An Open Letter to Nintendo Concerning Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS

Subject: An Open Letter to Nintendo Concerning Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS
Date: 2 Sep 2016

To whom it may concern:

Many Mario fans such as myself have been eagerly hoping for a Super Mario Maker 3DS port ever since the Wii U version was announced, and now we have what we want, but were quickly disappointed.

In the Nintendo Direct of 9/1/2016, Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS was the very first title to be revealed. Many fans who loved or wanted Super Mario Maker for Nintendo Wii U have a chance to give it a shot on the Nintendo 3DS. However, as the game was being presented, there are a couple key features from the Wii U version that wound up being removed. Among these features include:

Being able to upload courses online

Searching courses using a Course I.D. online

Mystery Mushrooms for Amiibo/Unlockable costumes

Being able to share and download courses online from around the world was one of the main reasons why everyone was so excited for Super Mario Maker to be released. Now, in the incoming Nintendo 3DS version, you will be limited to only local players and StreetPass in, and I quote from the reveal video, "the spirit of spontaneity". I believe I speak for the majority of Nintendo's fans that this is hardly a valid reason to remove one of the most beloved and necessary features of the game.

That is why I am writing this letter.

Being able to make Super Mario levels and sharing them online is an excellent experience for those with a Wii U and a copy of Super Mario Maker. However, there are fans out there who don’t have a Wii U or can afford one, but they do have a Nintendo 3DS. By making the decision to remove these online features has disappointed many of these fans, myself being one of them. In the span of less than a minute, I went from absolutely needing this game to questioning why you would do this.

I can understand that you are trying to bring people more closer together in real life, but there is a serious problem that the planning team probably never even considered: the players who don’t have friends to play with. I know what it’s like, and I can predict how it will turn out based off of my experiences alone.

Super Mario Maker is arguably an indirect sequel to WarioWare: DIY. The whole appeal of the game was that I can make my own Microgames and share them online for the whole world to enjoy, very similar to the concept of Super Mario Maker. However, when the WFC was shut down in 2014, I never picked up the game again when I realized that I had literally no one to share my MicroGames with. I never knew anyone else with a copy of WarioWare: DIY. Because of that, making MicroGames seemed pointless. So, I stopped playing.

I fear this is what will happen with Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS. There will be customers, those who would by the game solely based on level creation, who won’t even buy the game, because they can’t share their levels for everyone else to enjoy.

As for the customers who would by the game for playing levels, they won’t be as disappointed, but still disappointed nonetheless. There will be those who just want to play a specific level they saw online, but only have access to the 3DS version of the game, so they can’t. Sure, it’s nice to play random levels, but it’s even nicer to have the ability to choose whose levels you want to play once in a while.

Concerning the removal of Mystery Mushrooms: This one isn’t nearly as big of a deal to me if the rest of this letter was of any indication, but there are a number of courses out there that use the Mystery Mushroom item that likely won’t even be compatible with the 3DS version, but I don’t know for sure since the game hasn’t even come out yet. It would be nice if there was at least some sort of substitute so that these levels can be played, even if it’s not in the levels’ intended purpose or gimmick.

Now, I realize writing this letter might be a bit overdoing it, but I have given all of my reasons for writing it. I do not know if this letter will reach Nintendo, nor do I know if they will even care. I just want to my voice to be heard. Not just for the good of the fans, but for the good of the company as well. Should, at the very least, the uploading and searching courses be added to Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, I feel the game will definitely have more people buying a copy.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read this letter, and I hope we can make this reach Nintendo!

Sincerely,
A loyal and concerned Nintendo fan