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Nintendo confirms you can't play Super Mario Run offline

The much-anticipated mobile game may require an always-on internet connection, according to an interview with the game's producer.

David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
Expertise Mobile accessories and portable audio, including headphones, earbuds and speakers Credentials
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David Carnoy
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In Super Mario Run, it's all about the coins.

CNET

There's a small catch with Nintendo's much-anticipated Super Mario Run mobile game: you can't play it offline.

That's what series creator and Super Mario Run producer Shigeru Miyamoto told Mashable in an interview.

"We wanted to be able to leverage that network connection with all three of the [Super Mario Run] modes to keep all of the modes functioning together and offering the game in a way that keeps the software secure," Miyamoto said through a translator. "This is something that we want to continue to work on as we continue to develop the game."

Nintendo confirmed with CNET that nothing was lost in translation and that the game will indeed require an internet connection. Here's the statement we got from Nintendo reps:

Online connectivity allows us to offer a variety of features and services that enhance the play experience. Super Mario Run is not a static experience, but rather one that players can continue to return to again and again to enjoy something new and unexpected. For example, online connectivity can offer the following:
  • - Access to other users' play data and scores for automatically generated Toad Rally challenges.
  • - In-game events that will offer players new challenges and rewards for a limited time.
  • - Linkage to Nintendo Account to access save data from multiple devices. For example, if players have Super Mario Run on their iPhone and iPad, they can share one save file across the different devices. However, this save data cannot be used with different devices at the same time.

Super Mario Run will be available for Apple iOS devices on December 15.

Watch this: Super Mario Run hopes to be the next Pokemon Go

Editors' note (3:12 p.m. PT): This story was originally published at 8:39 a.m. PT and has since been updated with confirmation from Nintendo.