Miyamoto open to online 'Mario Bros'

Shigeru Miyamoto will be open to online multiplayer for Super Mario Bros in the future.

The Mario designer has said that although the technology was present for New Super Mario Bros. Wii, offline multiplayer was the focus.

"It's not for purely technological issues that [online play] wasn't included," he told Official Nintendo Magazine.

"After all, as you know, we already have online play in Smash Bros., and technologically speaking, I don't think it's creating a high amount of lag. It's just a matter of our priorities when it comes to the creation of a game.

"We just prioritised on making a multiplayer mode where four players can sit together and play while seeing each other's faces," he added.

Miyamoto also said that advancing network technology would easily pave the way for online play in the future.

"Because network environments are getting better and better every day, it may be possible in a future edition to incorporate that type of multiplayer online mode for a real-time action game.

"But I am just talking about the technological aspect here," he said. "What's more important, of course, is if it's going to add to the fun aspect of the game."

New Super Mario Bros. Wii was released in November.