Shigeru Miyamoto Clarifies That Local Multiplayer is Still the Priority for Mario

10 years is too long.

I'm happy with this, and I think including online in a Mario game won't do much anyway. It may appease some gamers, but a very small amount that is, so quite frankly, I wouldn't mind at all if Super Mario remained a local multiplayer series.

Local multiplayer is and will always be superior to online MP. ANd im not talking about techical aspects. Both on and offline MP have their technical problems and limitations, although the WiiU got rid of the split screen one, making offline MP even better.
What im talking about is the interaction with your partners that happen outside of the game. Onlne MP degraded itself to foul mouthing, smack talking, and elitist sub groups and is in no way compareable to a local MP round. Sure, it is much more convenient to play even with friends whenever you want, but if convinience is the problem in inviting your friends you might have bigger problems than the lack of online MP.
I cherish a well made local MP session with friends and family on the same couch, having snacks and drinks, throwing pillows at them when they beat me Nothing can beat that if you ask me

It bears more tension and fun to see the reaction of a friend in person. But that doesnt mean to exclude an online feature because it lures more players into buying a game and nintendo lacking this feature will be a dissappointment for the online gamer audience. Personally I don't care about online multiplayer

@Reynoldszahl A fun fact is, that the more people beg for an online MP option that isnt a competative fighter / FPS, the less people are going to use it.
Many games tacked on an online mode just for the sake of it, and it was barely used. So all that extra money needed to get that going is much better investet in a better game overall if you ask me

Well it all depends on the game therefore an online multiplayere for mario games doesnt make sense to me but for metroid its good as seen in hunters. Also i love the multiplayer in pikmin 3 this game isnt really made for online experience as @Einherjar said in this games u need to see the faces of the people u beat or cry when u get unlucky or anything.

On-line mp is more work and they'll buy it anyway.

@Einherjar That's not a fact, that is something you just made up on the spot.

You must be moderately young still, as real life clearly hasn't hit you yet with the reality that everyone has responsibilities that mean they will eventually be forced to move away from people that they would like to play games with.

I know tens, maybe even a hundred + people I have met that I would LOE to be able to play Mario Multiplayer with. But almost all of them live hundreds of miles away now.

If you really think that "Onlne MP degraded itself to foul mouthing, smack talking, and elitist sub groups and is in no way compareable to a local MP round." I can only presume that your friends don't have an internet connection? Otherwise, either you and your friends are already in one of those groups, or you are wrong.

(Hint, it's probably the fact that you are a short sighted fool, like the people at nintendo making these decisions).

@Jared1984

"They'll buy it anyway".

Right, that's exactly why wii u is currently on track to being the biggest failure of a console launch outside of the virtual boy that Nintendo has ever had.

Its an admirable stance from nintendo, but you do have to wonder why they cant just include local and online, then its up to the user to decide. Plus the gamepad does have a camera so theres no reason you cant see another gamers face now. I still think its simply nintendo wanting to keep their family friendly image and dont want to hit the headlines for child protection reasons which would harm their reputation

I don't know if I'd bother with online Mario to be honest. I'd sooner play the game alone if I'm in the house on my own and locally with friends. I don't think we'd get much joy from playing online together where you don't get the same piss-taking that makes it fun.

@Likstrikesback I think it is a harsh assumption just thinking because of einherjars oppinion he is young and inexperienced.

It' s a matter of fact that online mp will consume lots of money for servers and maintenance and that the development time will increase.

Beside that I have to agree with you Linkstrikesback that the the statement of Einherjar is a bare thesis without evidence. But neither of us myself included has evidence for his statements. I think we are all just expressing our humble oppinions.

I often wonder where we will be in 10 years time (besides me being 45)... I do hope we are still living in a world where Nintendo is doing it's own thing while everyone else keeps on having pointless discussions about "hyper reality 4D graphics".

I'm not a big online player, but Nintendo really needs to catch up with the times. Online is fun, it's popular, it sells. Simple as that.
They need to look at it as allowing multiplayer for more people more often, rather than thinking of online as a diluted multiplayer experience.

@linkstrikesback Exactly. Im currently working overseas away from my friends and family and would love nothing more than to be able to play this mario game online with them. I love local MP but its just not a reality for a lot of people. The world is becoming more and more globalized with people traveling and living abroad yet Nintendo are stuck in the 90s with Region blocks and no online MP. If seeing their face is so important how about video chat on the gamepad while the game is on the big screen? Thats just one solution for this problem that doesnt exist. Nintendo are forcing me to look to their competitors for this service. Incredibly frustrating times for a Nintendo fan.

@Linkstrikesback You forgot to add GameCube to that list.

@Morph I was just about to post the same thing, regarding the camera. NintendoLand has already shown facecam is possible. There's no real reason why, instead of rendering the game screen a second time, the GamePad couldn't instead be showing a video feed of your friend's reaction while playing the game. Add on that it also has a microphone and speakers, you could get a reasonable enough multiplayer experience with another person.

This issue is simply frustrating for me, because I know at least 3 other people I'd love to play Mario with....but they live in other states and countries. We skype pretty much daily, but so far our interactions as far as gaming goes has been limited to Smash Bros and Pokemon, with some Mario Kart on the side. And most people I know probably wouldn't care for Mario, or simply don't want to do multiplayer for it. :/

I rarely play co-op or online games but this is 2013 not 1990. Nintendo should catch up with the times.

@linkstrikesback Exactly. As stated in the comments there are many who study or work abroad or on another city and may want to play with friends and family from their hometown.

@Linkstrikesback I have a 42+ hours a week day job with changing shifts every week from day to night shift and i am still able to meet many many friends, even some from the opposite end of the country on a regular basis to interact with.
And like i said, if your job, school or a combination of both is getting in the way of your social life outside of the digital realm, there is something wrong with the situation. Sure, if your improving your career, getting some extra qualifications or whatnot, there might be times where your personal life, your free time takes a back seet. But if that is your general situation, you should consider changing it.
And you can shove your "short sightet fool" somewhere, were the sun doesnt shine. There is no foolery in not implementing online play into a mario platformer. Shortsightet ? Play through a mario game 3+ times and tell me, if there is any challenge left that would make you say "i need to play that game online again" For games like Mario Kart or Smash Bros for example, it would be incredible stupid not to implement it. Its a competetive game. The outcome is directly influenced by the players playing it. But with a platformer its either you get to the end together or not. If youve seen all stages a couple of times, mastered all challenges online play would just boil down to "can this person even keep up with me or will he slow me down ?"
Something like that can easily be solved by leaderboards with a time and live count, or simply a clear time display, that you can post on Miiverse.
Since there is not much interaction between players, having random strangers stumble around stages you visited a couple hundret times is not my idea of a fun time.
Considering all that, it wouldnt be used all that much in the long run anyways.

@LunaticPandora
I forgot nothing. Wii U is currently doing significantly worse than the gamecube.
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/4523/61jf.png

At least, those are only US numbers, but it's pretty similar everywhere.

