Hope this wasn’t going to be your new commute game.
Nintendo is diving into mobile app games on the 15th of December with Super Mario Run. As we previously reported, the game will be available only for iOS devices at launch and will cost $9.99. What we didn’t know until today is that Super Mario Run will require a constant internet connection to play.
In a new interview with Mashable, Mario creator and Super Mario Run producer Shigeru Miyamoto said this wifi requirement is due to piracy concerns. This game is their first to be released on a non-Nintendo console and in this many countries–150 to be exact–so security was high on Nintendo’s list of worries.
“For us, we view our software as being a very important asset for us,” Miyamoto told Mashable. “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. ”
Mario is quite the popular franchise, one hackers would love to snag codes from. Nintendo executives thought keeping Super Mario Run purely online would prevent piracy attempts on their software.
Developers originally wanted at least the World Tour play mode to be available offline. However, testing showed that made the connection back to the Toad Rally and Kingdom modes too complicated.
Miyamoto went on to say piracy concerns are also the reason Super Mario Run is an Apple exclusive for now. Nintendo has said Android users will get to play Super Mario Run “at some point in the future.” No word on how or when.
How do you feel about an online-only Mario app game? Do you think you’ll cough up the $10 to play? Let us know in the comments!
