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[orthodoxy1095]

It's a mobile game, so... I kinda get it?

But it's still dumb.

It's a mobile game, so I kinda expected this.

Most mobile games are like this

Slightly annoying... but it's a mobile game.

Perhaps could have offline mode with limited features.

Im a mobile game developer. Most of these game require a constant internet connection. Just how it is.

It's mobile, no surprises. I dont believe there's a ftp game out there that doesn't. I doubt it will be a huge data muncher.

So since I'm bored right now and don't totally feel like going to bed just yet, I'm going to go through some of my iPhone games that share any similarities to Super Mario Run and see if they require me to be online:

Punch Quest - Working offline
Wind-Up Knight 2 - Working offline
Badland - Working offline
Rayman Fiesta Run - Working offline
Rayman Adventures - Working offline
PAC-MAN 256 - Working offline

And now for the rest of my games that are much more different:

80 Days - Working offline
Sorcery! - Working offline
Sorcery! 2 - Working offline
Downwell - Working offline
Lara Croft GO - Working offline
Joe Dever's Lone Wolf - Working offline
2048 - Working offline
Warbits - Working offline
Shadowmatic - Working offline
RYB - Working offline
Reigns - Working offline
Deus Ex GO - Working offline
Lumines - Working offline
Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP - Working offline
The Room - Working offline

So what's this revisionist nonsense about this being "common" with mobile games? Not a single one of my mobile games seems to require an internet connection. And before you try to "get me," with a "AHA BUT WHAT'S THE PRICING MODEL OF THOSE GAMES?" some of them are F2P, some of them are paid. Obviously then, price model isn't really relevant here. Which begs the question, what la-la-land fantasy world are you goons living in where this is somehow standard practice?

 

[Hoo-doo]

Isn't this game hitting iPad? That alone makes the entire 'hurr durr wh cares cuz it's on mobile' argument completely moot.

I don't like playing games on a phone. I have a nice tablet for that.

 

[Easy_D]

Hell even Square's Japanese branch has games that you can play 100% offline like TWEWY (absolutely fantastic port that one) and the ones that do have online DRM only check in periodically allowing you to at least play in chunks.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Nintendo always has to add in one thing that will annoy people

 

[PhazonBlazer]

That's so stupid, my internet is shitty at work and that was probably going to be the main place I played it.

 

[Joeshabadoo]

Apparently Mario just jumps over them.

theyre used as points to time taps and vault over for extra height. all other enemies will damage

 

[AgeEighty]

Unless the game has magically became a MMORPG when I wasn't looking, there are exactly zero reasons it needs to be always online.

Not that I'm doubting your mobile game expertise, but I think I'll wait to see that for myself.

Over two fucking hundred paid mobile games here. Not a single one has prevented me from booting them offline.

That's nice. I have the following:

Pokemon Go
Microsoft Solitaire Collection
Wordament
Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
Mobius Final Fantasy
Justice Monsters V
Terra Battle
Lumines: Puzzle & Music
Words With Friends (and a few other Zynga games)

Probably more than that, but I stopped looking.

 

[ggx2ac]

Okay, I admit it.

There's not much to defend Nintendo's reasons for this. They mainly wanted to prevent piracy.

From that mashable article:

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.

Just to be clear: When you say "security," you mean the risk of piracy, right?

That's correct.

Unlike our dedicated game devices, the game is not releasing in a limited number of countries. We're launching in 150 countries and each of those countries has different network environments and things like that. So it was important for us to be able to have it secure for all users.

 

[Nexus Zero]

That's nice. I have the following:

Pokemon Go
Microsoft Solitaire Collection
Wordament
Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
Mobius Final Fantasy
Justice Monsters V
Terra Battle
Lumines: Puzzle & Music
Words With Friends (and a few other Zynga games)

Probably more than that, but I stopped looking.

That's nice. I have
Sonic 1
Sonic 2
Horizon Rush
Deu oh wait why the fuck are we listing things when it has no bearing on how stupid a decision this is. Can you imagine an "always online" Switch? Outside is inarguably not always online, it simply isn't regardless of how lucky you are in buttfuck nowhere that doesn't have an underground transport system. Or that you never go on a plane. Well done.

 

[Milly Osworth]

Not a problem for me, but I'm sure they will fix this.

 

[More_Badass]

That's nice. I have the following:

Pokemon Go
Microsoft Solitaire Collection
Wordament
Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
Mobius Final Fantasy
Justice Monsters V
Terra Battle
Lumines: Puzzle & Music
Words With Friends (and a few other Zynga games)

Probably more than that, but I stopped looking.