@Einjhar

"But if that is your general situation, you should consider changing it."

I should consider dropping out of getting a successful career because of videogames and nintendo being incompetent? I moved to a new university to begin getting a Ph.D last month and everyone I knew went their separate ways. I would dearly love to play New Super Mario Bros U/2 with my friends, but Nintendo won't let me.

"mario game 3+ times and tell me, if there is any challenge left that would make you say "i need to play that game online again" "

It's a little something called "fun". There is something inately fun in being able to play video games with friends, even if you've played it through before. Yes. I would like to "play that game online again" if I was doing it with friends. It's the same as sports: I sure as heck didn't give up playing football because "we've done it before 3+ times".

Coincidentally, This is part of the reason I know no-one else who has bought a wii u. They'd have jumped on it if that meant they could continue to play multiplayer games over the internet, but nintendo is still stuck in the early 90's in regard to the super scary internets.

@Einherjar Even the simplest games have online MP in 2013. Let us play when and with who we want like all Nintendos competitors do. Simple, not rocket science, no need for life coaching.

I really wish it was online, would love to play this with people who arnt exactly close to me anymore.

@Linkstrikesback Err, yes you did. Just because Wii U is doing worse than GameCube did in the same timeframe does not mean GameCube can be discounted as a failure.

Cool! To me, Mario has always been a sit-down-and-play-with-your-friends kind of experience. And it seems like hardly any major video game developers do local multiplayer anymore, which is one of the reasons I love Nintendo, as me and my brothers play games together quite often.

Lets face it as much as many of us prefer local multiplayer online is a great option to have. It'd no doubt increase sales which is needed for wii u and it wouldn't detract from the local options.

@eLarkos Yeah, and since its 2013 and the best selling games are military shooters and pseudo gangster flicks, nintendo should do that too right ? Just because everyone does it doesnt mean that its mandatory. That way, nintendo should consider hacking their games appart and selling each individual part as overpriced DLC, because its 2013 and everyone else does it. They should really get with the times.

Seeing as some of my fondest gaming-related memories involve palying with friends, be it multiplayer or just passing the controller around, I'd have to agree. Gaming is far from the lonely, isolated pass time some people make it out to be, although theres nothing wrong with playing that way either.

Not every game needs multiplayer though, local or otherwise. A lot of companies have the idea that every game needs multiplayer for the sake of holding peoples' attention and keeping them from being traded in. Tacked on multiplayer is just an attempt to coax people into keeping their games until they're done profiting off them.

actually nintendo kinda contradicts it self at times it gives us features to use with ppl world wide but yet those features arent used but when ppl ask for those features and plans to use them they dont get them wtf?(like the gamepad cam)

either way i think they should have online co op and let the gamer decide how they want to play and im sure it will still sell either way its not like ppl are asking for DLC or something

online multiplayer should be included

Seems like another topic to bring in the haters and bashers, on a FAN site, no less.

Look, Shiggy carved out a legacy in the arcade environment. I'm pretty sure he understands, on a very deep level, which games work best shoulder to shoulder, as opposed to over the internet.

And I agree with Einherjar, it's hard to play a platformer with MOST people. How many of you have tried to play one with someone who's skills aren't on the same level as yours?

Anyway, I don't see the problem here, you DO/WILL get first party software with online/offline multiplayer. Some of the bashers are making it sound as if it doesn't even exist.

They do realize simply being able to play online multiplayer would be a good thing right? They don't have to do anything crazy...just include online co-op

For local multiplayer I am not interested unless everybody has the same controls. (Which I suppose for me means 2 gamepad's or pro controllers and games where it is on the same screen.

(If I was going to be doing lots of local multiplayer then I would prefer loads of consoles and a screen and gamepad each but they don't want to support that either.)

Most of the people I would want to play with are far too far away though.

Maybe it is a problem Japan doesn't have because of the way it is so densely populated. (Same reason why Arcade's are still viable there).

@Einherjar
there are plenty of games that are successful this generation and sold millions that don't go this route. Bioshock Infinite, The Last of Us, Beyond: Two Souls to name a few. Sorry, but Nintendo is losing many gamers. And it is solely their fault. They promised this time it would be better considering 3rd parties and i belived them. Seriously, this 399€ for my Wii U still hurt me. Why can't we get big blockbuster games AND typical Nintendo games? Really, why this hate for everything that isn't Nintendo? Wii U is failing and 2014 is getting even worse ( you can quote me on that if i will be proven wrong...but my guts feeling tells me so) Ubisoft and Warner will be gone and Nintendo games alone...i want to play something on the Wii U. Not only 6 games a year. PS4 is sold out for 2013 in Germany so i don't see the videogames market beeing in trouble. It's only the Wii U. That really should be mentioned. But no, the hadcore fans still try to spin it like everything else is trash and they never had the intention to by 3rd party games even if it had come to the Wii U. It is sad to read some comments here.
Is it really so hard o realize that MAYBE Nintendo didn't do the right tings?
This..strange comments about online play alone show me that Nintendo really aren't in touch with todays gamers. I have MAYBE one friend that is able to play with me ONCE in a week because work etc. So really, i won't play local multiplayer that often. Whats so hard to include online mp ALSO? It's like Nintendo wants to do it differently just for the sake of it. So, i am somewhat grateful that they experience mayor failure and have to overthink some of their decissions.
I am sorry, but they have to change. And isn't this innovation? The aspekt may love about Nintendo? We could just benefit from some change.

It's stupid to ignore on-line multi player! Why should nintendo dictate to me that I have to play this game with people in the room? As I get older it gets increasingly difficult for me to spend time with friends. Stupid old fashioned policy that needs to change ASAP before it's too late.

They won't use this policy with mario kart or ssb so why this title? It must be cut costs.

Having the ADDITIONAL OPTION of online multi-player in no way conflicts with having local multi-player. The game could have both and I for one would argue that in this day and age it really should.

This is exactly the kind of limiting design and decision making that is going to stop so many of the typical Sony and Microsoft gamers from considering the Wii U as serious option when it comes to their decision to buy a new console. Nintendo needs to take a lot more seriously how much it needs to do to get these people on board if it actually wants to sell more Wii U systems.

This kind of stuff should be pretty much standard in most first party games at this point. The game still looks great but come on!

Also; When wearing the catsuit Mario should have been his trademark red and Peach should have been yellow. How did the designers and artists not manage to come to that same common sense realisation?

Note: I've mocked it up before and it looks 100% correct, so at least try it before you debate me on this.

_{Watch the language and please use spaces less next time -Lz}

Why not both local and online co-op? co-op would be played more!

Online multiplayer would be a nice option but as others have said on a platformer it's not essential. I do think nintendo should be incorporating online features into more of their games as it would add some game play life but would rather have no multiplayer than tacked on rubbish (i'm looking at you tomb raider).

Local please, online co-op would be a blood bath in my opinion.

I think that online multiplayer makes perfect sense for Pikmin. I can't really see Mario platforming working nearly as effectively in anything but local play.

