Nintendo's 'Super Mario Run' for iPhone requires a persistent internet connection for play
The awaited "Super Mario Run" will be available in a few days, but the game's designer notes that for both "security" and gameplay reasons, the game requires a persistent internet connection to play that will consume 75 MB per hour or less on wireless.

In an interview with Mashable, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto spoke about the decision to make the game require a constant Internet connection.
"We wanted to be able to leverage that network connection with all three of the modes to keep all of the modes functioning together and offering the game in a way that keeps the software secure." said Miyamoto. "This is something that we want to continue to work on as we continue to develop the game."
Miyamoto added that the security element is one of the reasons that Nintendo chose to deploy the game on iOS first. Clarifying his statements, the designer added that piracy is a real risk for the company as well, as it has been for GameBoy Advance and DS games.
"We had thought at one point that it would be nice to have the World Tour 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," added Miyamoto. "And because those two modes are relying on the network save, we had to integrate the World Tour mode as well."
AppleInsider has learned that the title will require 75 megabytes of data per hour of "constant, involved" play after the initial download, and in most cases significantly less.
"Super Mario Run" is an endless runner title with the same graphical style used for Mario for decades, adapting the long-running platforming series to single-tap interaction. Users tap on the screen to make Mario jump to avoid obstacles, strike objects, and clear gaps.
The longer a user taps, the higher Mario jumps. On-screen items or tiles can reverse Mario's direction, or stop forward progress to allow for precise timing of a jump.
The title also includes a battle mode called "Toad Rally," where victory is determined by the number of coins you collect, with the "ghost" of your competition visible as you run, and by the number of Toad characters you impress. Progress across all modes is tracked by the number of coins the player has collected, as well as with persistent scorekeeping.
The initial download will be free, and will feature three game modes with limited progress available. The entire title will unlock for $9.99.
"Super Mario Run" debuted at Apple's September iPhone 7 release event. A set of stickers for the iOS 10 version of iMessage was made available shortly after the reveal.

In an interview with Mashable, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto spoke about the decision to make the game require a constant Internet connection.
"We wanted to be able to leverage that network connection with all three of the modes to keep all of the modes functioning together and offering the game in a way that keeps the software secure." said Miyamoto. "This is something that we want to continue to work on as we continue to develop the game."
Miyamoto added that the security element is one of the reasons that Nintendo chose to deploy the game on iOS first. Clarifying his statements, the designer added that piracy is a real risk for the company as well, as it has been for GameBoy Advance and DS games.
"We had thought at one point that it would be nice to have the World Tour 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," added Miyamoto. "And because those two modes are relying on the network save, we had to integrate the World Tour mode as well."
AppleInsider has learned that the title will require 75 megabytes of data per hour of "constant, involved" play after the initial download, and in most cases significantly less.
"Super Mario Run" is an endless runner title with the same graphical style used for Mario for decades, adapting the long-running platforming series to single-tap interaction. Users tap on the screen to make Mario jump to avoid obstacles, strike objects, and clear gaps.
The longer a user taps, the higher Mario jumps. On-screen items or tiles can reverse Mario's direction, or stop forward progress to allow for precise timing of a jump.
The title also includes a battle mode called "Toad Rally," where victory is determined by the number of coins you collect, with the "ghost" of your competition visible as you run, and by the number of Toad characters you impress. Progress across all modes is tracked by the number of coins the player has collected, as well as with persistent scorekeeping.
The initial download will be free, and will feature three game modes with limited progress available. The entire title will unlock for $9.99.
"Super Mario Run" debuted at Apple's September iPhone 7 release event. A set of stickers for the iOS 10 version of iMessage was made available shortly after the reveal.
Comments
Oh …
The antipiracy thing seems utterly bogus on iOS. Can anyone convince me Apps are getting pirated today? Last I heard of it was with iOS 8, and even then the proportion of jailbroken iPhones that could run them was trivial.
Android's another story, of course.
If you replaced Playstation or Xbox into your sentence then it would be valid, but on iOS piracy is very straightforward and you don't need to be jailbroken to get all apps for free. Yes a jailbroken phone is used to decrypt the app but once signed with a certificate it can run on non-jailbroken. With an enterprise cert it can be signed once and run on any device (until Apple find out and revoke the cert), and with a developer certificate it can be signed for multiple devices or distributed using a paid sign and download service of which there are a few of. There are some limitations such as depending on how well it was signed some features might not work, like keychain, push notifications, CloudKit, sharing of data with other apps by same developer. I'm not up to date on the situation with in-app-purchases but in the past it was possible to use a man-in-the-middle attack to steal those too.
It exists, but in a microcosm. Also, I read the actual transcription and it was the translator's interpretation that it was about piracy, while Miyamoto was emphasizing cohesive experience across modes and security.
Interviewer question: "Just to be clear: When you say “security,” you mean the risk of piracy, right?"
Miyamoto: "That’s correct."
Come on. You called on him to change. He's changed. Enjoy the new Cook-admiring sog.
Piracy occurs on all platforms, much more so on game consoles (especially Nintendo's). Most of the developer backdating certificate issues have been addressed by Apple in iOS 8 and the other issues are dealt with on a case by case basis. This sounds bad but remember that developer certificates cost money and are tied to real enterprises so it's doubtful this would ever play into any real piracy for a game like this. Piracy on non jailbroken iOS devices is insignificant. Piracy on jailbroken drives is rampant but that's because it's the main reason people jailbreak in the first place. I don't even consider a jailbroken iPhone to be the same platform as a regular iPhone and I doubt Apple feels any differently.
This is news to me. Perhaps AI could do a story on this.
Just getting Nintendo to publish on iOS is a great step forward.
You can thank jailbreakers, android users and other sorts of pirates and cheapskates for such policies.
If somebody doesn't like it, then don't buy the game. Nobody is forcing anybody.