That doesn't counter his point in any way. Mobile games that need to be online are a minority compared to the ones that don't.

 

[cyba89]

That's dumb.

Mario Maker on 3DS ...but with very limited sharing
NES Mini with awesome emulation ...but be lucky to get one for the Holidays
Super Mario on the phone ...but always-online

It feels like there's always some catch with Nintendo stuff. Wonder what it will be for Switch.

And I don't get how so many here people say this is normal for a mobile game.

 

[AgeEighty]

That's nice. I have
Sonic 1
Sonic 2
Horizon Rush
Deu oh wait why the fuck are we listing things when it has no bearing on how stupid a decision this is. Can you imagine an "always online" Switch. Outside is inarguably not always online, it simply isn't regardless of how lucky you are in buttfuck nowhere that doesn't have an underground transport system. Or that you never go on a plane. Well done.

If I go on a plane (which I do maybe once or twice a year, so I'm not too concerned about it) I'll read a book or find something else to do. And then I'll play SMR when I'm off the plane. Or, I'll buy internet on the plane (which I usually do anyway).

I don't pass/fail games on playability based on how they perform in what are, for me at least, edge cases. That said, I know some people commute to and from work on subways and the like, but at least where I live they have cellular on the subways.

That doesn't counter his point in any way. Mobile games that need to be online are a minority compared to the ones that don't.

My point wasn't that they're a majority. My point is that there are lots of games that do it, many of which are popular games and hardly obscure, but this is the first time people are kicking up an ungodly fuss over it.

 

[DigtialT]

wait what?

Yeah, mario just vaults over them automatically.

 

[MUnited83]

Not that I'm doubting your mobile game expertise, but I think I'll wait to see that for myself.



That's nice. I have the following:

Pokemon Go
Microsoft Solitaire Collection
Wordament
Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
Mobius Final Fantasy
Justice Monsters V
Terra Battle
Lumines: Puzzle & Music
Words With Friends (and a few other Zynga games)

Probably more than that, but I stopped looking.

I'm detecting a pretty big number of F2P games on your list. Very bad examples, since I was talking about paid ones. But if you want a list of F2P games that still allow it I also have plenty.

 

[Lothars]

Okay, I admit it.

There's not much to defend Nintendo's reasons for this. They mainly wanted to prevent piracy.

From that mashable article:

that really dissapoints me. I was really looking forward to this but now I might not even buy it because of this decision

Not that I'm doubting your mobile game expertise, but I think I'll wait to see that for myself.

Probably more than that, but I stopped looking.

Your not doing yourself any favors. This is a huge mistake on nintendo part. I don't have an issue with some games requiring a connection but this is one game that shouldn't require it especially considering the price and it not being f2p like most of the online games.

 

[eyeball_kid]

Pokemon Go
Microsoft Solitaire Collection
Wordament
Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
Mobius Final Fantasy
Justice Monsters V
Terra Battle
Lumines: Puzzle & Music
Words With Friends (and a few other Zynga games)

Probably more than that, but I stopped looking.

And how many of those were paid games? When something is F2P, everyone expects to put up with a certain amount of BS. When you pay $10 for a mobile game, you expect no BS.

Nintendo are going to get a lot of 1-star ratings over this.

 

[AgeEighty]

I'm detecting a pretty big number of F2P games on your list.

And? When did we all take the vote that when you pay for an app, you're paying not for its quality or size, but for whether it requires internet or not? One does not equal the other as far as I'm concerned, and besides: I've sunk more money into FFRK than $10, as have many of its most strident fans. If anything, I would expect a paid app to have more of the kinds of features that require me to be online, not less.

 

[aBarreras]

suddenly everyone turns their data off when playing mobile games, just like suddenly everyone started to hate bezels...

 

[Newtype-001]

Looool whats nintendo smoking

 

[DigtialT]

Not that I'm doubting your mobile game expertise, but I think I'll wait to see that for myself.



That's nice. I have the following:

Pokemon Go
Microsoft Solitaire Collection
Wordament
Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
Mobius Final Fantasy
Justice Monsters V
Terra Battle
Lumines: Puzzle & Music
Words With Friends (and a few other Zynga games)

Probably more than that, but I stopped looking.

The only game in that list that isn't free is Lumines. So this didn't help your case at all.

 

[Pancakes R Us]

That's not an explanation.

I know. I'm just taking the piss. I think it's a stupid decision by Nintendo. Should we be surprised? No. Nintendo is infamous for making great games as well as very stupid decisions.