Online play is squeezing the industry. How many companies have really prospered in the console-based online business? Activision-Blizzard with CoD? Microsoft with Xbox Live? Maybe EA? Who else?

Worse years for Nintendo, but I cannot understand why they just don't add this kind of features to their games.

@SirGreatNose Anyway, I don't see the problem here, you DO/WILL get first party software with online/offline multiplayer.

Yeah, the usual? MK, Smash and Pokemon. Don't expect Nintendo to include online for any game on the WiiU unless it's a series that's sold massively before it.

@Boxmonkey It just adds to the long list of why nobody wants a WiiU. The console will have to fail hard before any insightful change can/will be allowed within the company.

I think it's perfectly fine for Miyamoto to develop a multiplayer more designed to local play than online play. But, why not put online there anyway? I don't know how it is on Japan,but here we can't just invite our friends over anytime,people have lives,they're often busy. And what about internet friends?

I love Nintendo,but they really do have to catch up on a lot of things.

"Ten years time" really we know that Nintendo isn't the king of online components but alot of people even me bought this system because of the Nintendo Network and it's new "common" features for online and still I barley see any First Party Titles Nintendo developed besides Wii Sports, Mario Kart 8, and Smash that's online and you going to tell me that this game isn't online material??? I just don't understand it at all after all the talk of Nintendo Network being the only online that's free but they isn't taking the opportunity to prove it and win over the mass appeal.

@Kirk It conflicts in the development sense. More designing, more testing, more staff (largely technical, which may push out some creative talent)... More costs with zero promise of an improved product. Such things as budgets inevitably lead to compromise.

Though, what many of us love about Nintendo games is they rarely compromise on functionality and polish. Compare that to most of the industry who have become enamored with releasing rushed products hawking often either impractical or unsavory online components. Considering we often praise Nintendo's commitment to quality, it serves that there may be some competition for development resources between traditional gameplay and online play.

Local multiplayer is fine and dandy when cooperative, but I actually have more fun crushing my friends and sibling than helping them - competition trumps coop. Probably not the point of the article (online, blah blah blah, don't care) Actually, I like HINDERING my friends and brother in coop the most, but that's a good way to lose friends and get my brother angry with me... so I don't do it often.

Anyways, I much prefer local to online because online there are too many people like me that would rather troll and mess everyone up than continue. That's why I didn't like playing Little Big Planet online - If I was the last man standing, I literally just stood still with the camera on me flailing my arms around in a bizarre dance until everyone else got bored and quit. In local I'd end up with a bruised arm and without my controller if I attempted that.

Eh, I never saw the Mario platformers as an online-type setup. Besides, with online, you have to deal with trolls and griefers. Usually if you're griefing in person (like I have with my friends and family in New Super Mario Bros. Wii) it's just out of fun.

Local multiplayer coop means I will have to tackle the game all by myself

@Jared1984
Actually, I'm probably not going to buy Mario Party: Island Tour because it doesn't have online multiplayer. It was ridiculous to make a MP for a handheld and not have online.

Games like SM3DW don't truly need it, although, a mic and/or video chat plus the game really should have been implemented.

Let's put it into perspective: One way or another, you pay for online. Either in an Xbox live type yearly subscription, or micro transactions, or even the total cost of the game as a whole (they factor servers into the cost of the game).

Nintendo doesn't do online gaming much because it costs money, and Nintendo doesn't want to look like it's bleeding it's family customer base any more. Just think when people got their knickers in a twist over the charge for Pokémon bank thing.

@Boxmonkey Maybe people who will buy 4 pro controllers instead of one.

I see no need for multiplayer at all in a Mario game. Actually most games it is unnecessary. It really is just filler, especially in a platformer. Sports games, racing games, FPS should have it, but I'm tired of the same stupid debates. A) Nintendo is smarter then you are, don't try to tell them how to do their business because the truth is they know it way better then you do. B) The Wii U is struggling but isn't far off what PS3 and XBox 360 sold their 1st year. Lets stop pretending its the worse failure ever. C) When you claim someone else is or is acting childish but use the same tactics then realize you look foolish. State your opinion and leave it at that. If you want to argue the opinion then do that but attacking someone personally for differing opinions is pointless. D) You don't need to try and prove to me why your opinion is valid. None of us care about your accolades...your opinion is valid because its just that....an opinion.

@MrGawain So where does the money come from for Steam games to be online ? (Not having the used market as a problem perhaps). It is just a way to get more money charging for online.

@MrGawain I agree but what's the point of the Nintendo Network then if they doesn't want to do "online gaming" often so Nintendo just made the network for Miiverse/Eshop and that it because that costs money as much as the online resources?

I really understand why everyone is so upset butwe have to face the fact that nintendo always acted like an excentric fashion designer. We get wicked but great consoles and handhelds but they do it their way and very often they don't react on consumers wishes. It would be great to play classic vc games via online multiplayer but we don't get it. Now even the third parties cut the online multiplayer out. I am asking myself if this is some kind of Nintendo policy but I am lakcing the insider knowledge.

@Reynoldszahl Dude nobody isn't upset we are just giving our feedback about the situation of the Online and Nintendo you shouldn't have to defend Nintendo out of the sun.

@D3athBr1ng3r187

Because happy customers saying how wonderful things about a game is the best form of advertising. Plus Miiverse costs a lot less than hosting loads of people in a 3d game with voice chat.

I think it's a bit outdated to say that seeing the person's face who you're playing with can only be achieved with local multiplayer. It's 2013, we have webcams and microphones.

I really hope they start focusing on online more. Nintendo makes some of my favorite games and I'd love to play them with my friends, but unfortunately most of my friends live on the other side of the planet.

@Einherjar I agree, if you want online go play cod, mario and nintendo need to keep doing what they always have done.

Best selling games of all time.
1. Wii sports
2. Super mario bros.
3. Pokemon red green blue
4. Tetris (game boy)
5. Duck hunt
6. Pokemon gold silver
7. Nintendogs
8. Super mario world
9. Wii play
10. New super mario bros.

How many of those had online?

@MrGawain So Nintendo Network is a gimmick then?

Online multiplayer lose a certain magic and communication that local multiplayer have, unless you're real close with the other person. I don't think I know anyone that wouldn't buy a Mario game just because there no online.

On a similar note I'm curious to see if Wii sports club will get more buzz because it have "online multiplayer".

@D3athBr1ng3r187

Not at all, people enjoy Miiverse a great deal. But at the same time Nintendo can show people enjoying themselves to potential customers. Plus it's easy for Nintendo to handle- if someone posts something nasty on it, it won't take long for Nintendo to sort it out. It must be a lot harder to monitor people talking to each other in game, and figure out what is friendly banter and what is cyber bullying. I think everyone can say Miiverse is a very friendly place compared to some other online experiences. Why would Nintendo invest into online play when it could tarnish the image of the company?

