of privacy concerns.
Given that I started with my online company, I pocket $25 each and every 15 minutes. It does sound improbable but you won’t forgive yourself in case you don’t try it yourself. Read additional information on it here>> DISQUS.COM/by/adriennevarney/
I don’t think that it would be a problem as long as the data usage is low, which I’m sure it would be.
Frankly the only platform that they’d have to worry about is Android, because that’s where all of the pirates live, right :P
Seriously though, it is much harder to pirate Apps on iOS than the other platform. I think this is a bad business decision.
You know, at the unveiling, they made a big deal about playing on the subway…one hand holding on to the pole and the other playing the game.
This is a potential deal-killer for me.
That’s funny, I was remembering the same thing. I get needing an internet connection for some aspects of playing games, but requiring an active connection is just ludicrous. I am more than happy to pay $10 for the game, but not if I can’t play it on the subway. Lametron.
So they want 10$ for a game you wont be able to play offline ? I get free to play games that require internet due to ads etc. but a paid game ? This should be illegal.
Yeah…I’m out.
So you’re telling me that this game is going to chew up a massive amount of data for a game that you have to pay for and be online to play wow Nintendo this is the 21st-century
And Nintendo haven’t you made enough money off of Mario already so now you want to charge us for a game that many of us have played when we were kids without an Internet connection and now we come into the 21st-century we have to pay to play and be online to use so you can chew our data up just for one game and you’re stating this is for privacy reasons. I like to say one thing this is a deal-breaker. when you commercial states that you can play even in a subway under ground where is no Internet connection….I call this false advertisement. You should be ashamed of yourself Nintendo you can do better than this
There better be no in app purchases that’s for damn sure and extra levels and add-ons better be free specially at this cost
And no damn ads in the game
I was in on the game till I read this… I’ll probably still try it free, but no way in hell im paying $10