 

[More_Badass]

My point wasn't that they're a majority. My point is that there are lots of games that do it, many of which are popular games and hardly obscure, but this is the first time people are kicking up an ungodly fuss over it.

Popular F2P games. This is a free trial with a $10 price point. Premium/paid games with required online aren't the norm by any means. This isn an outlier and a disliked one at that.

 

[Lothars]

suddenly everyone turns their data off when playing mobile games, just like suddenly everyone started to hate bezels...

Suddenly nintendo fans have to continuously defend stupid decisions that they do for little reason.

 

[MUnited83]

And? When did we all take the vote that when you pay for an app, you're paying not for its quality or size, but for whether it requires internet or not? One does not equal the other as far as I'm concerned, and besides: I've sunk more money into FFRK than $10, as have many of its most strident fans. If anything, I would expect a paid app to have more of the kinds of features that require me to be online, not less.

I expect that a product I paid 10$ for is available at all times offline if a online requirement is not actually essential for the product's function.
F2P devs do not own me anything. And yet many of them still allow me to play offline.

 

[Lazaro]

I'm guessing this to prevent jailbroken users getting free IAPS and whatnot?

Doesn't really matter, my mobile devices are always using an internet connection and it's not like the data from mobile apps is huge like console and PC games.

 

[KarmaCow]

And? When did we all take the vote that when you pay for an app, you're paying not for its quality or size, but for whether it requires internet or not? One does not equal the other as far as I'm concerned, and besides: I've sunk more money into FFRK than $10, as have many of its most strident fans. If anything, I would expect a paid app to have more of the kinds of features that require me to be online, not less.

With a F2P game there is the justification of needing to keep an online connection to prevent cheating or otherwise subverting the monetization method.

 

[aBarreras]

Suddenly nintendo fans have to continuously defend stupid decisions that they do for little reason.

suddenly? they have been doing it for years!

 

[orthodoxy1095]

The only game in that list that isn't free is Lumines. So this didn't help your case at all.

Lumines also works offline, I'm doing it right now. The only time I think it has made me connect to the internet was the initial boot to get the first download package/update.

Besides, plenty of F2P games work offline. I listed some that I have on my phone above:

Punch Quest
Wind-Up Knight 2
Rayman Fiesta Run
Cayman Adventures
PAC-MAN 256

 

[Lothars]

suddenly? they are being doing it for years!

So how can you defend this decision?

 

[peakish]

Lmao at the responses ripped directly from the Xbox One reveal. Down to the "we have a different console for you" reply.

Not that this impacts me but consider having some empathy for people who might live in different situations with different restrictions on network access or different gaming habits than you.

 

[AgeEighty]

Popular F2P game. This is a free trial with a $10 price point. Premium/paid games with required online aren't the norm by any means. This isn an outlier and a disliked one at that.

I don't agree that it's an outlier. I named a handful of the most popular games out there, and the argument that "people don't complain about things that are free" frankly is laughable. I can show you probably a dozen NeoGAF threads about F2P games that have people bitching up a storm about one feature or another, but almost none of them that I've seen have involved the online component.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

And? When did we all take the vote that when you pay for an app, you're paying not for its quality or size, but for whether it requires internet or not? One does not equal the other as far as I'm concerned, and besides: I've sunk more money into FFRK than $10, as have many of its most strident fans. If anything, I would expect a paid app to have more of the kinds of features that require me to be online, not less.

You didn't need to spend $10 to play FFRK. That was a choice.

You need to pay $10 to play SMR beyond the first three levels. Which again begs the question, after paying that fee, why must the game always be online? What is the compelling reason that SMR is a paid game that requires online play, when other games don't need that connectivity?

 

[FataIChoice]

For someone who has been working in the arse end of nowhere, this drastically reduces my ability to play the game on the toilet on work time.

 

[Mass_Pincup]

Pretty sure they did that to prevent piracy.

 

[Xe4]

suddenly everyone turns their data off when playing mobile games, just like suddenly everyone started to hate bezels...

Suddenly people stop tearing into only online games when Nintendo does it.

See? We can both generalize.

The fact is I will never be ok with only online paid game unless it is a game which is only online. The fact that Nintendo think's it's ok to force always online into a largely single player game is ridiculous, even more so when you are paying $10 as it is.

Only online has never worked out for any game with a large audience, and has always caused the consumer far more problems than it saved. Why are you ok with this?

 

[aBarreras]

So how can you defend this decision?

im not defending anything, it is stupid that it cant be played offline, but people acting like they dont have their data on 99% of the time and that this will make skip the game seems hyperbolic to me

 

[J@hranimo]

I'm confused why they would want it to be online all the time? Mobile gaming is some shit huh.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

I'm confused why they would want it to be online all the time? Mobile gaming is some shit huh.