Online mario would be the suxorz. Thank you miyamoto I love you

@10000mario none of these games are in HD either so how about in 2013 Nintendo doesn't add HD also. You are completely missing the point. People don't want online MP so Nintendo has the best selling games of 2013/14 they just want online so they can play with friends all over the world. And in 2013 its not a huge ask! Just like HD isnt a huge ask.. its the norm!

@sketchturner couldn't have said it better. Especially if Nintendo wants to please kids and gamers alike. Even if they allow to play online with friends only that would a least be something. Of course local is better but in 2013 in the new gen having the choice should be the norm. I really want nintendo to succeed and to do so it needs to step up in the online compartment. When you grow up your friends and family are most of the time living very far away so the chance to play with them locally are rare. This way of treating the online coop play reminds me how they dealt with CDs vs cartridge and later on the HD vs SD. I hope they change their minds before 10 years

@D3athBr1ng3r187 I am not defending Nintendo but I am realistic in interpretating 30 years of Nintendo´s development politics. Anyone expecting a u-turn in Nintendo´s habbits is living a lie.

@eLarkos a game doesn't need HD to be fun. I'm not saying online would be bad, but why complain? Many of my favorite games don't have HD graphics.

@MrGawain So not trying to be funny or immature but your comment of the Nintendo Network sounds like a Child Daycare Center for online and that kinda offend me fully.........But seriously though what does all that you told me has to do with Nintendo not having their most of their games online because in my opinion they have the profit and they isn't broke at all so Nintendo can fully put in and how does Mario games being online affect their company or tarnish it? Because if they had some since they would go for both online and local multiplayer without key problems with fans and family opinion of the situation.

@Reynoldszahl What......they habits been late bro they just started having HD and now mostly of their own titles aren't even online. But at least the 3rd Party put up or shut up.

@D3athBr1ng3r187 They don´t jump just into the money train. They always tried to do things a bit differently. I mean thats my perception of the Nintendo´s evolution: Slow and sturdy but with every few years a major suprise. Don´t you get me wrong. I am not a Nintendo Fanboy, my heart also beats for sony. I mean as a open minded gamer you are forced to jump multiplat because some franchises like castlevania or Megaman got split up on the systems.
As I stated before: Nintendo will not get the attention of Online MP Gamers that means low sale figures, less third party support ( the actual situation represents it quite realisticly)

The people who say "online co-op shouldn't be included because playing with people in the room is better" literally have no idea what they are talking about. Yes, it is a lot better playing with someone right next to you. Which is why I think local co-op should always be included. HOWEVER, it's not that hard to include online co-op, as well. This is 2013! You should have the option to play a multiplayer game online with friends if you want! Add voice chat and maybe even the Wii U video camera function then you can still talk, collaborate, and see their expressions. It's not like you will be FORCED to play it online only. So I don't get why people are praising Miyamoto for not adding additional features that won't affect them in any way if they want to play locally. Sony and Microsoft got online gaming down in the mid 2000s and Nintendo is way behind. Miyamoto is giving weak excuses and the fans are sadly buying them. I love Nintendo, but they really need to get with the times.

@Reynoldszahl I know that I want them to succeed but going this route isn't going to work for them. Look Nintendo has a great online "FREE" network and they isn't even utilizing the games that could be great for online. Smash, Mario Kart 8, and Wii Sports HD are going to be only games online so why are all these fans on here defending Nintendo stating that Nintendo doesn't need to have any of they quality titles online which mostly of everybody on here know that they are going to be playing Smash and Mario Kart 8 ONLINE and facts speak louder than words.

@zeldagaymer93 Sony didn't properly sort out PSN until after it was hacked. Microsoft has had it working acceptably for longer.

No one can convince me that Mario would be better with online multi, even it had voice chat, video chat, smell the stink of your opponent chat. I love lots of online multilayer games and have for years, but trying to push it onto a Mario platformer is beyond ridiculous.

As for Pikmin 3 they messed up big time on that since it it would be great for competitive multiplayer. That is an example of dropping the ball as it was just perfect for online multi and for voice chat with friends or foes.

Adding multiplayer online to Mario is just silly unless the game would be built around it. Which would delay a great Mario game for a lame one with Online Multi! I hope that request burns in hell for a while.

I dunno why they would ever go for miiverse over using the same resources for actually playing online games. (Remember them using the we are only about the games excuse for a fair while)

If a large proportion of the game is dedicated to local multiplayer there should be a cheaper option for people that for whatever reason will never do it.

(NSMBW I have only played it single player and it was a total rip off for me at least until it became moddable.)

At least with online multiplayer you have a chance to experience the full thing even if it is not optimal.

@SetupDisk Ratchet and Clank All 4 One is a online/offline 4 player Platformer and it was great fun with friends.

I am the biggest Ninty fanboy and love this company more than any other company out there but one issue I would change is there stance on local multiplayer. They seem incapable of understanding here in the west our chances of getting together with friends and family on a regular basis to play local multiplayer games is almost non existent.

Me wife and I live so far from everyone, I still to this day haven't played multiplayer Nintendoland... And I've had this game since launch. It's a wasted game to me because I don't have the opportunity to play locally...... In Japan, the culture is much different. Everyone lives so close to each other they are much more able to get a local karaoke night or friends together to play some monster hunter.... Here in the west those opportunities are just not as prevalent.... I wish they would start to grasp this so I can enjoy Ninty's amazing content with others.

You heard it here, folks. Miyamoto says online play is achieveable, they just dont want to.

No more hardware excuses.

Online multiplayer seems like it would suck for Mario anyways. I guess they should let people decide for themselves though.

@Einherjar I don't think anyone is denying that local MP is superior in every shape and form, but a large swath of us just can't do local multiplayer more than one or two times a year... Our only option is online multiplayer, and not very many of Ninty's games support this.

I don think you have to choose between one or the other, but why not both? Have a menu system ... 1 player, or multiplayer, sub menu asks local or online.. So we can choose the best mode for our current situation... Nintendo's decision to ignore online multiplayer almost completely is incredibly short sighted.

Again having the choice between the two options would be ideal.... Sure it might stick a game in development mode for a bit longer, but the product would be a lot better for it... I disagree with every complaint gamers have of Nintendo, except this one... I have to agree that their multiplayer games would benefit tremendously with online.

@Pixel-Perfect So it's not a great idea.......well why Smash and Mario Kart online then??? Or better yet what the point of "Nintendo Network" then?

@ACK

I'm talking about there being no conflict to offline co-op/multi-player if online co-op/multi-player is added in the situation where Nintendo had already made the decision to add it.

The online experience doesn't affect the offline experience because they are separate.

If Nintendo did not include online co-op/multi-player for the reasons you suggested then that's what they should be telling us as their reason for not including it, rather than the idiotic reason they gave us because people can still see each other's faces and still be in the same room when playing in local co-op/multi-player even if there is additionally an online co-op/multi-player option.

Nintendo is just feeding us all bullsh*t excuses for not including it rather than just admitting it's because they wanted to save a few extra bucks and a few extra weeks/months or whatever of dev time and resources.

