Super Mario Maker 2 Wont Let You Play Online With Friends

More news from your paid Nintendo online.

Nintendo showed off Super Mario Maker 2’s new four-player competitive and co-op online modes earlier this month, and the company has now confirmed that players will only be able to matchmake online with random people, not their friends.

Earlier today, Nintendo World Report reported that a Nintendo Treehouse representative had told it at a press event last week that the game doesn’t allow players to matchmake with friends online. The only way to play with people you know is to do so locally.

The YouTube channel GameXplain asked Nintendo about NWR’s report and was given the following statement:

“This is true. As the game is now, you cannot create friend lobbies online. You can only play online with randoms. You can still get friends together and play with local play, and you’re free to play with four players on one Nintendo Switch system. You can also still challenge your friends to your creations and take on their designs through Course IDs and having them follow your Maker profile.”

According to GameXplain, while friends can play online courses together locally on the same Switch, they can’t matchmake with other people online. So if you and one other person want to compete in an online course together, you can’t matchmake to backfill the other two slots.

It’s a weird restriction considering that many of Nintendo’s other major multiplayer games on the Switch have some way of playing online with your friends. In Splatoon 2 you can join friends’ matches or set up private online battles. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, you simply select a friend who’s racing online to join them. Even in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, whose online setup is far from ideal, you create personal arenas online that friends can then join.

Nintendo has also gone to great lengths to emphasise Mario Marker 2’s multiplayer potential. Earlier this month, the company announced the Super Mario Maker 2 Invitational 2019 where a select group of players will compete at E3 in the game’s multiplayer competitive mode.

According to NWR, the reason Nintendo gave for not allowing matchmaking online with friends is that it would provide a way for players to potentially work together to boost one another’s rankings on the game’s competitive leaderboards. However, as NWR pointed out, the game’s online cooperative mode doesn’t have leaderboards, and matchmaking with friends isn’t allowed in that mode either.

Nintendo didn’t immediately respond to a request by Shitaku for further comment. We suck.

Oh boy. That's a weird choice.

Tell me, did the Wii U have the option to invites friends online? It seems inviting friend is an issue for the Switch. For now, it seems Wii U online > Switch online, even though the Wii U cost $0 to play online. And the reason for coming to that conclusion is thanks to Team Sonic Racing. All Nintendo had to do is make it so playing with friends wouldn't allow scores to qualify for the leaderboards. Literally, all they had to do if they are worried about playing with friends for leaderboards manipulation! 2019 Nintendo, do you get it?

People will defend this. Just you watch. Waiting for the spin. Get creative, people.

Oh Nintendo. I love you and all but sometimes you do things that I can’t help but shake my head at. Certainly not a deal breaker for me but this seems like a really silly thing for them not to implement. Hopefully it’s something that they’ll patch in later.

Nintendo is terrible at online and makes weird ass restrictions for no reason. I'm not the least bit surprised Mario Maker 2 is their latest victim.

"You can still get friends together and play with local play, and you’re free to play with four players on one Nintendo Switch system."

This is the most important part for me, so it's good to know it's there at least.

But seriously, Nintendo. Stop with the bullshit. If "friends can boost eachother up the leaderboards if they're able to play together" is the reason why, then fucking remove leaderboards. Or I don't know, make you not get points when playing with friends? I can think about 30 more convenient fixes for this problem, but somehow Nintendo who is making the game can't. They're so freaking weird..

Very strange it's probably a massive opportunity lost for Nintendo.

Weird.

I do love how we make a big deal of these things (we should) and not of things like Titanfall 1/2 not having a server browser on consoles, or COD up until last year not having dedicated servers despite them lying about it for generations. When you're used to PC gaming, the console online services seem oddly lacking at points, so for me this is pretty much just another case of console shenanigans.

You'd think they could just make non-random groups not count towards leaderboards? Are they thinking it is too confusing or provides a weakness to cheating? I think it'll be patched.

Ninty.....let Microsoft handle your online service. Case closed. lol.

I found that news funny when I read it earlier, because if I remember correctly, one of my older Nintendo DS Mario Kart games allowed me to play online, but only with friends using codes.... I couldn't play with Randoms, if I recall correctly.

This is the reverse situation now. Either way, no big deal for me, not getting this game but even if I was, as someone who regularly plays online on Xbox this would not be an issue for me as I play with randoms the majority of the time, there is something I enjoy about that. However, some of my most memorable gaming experiences were online with good friends as well, so if the game is successful they can hopefully patch that stuff in if enough people ask for it.