Please don't blame it on mobile. It's a conscious decision that Nintendo made, in opposition to what many other mobile games do.

 

[Shiggy]

I'm confused why they would want it to be online all the time? Mobile gaming is some shit huh.

Not mobile gaming in general. But Nintendo seems to be rather inept when it comes to mobile devices. Miitomo was one of the worst apps I've ever used, from a simple usability perspective.

 

[AgeEighty]

With a F2P game there is the justification of needing to keep an online connection to prevent cheating or otherwise subverting the monetization method.

You are the first person here to provide a reasonable argument for this. Thank you.

However, I'm still not ready to dismiss their reasoning out of hand. For all anyone knows, paying the ten bucks eliminates the online requirement. Or, it's possible that the cloud save infrastructure is an always-on thing that keeps your progress no matter where you are.

Or, maybe they don't have any good reasons and are just being blatantly anti-gamer, snickering behind their hands at all the fools who continue paying for their products, like everyone seems to believe they do. But I doubt it.

 

[More_Badass]

I don't agree that it's an outlier. I named a handful of the most popular games out there, and the argument that "people don't complain about things that are free" frankly is laughable. I can show you probably a dozen NeoGAF threads about F2P games that have people bitching up a storm about one feature or another, but almost none of them that I've seen have involved the online component.

You may not agree, doesn't mean that you're correct.

And we already went over that. Many F2P games are expected to be online, due to being competitive or whatnot. Many F2P games, especially most auto-runners, are also perfectly playable offline, and paid games, especially a $10 paid game, are not expected to be forced online. It's not common at all

 

[eyeball_kid]

im not defending anything, it is stupid that it cant be played offline, but people acting like they dont have their data on 99% of the time and that this will make skip the game seems hyperbolic to me

It's not hyperbolic when a one-handed game was obviously meant for commuter situations. This may be fine for Tokyo or other cities where you get internet on the subway, but in many cities this game won't work during your subway commute.

 

[Brat-Sampson]

FTP games like Exvius have to constantly monitor numerous counters, timers, currencies and character stats to share with other players after every event. It makes way more sense for them to require an internet connection. Mario run is a Mario game with a single player level-based main game. Just store the special coin gets locally and share when possible. Always online required is ridiculous.

 

[guybrushfreeman]

Literally the only time I play iOS games is on airplanes. This is a huge disappointment.

If I had Internet, I'd be juggling Twitter, e-mail, Slack, and GAF. Games are for when I don't have Internet

Haha yeah me too. I'm glad I saw this thread because basically the only time I play an iOS game is when I don't have an internet connection. Hilarious that people think every iOS game is always online though which is incredibly untrue. I wouldn't expect a game like this to be always online on iOS. Comparable games certainly aren't.

 

[Occam]

Nintendo just doesn't want you to forget who really owns the game you paid money for.
Hint: It's not you.

Since it's not your property, you can't complain about not being able to play it on airplanes or wherever else there is no wifi.

 

[GiantBreadbug]

Edited because I'm going to read more before reacting again

But "always online" is a pretty universally bad thing to me

 

[Xe4]

im not defending anything, it is stupid that it cant be played offline, but people acting like they dont have their data on 99% of the time and that this will make skip the game seems hyperbolic to me

I'm going to post this again:

A. I live in the rural US, like millions of people. I leave the town I live in, even Verizon goes away or is reduced to 1x.
B. I barely have any data, because I can only afford the smallest data plan. Sorry not everyone has unlimited data. I keep 4g off unless I absolutely need to turn it on, because I will run through it in a day (not exaggerating).
C. There is a chance of a server crash, especially when one first buys the game. Wouldn't be the first time it happened, and then you're shit out of luck for who knows how long.
D. Regardless of whether it impacts you or not, one must realize this is a stupidly anti consumer move that should never be encouraged.

Make sense?

 

[Megawarrior]

This is not good for people like me that really only plays games when traveling on metro trains. The data signal constantly disconnects or stays disconnected.

 

[J@hranimo]

Please don't blame it on mobile. It's a conscious decision that Nintendo made, in opposition to what many other mobile games do.

Not mobile gaming in general. But Nintendo seems to be rather inept when it comes to mobile devices. Miitomo was one of the worst apps I've ever used, from a simple usability perspective.

Ah ok....well there's the Nintendo caveat. Maybe they'll remove that in the future.