I however think the extra time and money invested in including a proper online co-op/multi-player would have absolutely been worth it in the long run (and if they've been serious about adding it from the begging of development it really wouldn't have added any/much extra dev time).

Local multiplayer always trumps online multiplayer but sometimes it is hard to actually get several people together to play a game due to different schedules which is where online could come into play.

@zeldagaymer93 agree whole heartily... Including online multi will not affect local multiplayer in the slightest. I'm happy that a lot of my fellow gamers have the opportunity play locally every day, week or month... I don't. I have thanksgiving and Christmas to do it. So all of my multiplayer Ninty games don't get to be experienced to its full potential.

You don't have to build a game completely around online multi. You only need to build the game around local multiplayer, and only change the source of controller your second player from local to pull it from the Internet. The two connected hosts can swap whatever coordinates it needs to redraw each player in the proper place.

It will add another 3 to 6 months to the development time, but the end product would be vastly improved along with its already stellar replay value.

I think the real reason why Pikmin 3 and Mario 3D World don't have online multiplayer because they need games for the Wii u like yesterday and any extra development time would hurt sales of the console further..... So release the finished product, and work on a patch to add online functionality later..

In fact adding online multiplayer to already released games would make them some serious cash.... Add online multi as dlc. I would pay $20 to have the ability to play Pikmin 3 or SM3DW online.

"In fact adding online multiplayer to already released games would make them some serious cash.... Add online multi as dlc. I would pay $20 to have the ability to play Pikmin 3 or SM3DW online."

Exactly.

Even adding it a bit later as DLC (ideally a free patch), for those times they just don't want to add it out-the-box for whatever reason, would be a great option.

That would be a very compelling reason alone for many people get the DLC.

I think Miyamoto needs to get with the times. Some do not have people to play with via local multiplayer and have friends/family who live far away. I kind of thinks more about the people in major cities than everyone else.

I agree with Miamota and Nintendo. Local multiplayer should be the focus before online multiplayer, having fun with friends in the same room far more fun than playing online.

Multiplayer in general is fun whether it is local or wireless. I think that they should have it in there, however, that should not affect whether you play the game. It was designed the way it is for a reason, so instead of argument, why don't you just try it for yourself. Also, if you don't have friends near you, make some or don't go so far away from the friends/family you have. You could also go to another system, that is always an option, but people will soon realize that online friends/online play is not all it is cracked up to be. Also, if you have a packed worked/school schedule, do you think it is the best idea to try to cram video games in there? I mean if you want to spend time with friends and family why not just do that?

Online mutliplayer should have been added. End of story. I have friends all over the world that I can't even go to their place to play Mario and vice-versa. I'm getting real tried of playing Mario games on my own because of that. This is were the online play comes into play. Whether it be playing with friends or strangers online, it would have been extra fun. Plus, it builds in the fun & funny environment of the mii verse community.

Maybe Nintendo will realize that most of us that played Mario games as kids have all grown up and have busy schedules and can't always go to our friends house for 'X-Y-Z' reasons [college, university, work, married life, etc.] Again, I get the whole local play thing. There is value in it but there is also value in online play. It's SUPER doable for Nintendo to add it.... (Sigh)..... Maybe the next Mario game after 3D World...."but that's just wishful thinking on my part..."

Not every single game needs online multiplayer. I do not mind this.

Translation: "It doesnt has online gamepla because I just simply don't want to"
Seriosuly, why is this guy still working there? his arrogance is making more harm than good.

I don't play online. It does not feel the same and when they shut down the servers you miss that part of the game, as Capcom did so soon with Tri. I live in a small country so it is not that hard to meet and play. The hard part is finding gamers that are not dudebros But I have always thought that if you cannot meet with your friends locally, you can, you know, try to find new friends that live near you.

But if online will delay Nintendo games even more and have then retail each game for $60, then I don't want it.

Personally, I simply can't fathom a Mario platformer with online multiplayer. I feel that playing a game like 3D World with people online would completely ruin the dynamic created by having a group of people in the same room looking at the same TV screen while playing the game. In my opinion, Mario games are too dynamic to be enjoyed to their full potential unless the multiplayer is local. Furthermore, I'm glad there's not an online option because I suspect people would eventually get lazy and simply play online whenever they wanted to play multiplayer, even if they have more fun playing local multiplayer. I think online multiplayer works well for more competitive games like Mario Kart, Smash Bros, and Pokémon, as well as certain large-scale co-op experiences like MMOs, but not for a crazy cooperative-competitive experience like Super Mario 3D World.

@Kirk

I can see Mario being red, but Peach should be pink as that as always been her trademark color.

@sinalefa It is a bit odd for people to complain about not having friends near them. I thought it would be simple enough to make some, too.

@eaglebob345 Yeah and meanwhile next week on NintendoLife a topic about a another title from a 3rd Party company has "cut" online multiplayer again because they see that the Nintendo community doesn't like going online because of "dudebro's" so they rather want only Local Multiplayer and guess what the whole community will go up in arms again and complain the usual tune about they shouldn't halfa$$ed us. Dude it's just a opinion nobody isn't arguing about anything Nintendo been should have done this a long time ago with online based Nintendo titles when they developed their device but rather y'all defending something so obvious.

While I do agree that local multiplayer is one of the best things about first party Nintendo, I have to say that their refusal to put in online in many of their games, which has been a staple since the PS2 days, does show how behind the times they are compared to other developers.

Nothing beats the living-room experience with friends, but I know for a fact I would have enjoyed NSMBWii a lot more if I could play it online with friends, and I probably wouldn't have sold it.

We have in-game voice chat and Skype which can replicate the living room experience well. It is very hard for some people to have local co-op due to busy schedules or simply living too far away. And their are games which have online co-op which make no sense whatsoever like Dead Rising. Nintendo need to catch up with the times if they want to remain relevant.

This game is starting to look pretty darn incredible. If any game would convince me to buy a Wii U, it would be this one. Well, either this or the new X game Monolith Soft is developing.

The problem I'm seeing is why not add both? Ninty would be commended for including both local and online co-op, it's truly rare in most games today. All I can see is stubborness.

Don't have a problem playing Mario by myself (prefer to play it alone), but the more option's there are the better.

I think Pikmin 3 should of had online for Bingo Battles, it would have eliminated screen cheating and each person would have more screen real estate, co-op online would also have been nice.

Such an old way of thinking ... Local multiplayer pfft.
Older gamers dont live near friends to play local and most people own ps3 or xbox. This is 2013 online multi-player should be a priority for nintendo.
I suport nintendo but some times think they are bang out of date ith thier mindset. Nintendo land would have been 10x's better with online-multiplayer and the new nintendo party u.

I am with Nintendo that these games are best played in local multiplayer. That said, I wish they would add the option for online because sometimes it's not feasible to get the people you want to play with in the same room, house or even city. Nintendo should let the players decide whether they want to use online, because the endless excuses of "Well we didn't think this was a game you'd want to play over the Internet" is getting old.