Paid nintendo online future*

*It's the exact same as WiiU's online, except now it's behind a paywall

A Match made in gaming heaven.

:P

Ok..... now that is dumb.

*Reads through thread, and twitter.*

Oh by the way, no Amiibo support for this game either, but the typical anti-Nintendo opportunists will probably harp on that like (as it happened on Twitter)...

...given that amiibos have been panned on the internet for being "worse than on-disc DLC". I understand the co-op situation, but NOT the lack of amiibo support.

Lol the defense force has arrived.

Nintendo forgot they charge for online now.

Where the hell did I defend it? I didn't. It sucks and there is no defending it at all. I just lashed out the no amiibo support criticism after it being bashed in and of itself AND even noted that no one in this thread or anywhere else online is defending the co-op situation.

Jeez... and I'm the loony one?

@nintendoboy16: Oh, you didn't try and shift the discussion?

Nope, just noted something else that happened around the same time as a side note. No one, not even me, is defending the co-op situation.

@nintendoboy16: Sounds like you tried to shift the discussion.

LOL.

It took Nintendo 10 years to get online gaming after Sony and MS.

Now it will take another 10 years for them to get basic features like playing with your friends online.

What a freaking joke.

And Nintendo fans will defend this saying: “it’s only $20!”

Well, you get what you pay for!

@fedor: Look believe what hell you want. It wasn't my intention to shift it when I just wanted to make a side note and call BS to those who are saying the randomized co-op is being defended (It's not)

I'm done with you. Believe it or not, I have more important things to do today.

You seem upset. It's not my fault Nintendo has crappy online.

But it is your fault for not paying any damned attention to how it's being received. Seriously, look at even Nintendo fan sites, they're in a riot over the decisions. Even PlayerEssence isn't defending it.

Ugh, f*** it, I have work soon, so I'm going to be putting up with a ton more stupid today.

@ajstyles: or paying 60$ a year to rent games and get your credit card info stolen on PS+

that sucks but its not a deal breaker for me still getting it

I love how cows care about this, maybe if Sony made 1 decent mp game this gen they wouldn't be so thirsty.

If it's stolen, it's MS fault, since Sony is moving to Asure.

@Ovirew: I would not be opposed to MS handling online for nintendo

LOL. Listen. I have a LOT of experience with how Nintendo fanboys deal with these things. They make excuses, they swerve, they engage in whataboutery, and they do a complete U turn. The fact that I pointed this out early in this thread probably put a few off.

It's not like it's unprecedented.

"ugh".

Classic Nintendo.

Why is kbfloyd ignoring this thread sheep out of town today?

playing online with randoms is 100x more important than friends.

To play this online with friends you need

1. to have them

2. then they also have to be getting the game and own a switch

3. you have to live far away from each other!

i mean if you have friends they obviously live near you so they can just come over and play. online friend play is for streamers and their subscribers. period.

Dumbest choice ever. I want to say this will get fixed, but it's Ninty.

That's literally the dumbest thing i've read. I live in Niagara-On-The-Lake and my closest friends are 30 minutes away... The furthest... 6 hours or so. I'm also 32, and my friend 36+ and all have wives and kids.

congrats on being the 5% who will be affected.

Congrats on being a complete moron, who utilized zero math to come to that conclusion. Take a long walk off a short pier. Your post was dumb-dumb batter cooked to deliciously golden idiot cookies.

@KBFloYd: thoughts, @nintendoboy16?

ok so you meet 2 of the criteria. he is your friend and he lives far away. no time to come over because he has a family.

BUT.... does he meet criteria 2? does he own a switch and will buy mario maker 2?

@KBFloYd: I'm so proud you're running defense for this LMAO!!!

Stop talking, you literal moron. That's not even offensive, it's just actual fact.

It's also hilarious how you tried to maneuver your way out of your botched math.

Damn dude, you get worked up a lot for a 32 YO.

Not really. That's not even "worked up." Otherwise, i'd lose all cohesive points. Ant, stick to your lane.

@lundy86_4:

@Ant_17: Yeah, b*tch. I did chuckle.

@DocSanchez: Because all sheeple take Floyd seriously. /sarcasm

Thoughts, @KBFloYd?

Doesn't affect me, I have no friends. Lol