The Wii U has the potential to be Nintendo's first console that really embraces online play. It's 2 generations late to the party. Nintendo, please step it up.

@WaxxyOne
Your words are so true to how a lot of gamers feel.
Alot of gamers own ps3's and other consoles and feel nintendo need to get with the program. Shorely nintendo must buy other consoles and strip them down or turn them on to see how they function.

I think Seranio is right about no need for online play with this games but for mario kart and smash bros definitely.
Ither way Mario 3d is looking amazing on the wii-u .. i just have a gut feeling this is going tobe the best mario game in a long long time.

Local multiplayer is probably great. For people with friends or family to play with. I'm sick of playing alone. I always play alone. Local multiplayer usually means no multiplayer for me. I can't believe that Nintendo doesn't get this.

@Senario Which in fact no one cares about........Mostly of the Nintendo fanbase isn't buying those titles to play competitively online and that's when the "dudebro's" comes in which are relevant.

Local multiplayer is simply the best, I can totally understand why Nintendo still has such a care about it.

I'm mainly a single player to be honest, but I got my good chances to play multiplayer and the only sessions I remember like "old dear preaciuos memories" are the local ones.
Happy memories of the past apart, recently I got a clear example with MH3U, it's just amazing to play in the same room with 3 other hunters, but online... meh, I know some people love it, but it really doesn't give the same vibe when played with random strangers >.>;

multiplayer in my favourite games? no tanks. I'm not an anti-social person. I like to play in a room full of friends with lots of beers like when we see a soccer game. it's just much more fun

online play is for loners who dont have any friends in there real lives x

Local multiplayer is superior to online in my eyes.
However.
There is no reason not to include it. Some people prefer online. Additionally, and probably more importantly, some people can't get their friends together in one room to play. Online gives them the option to play with friends and family who are away. There's really no reason to not include online besides laziness.

Miyamoto's quotes are always laced with prophecies.

Games with co-op modes should never have online, Nintendo or not, simply because i don't like to rely on strangers i like to compete with strangers.

And there's Wii Sports Club and Mario & Sonic with that, people can't really complain now, they got all sorts of options if they own a Wii U.

@Hyperstar96 Exactly!

Why is everyone talking about "Dudebros" or strangers in regards to why online is bad? You do realise that you can choose to play online with friends only right??

Ugh.... when will they learn we want to play with different people....

SM3DWorld online multiplayer would be nice, but there will always be at least one troll that constantly goes ahead of everyone else to make the others die offscreen or always steal all items and power-ups and take each other and throw them into pits and... -_-

You get my point.

I understand limiting the game to local multiplayer, because it's co-op. Unless it's a game where the interaction between players is very loose (i.e. Guitar Hero), I don't feel like I can enjoy a co-op game unless I already know the person, and can talk to them via voice chat. You need that kind of interaction when working together. Now, I would enjoy friends-only online with voice chat, but I'd imagine there would be a lot of complaints on limiting it to just friends.

Do some of you realize that you can have online multiplayer without playing with complete strangers ?

It's called a friends list. You can invite friends in real life and internet friends to a game without having to play with random unknown people. Heck you can make the game to where only friends can play online with you.

It's done on PS3 all the time.

I was thinking of buying a Wii U so I can enjoy playing with my friends that I can't see in person, but if most of the games have only local multiplayer, that's not much of an option for me.

Luckily I'm mostly a single player gamer.

I think of only one game I've played ever that I use the online on occasion. And it sure as heck isn't a platformer. So I really don't care.

@TechnoEA I understand about playing with friends (Problem I have is most of mine are scattered around the world.) Much rather play Mario with those friends than play anything that isn't totally balanced or with elements of chance with strangers.

Only stuff I care about online the best player always wins nothing else matters. (Ideally in such a way that you cannot be boring and also win either.)

@PrincessSugoi If such a large amount of the game (And the effort) is centred around something you are not going to use for whatever reason does it not bother you paying the same price ? Don't even mind if online is less than optimal (Compared to local) but paying full price for half the game doesn't seem fair. (If they put as much into it as they make out).

Perhaps the entire single player NSMBW is a sideline but me I just thought it was no fun whatsoever playing it by myself. (When it finally became moddable I realised I did actually still like 2D Mario games which I questioned for a while).

@D3athBr1ng3r187 You didn't even read what I wrote did you? I said I think it should be in there. I never said it was ok to cut it from a game where all of the other versions have the feature, which is what you are implying. I said it was designed that way for a reason. Super Mario 3D World was designed for offline play. It could have had online play, but it is not mandatory. Games like Call of Duty were designed for online play. If they took of online play it would be worth nothing.

@irken004 It would be nice for them to have both. I think they think that this early in the system's life would not be the best time to have online in their games. I just hope that when they do have online play, it is as fun as the offline experiences they have.

@eaglebob345 It is not a complicated technical problem. (Even if it is inferior if it is so important to them it is better to have something than missing out on a large part of the game. They don't have the super high standards they make out either. (Mario Tennis Open wouldn't have been released until there was never perceived lag if that was the case)). If nothing they did allow ever did anything than work utterly perfectly I might accept the line of reasoning they use.

Miyamoto's comments reminded me of this. Specifically about kids and seeing who they're talking to.
http://teamcoco.com/video/louis-ck-springsteen-cell-phone

@Everyone reading - As a Father in the US Military who sticks by Nintendo, its quite sad that there are few Nintendo games to play online with my kids, I spend so much time away from my boys that I get mad at the fact that the only interation I have with them is online video chat, I dont let them play adult games online so that rules out most Sony any Microsoft games. To have online multiplayer in this game would boost sales and if Nintendo added the gamepad for camera/chat functionality (thus solving the whole seeing who you play with excuse) then it would be a must buy for me, I still plan to purchase it for myself and my kids, but not being able to enjoy it with them most of the time is a definite blow to our relationship as they always ask me when will we play together....Nintendo just doesnt want to foot the bill for the servers for the online modes, which is why they should make an option pay for online play so we can get more online games. I can guarrantee that Mario Kart Wii wouldnt be nearly as successful if it was local play only.

@Everyone reading - As a Father in the US Military who sticks by Nintendo, its quite sad that there are few Nintendo games to play online with my kids, I spend so much time away from my boys that I get mad at the fact that the only interaction I have with them is online video chat, I don't let them play adult games online so that rules out most Sony and Microsoft games. To have online multiplayer in this game would boost sales and if Nintendo added the gamepad for camera/chat functionality (thus solving the whole seeing who you play with excuse) then it would be a must buy for me, I still plan to purchase it for myself and my kids, but not being able to enjoy it with them most of the time is a definite blow to our relationship as they always ask me when will we play together....Nintendo just doesn't want to foot the bill for the servers for the online modes, which is why they should make an option pay for online play so we can get more online games. I can guarantee that Mario Kart Wii wouldn't be nearly as successful if it was local play only.

I don’t mean to be “That guy” or anything but.. Just because online functionality isn’t “the focus” does not have to mean that it shouldn’t be an option available to those who might want it. Not everyone has the luxury of having their friends or family be able to just come over and enjoy a multiplayer game. More often than not these days, thanks to the power of the internet people have friends all over the world, so because we aren’t able to be in the same living room with each other, that means we can’t play a multiplayer game together? I mean its 2013, this sort of thing was okay in 2003 but come on… :/ I’m just disappointed a bit in the decisions that they’ve been making these days. I want to see the Big N succeed, but please guys get with the program.

I'd say local multiplayer is overall a better option, in most cases at least, but online should be offered also. Online play can help preserve friendships even after one friend moves away. Is a local game better? Yes, personal interaction is always better, but Nintendo should also provide an online option.

@BlackStar9000 Cannot see how it is due to cost as they are quite happy to take the hit for Miiverse. (Which certainly for me is not remotely useful. They used to say "we are only about the games" etc etc and then basically u-turned).

I cannot say it is the same but when I see my friends who are scattered around the world around Christmas when we usually are around where we grew up the last thing we want to do is spend the limited time we have glued to a screen.

@SomeBitTripFan If you have very limited personal interaction that is possible in a year or whatever should that really be spent playing a game glued to a screen ?

(When it could just as easily happen at any other point where neither of you have anything better to do).

But you are 8hrs minimum away (and both at work in 6 hrs time).

Online co-op multiplayer in platformers isn't exactly the best thing for a polished experience. Saying "Nintendo needs to get with the times" clearly shows a lack of interest in quality control. I'd rather they wait until they're confident they can pull it off, rather than shove it in just because. Not EVERY dang game needs online multi-player. Sometimes, it just makes the game worse, like the new Batman.

@unrandomsam : I can't even understand exactly what you're asking, but a very small amount of my life is dedicated to video games right now. I'm in a program where I am taking a college class at the moment (Note: I'm 15) along with two other classes that are graded by extremely high standards and are taught at an accelerated pace. I don't have the time to be playing video games, barring an occasional five hour session of gaming after a few weeks. I just think Nintendo needs to offer more options. They're essentially cutting corners, but claim to be preserving the "essence of gaming". If they want to increase the replay value of their games, as they claim to do with DLC, why don't they also increase the replayablity of games by allowing someone to play games with others over the internet?

@sinalefa

Yes but her being pink doesn't quite work with the whole Red*, Yellow, Green, Blue color pattern that makes sense here for the four basic colors, like the lovely SNES logo below this post , because it would be Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink (with two similar colors). Also it would look too close to Mario's red if she stayed pink and that might cause some confusion during busy 4-player gameplay. Plus she looks great it yellow anyway (seriously, give it a try in Photoshop and see...It totally looks correct) and it doesn't look out of place at all unlike with Mario being yellow.

I would 100% have went with Mario (Red), Peach (Yellow), Luigi (Green) and Toad (Blue).

*It's pink just now because Peach is pink instead of red but it's obviously still supposed to represent RYGB.

Online multiplayer in this, where everyone gets to play as their Mii, would have been cool. At the same time, I think it would be very tricky to implement and could be kind of a janky experience.

I expected this game to be local only. That's as expected and I'm cool with it, but one of my best friends lives hours away, so I would have liked an online option just for him. I can understand apprehension playing with strangers, but with my own friends I see nothing wrong about that.

That aside, I definitely have a lot more than four buds who live here in town who are interested.

@unrandomsam Yep. Those controllers ain't cheap, though, so I couldn't buy all four at once. lol

I prefer the local play as well, but not adding online Multiplayer to games like this for 10 years is a tad ridiculous.

Grrr.... Nintendo's stance on online features drives me bonkers. Hopefully in 10 years time, adding Friends will be easier than the annoying friend code system, e-shop downloads will be based on accounts and not tied to the hardware, and more games have online play options.

@unrandomsan

Can't say I've run into that problem since I normally make a habit of not buying games that center themselves around a feature or mode that I will not use. I'm a single player person and online for the most part is not something that makes me feel like I got half a game if it isn't there especially with platformers that are near the bottom of my lists of genres that benefit from multiplayer. However, games such as Pokemon, Smash and Mario Kart are another story. Even if they're solid games by themselves, they truly do lose something without the ability to play with as many people as possible and the appeal of being able to play with the people on NL and other forum communities is something even I couldn't resist for long. But to answer your question simply, yes. If I feel like I got an incomplete game then naturally it would bother me that I payed full price.

That one game I was speaking of btw is Pokemon and honestly I don't find myself pressing that blue button much since most of the time I don't want to interrupted while I'm in the middle of doing something with a battle or trade request. lol I reckon the upcoming NL tournament is the most use I'm going to get out of online battling.

errr, well, personally I don't think online modes work for every game and for co-op Mario things could get difficult with lag, in such a fast response platformer.
But when Nintendo do decide to make a platformer that plays fully online, it should be done perfectly and that requires designing the game from the ground up with online in mind. This requires lots of additional tests and servers, so it's not something that can be pulled off easily.

You also want to avoid high profile server crashes, that have occured from other apparent high quailty publishers.

@element187
Thats why despite Iwata taking over NOA for better unification or whatever his explanation was, I get the feeling that theres still a lot of disconnect between the different branches. A Japanese company not understanding western culture I can understand, but that shouldn't be an issue for the western branches. Whatever insight they might have must be falling on deaf ears.

meh! it is 2013, most of the games should have local and online multiplayer, this is why Shigeru Miyamoto should delegate the new games to the younger people, he is just too old to understand that in America we play online.

Lame. Get with the times, Ninty. Don't exclude a standard option because local MP is fun. I'm rarely ever around people who like Mario, Pikmin, or even video games in general.

None of my friends have a Wii u so online doesn't bother me much though it would be nice to get help in certain levels

i play local mulity player just now made it to the 4th world of Luigi U with some buddies. SOOO FUN. love it. Can't wait to get 3d world for me and my buddies

Online or local?

D3athBr1ng3r187

First off- Nintendo MUST make sure that the priority of it's online service is to protect it's younger gamers. If 'mature' gamers don't like that or don't want to be part of the 'kiddie' boards then fine. Nintendo is primarily selling an innocent, child friendly product with Mario and Kirby and Link etc.... If you're an adult and want to be part of it you have to play be these rules.

Second- The Nintendo Network is primarily about scoreboards and tips, comments and in game photos. It's a forum that says, 'the Wii U is connected to the net for key updates, eshop and the browser, while were at it we'll add a community'. It does a great job of that. Would online gaming with other people really improve the experience for the player? Would rage quitting or people trying to trounce you down a hole in Mario or even the possibility of interacting and swearing at you really make the game better? Would more people buy the game for tacked on online capability? Online works on Mario Kart and Smash Bros, but these problems above have to be addressed by Nintendo respectively.

Thirdly- Yes Nintendo have made lots of profit. Good for them. They invest it in development for new games and consoles and they pay their investors dividends for backing them. Maybe they're saving (or using it now) for a rainy day.That's how business works. Just because you have profit doesn't mean you should give it all away on a premise that probably would make Naff all to your consumer base.

@Linkstrikesback
When he said "they'll buy it anyways" he is actually more than likely correct. The Wii U's fortunes have nothing to do with Mario 3D World having online multiplayer, or ANY game having online multiplayer for that matter. For the record, you're jumping to conclusions based on less than one year of sales when the system had no games or marketing. It's easy for you to point fingers NOW but in a few years, if and when Wii U is doing fine, you won't have anything to say then will you. And I haven't met a single person that said, "Ya know, that new Mario game looks great, but no online MP? The hell with that, I'm not buying it". The Wii U's situation is due to far more serious issues than Mario having online.

While I agree with your first assessment, I think it has more to do with the difference in eastern and western culture than anything else. In Japan (where Nintendo is located, mind you) everyone plays couch MP. No one plays online there. It's different in NA and Europe. They're not catering their games to OUR needs, they're catering them to THEIR OWN needs. The wisdom of that can be debated, but perhaps you shouldn't be so quick to call others fools, when in fact your second assessment is in fact just as foolish.

While I can live without online functionality in most Ninty games, I would be lying if I said I wouldn't prefer to have the option. We in NA live farther apart than in Japan, and don't have the luxury of couch co-op once we reach adulthood, so it would be nice to see more online play in Ninty's games.

Having said that, even the platformers Rayman Legends and Sonic Lost World DID NOT HAVE online co-op or competitive. So it's a little harsh holding Nintendo to a higher standard than the rest of the industry, wouldn't everyone agree?

I'm with @element187 on this. I've loved Nintendo since I got my NES when I was five. I've supported their consoles and defended their decisions to friends since forever, but I don't think there's any good excuse for them to not include some kind of online multiplayer portion to their games in this day and age. And no, "we don't want to" doesn't cut it.

I can understand them not including it in Virtual Console games, to do that would mean going back and re-arranging code in the original games. However, to not include them in newer games like Super Mario 3D World, New Super Mario Bros. U and even Pikmin 3 feels like wasted potential. They need to do something about that if they want western consumers to take Wii U and its library seriously.

There's nothing wrong with local multiplayer, but having the online option is never a bad thing.

@TreesenHauser For virtual console it could be done once in the emulator. (Like they do to support multiplayer via download play on 3DS for some of the games). Only problem is how to deal with the different amounts of lag on different people's tv's but whatever solution they use for Wii U games more than likely could be reused.

10 years until online? LOL!! My friends don't play this kind of game. Guess I'll have to wait to try multiplayer.

To be honest, I've never been a big fan of multiplayer in the past, but I do enjoy it occasionally.
I think it's time that Nintendo started adding some online funtionality to more of their games, be it a full multiplayer experience or just a highscore table. Miiverse also has a lot of untapped potential. It's simple and effective, and there's no reason why games such as Super Mario 3D World and Pikmin 3 are left without online multiplayer.
I agree that local multiplayer is far more enjoyable than online, but there's no reason why both can't be included in a game.

If local multiplayer is maybe 50% of value the game.

The first 4 worlds are usually a waste for me. (At least going by past form).

Which leaves me with 25% I actually enjoy but that is nowhere near enough and I never end up the feeling of that was good and it was enough of that for 5 years like I used to get. (I did get that with Donkey Kong Country Returns. So I can wait for Tropical Freeze. Not many series where I think every entry is great I hope they don't spoil that).

@unrandomsam The other aspect is probably due to all of the games being digital on steam, that decreases a lot of the costs especially if Valve is the one hosting the servers for the downloads.

@Ernest_The_Crab For me miiverse is pointless but they are willing to expend whatever is necessary for that. (They used to say "we are all about the games" if they were then anything to do with the games would come before trivialities like miiverse).

@unrandomsam I doubt Miiverse really has much of a cost associated with it, since it's apparently built into every development kit. It really is up to developers on whether or not they want to use it. It's rather doubtful that having a twitter page dedicated to each game would actually cause any kind of noticeable impact on game size, performance, etc.

Something like an online mode would require some kind of addition to a game engine or rather be built into an engine to begin with. However, considering the diversity between genres that Nintendo has it is very doubtful that each series would use the same engine or even the same engine between games. Compared to online, the cost of Miiverse in each game is also "trivial."

@Ernest_The_Crab I meant the cost of the servers and keeping them running. They could have put that effort into online. (If they put a focus on multiplayer they should make sure everyone can enjoy it). There are much harder problems they have chosen for themselves and sort of solved.

LOL @ "in 10 years..." this guys has lost it.

Online gaming is NOW. It has been the main way to play with others for years already, that is why 3rd party hates making games for Nintendo because Nintendo has the worst online options.

Looks like alot of Gamers in this day and Age in 2013 are forever alone....pathetic, get real friends to play! Not begginers that are too easy or Asains that win every time...

Most online experiences these days suck anyway, and as for voice chat... urg!

Yeah, online MP is good and all, but it really isn't 100% necessary. Considering people tend to be douches online, most people would probably end up sucking the fun out of a game of 3D World. I'll never forget playing LBP online with this one random guy that took all of the items on the map, seriously, NOT FUN. After that, I pretty much stuck to playing (mostly) local MP. But, hey, who cares about fun?

I'm pretty sure i'd have just as much fun with this game playing with friends over the internet as I would if they were in the same room.

I like Wii U but i really don't like the gamepad. I enjoy playing with the Wii U Pro Controller .

DAT SUNSET.

Nintendo is forgetting that many people live around players who are not interested in Nintendo games, as dumb as it may sound. My friends, for example, have absolutely no desire to check out the Mario games on Wii U (instead, they are interested in games like CoD or GTA) , so all my Nintendo games are enjoyed through the Single Player modes. The only one who would be interested in playing with me is someone out-of-town, and without Online, Mario 3D World will be nothing more than a Single Player game for me.

Wish they had online. What if none of your friends like Nintendo?

Yeah, I'm in a similar boat as most people on this board. I favor local co-op above all but when Nintendo speaks about Mario 3D World, "accessibility" is a common theme regarding the philosophy behind this game.

That being said, a 3D Mario game that includes online and offline has the capacity to be accessible to more gamers since you satisfy both crowds. When a game could've offered local co-op but offers on-line, that's still better than nothing.

I was really hoping Pikmin 3's co-op and vs. modes had online play especially since zero of friends even like Pikmin. But online play is very modern and Nintendo should embrace the feature in little more of there core franchises when its feasible. And I think the 2 games I mentioned above fall under that description.

I AM NOT HAPPY MARIO 3D WORLD SHOULD BE ONLINE TO PLAY WITH PEOPLE I JUST THINK THAT SUPER SMASH BROS BETTER BE ONLINE TO PEOPLE WITH SOMEONE OK