because then people will compare it to LBP and bitch about no user created content and yaddy yada BS?

No one would do that.

People are already doing that. People are comparing it to LBP in this very thread.

You honestly think only 10k people want online? Thats a ludacris statement. I would say something like, millions of people want online. That being said, the quality of the game will not depict the sales.

Even then, it has nothing to do with sales. I'm getting the game, I preordered in full even though I want online. I can still want a feature and get a game. I'm not saying theres anything wrong with omitting it, I'm just saying it was a lazy move. From what I played, it's probably my game of the year, but if i was reviewing it I would certainly knock points for no online. A review looks at a complete package, and a multiplayer focused mario game with no online component when many other first party multiplayer games have exercised multiplayer perfectly fine with far superier engine constraints on the same platform is the issue.

If MKWii can do it, a game which involved much more work to make, why cant NSBWii have it? Do people really feel that reviewers knocking a tenth of a point or so for not having online features isn't fair? The wii is an online gaming machine. It actually has a pretty decent, free online service that works great when implemented properly. Why couldn't the developers do it? Saying it would take away from the game is also rediculous. How could it? Any respectable developer has online services handled by a different department. Nintendo isn't a small developer, this game probably had over 200 people working on it.

My biggest problem is this. They took the time to design EIGHTY or so levels for complete single and multiplayer gaming. They are balanced for both. Why not add the multiplayer feature to ensure everyone who buys the game can enjoy that?

This isn't an issue about having friends that live near me or not, I shouldn't have to. Its 2009, It's a connected world. I'm sorry to say it, but multiplayer games require a proper functioning online component to gain full marks in a critical review for it. Not everyone who is getting this game is still a child, there are a lot of older fans like me who simply do not have any gaming friends anymore. I understand that I can play with my wife, though she is totally into single player western rpgs and would probably be bored to death by the game, but I want to play with my friends who I grew up with. The guys I played mario with in my basement when I was growing up. The issue is we live on the other side of the world now. If this was any other developer omitting online would be a death sentence. the technology is there, the ease of development is there, the infastructure is there, the netcode is there, Nintendo just didn't do it. I cannot fathom why. This game is not even technically impressive for a 2d game, it simply cannot be constraining the wii's hardware. I am almost certain that this was a move to get the game out the door fast enough for the holiday season.

Let me start by scratching out everything from your long reply that seemingly has nothing to do with my post your quoted or the previous two I made in this thread.

Now that this is finished and I've gotten rid of roughly 60% of your post, I'll address the rest.

I think a very miniscule amount of fans find no online multiplayer to be a deal breaker. 10K is a rough guess. Even if it's 100K, that's a small amount of the potential 15 million+ this title can and probably will sell. Most Wii owners are not connected to the net, and I'm sure out of those that are that also happen to buy this game, not all of them would use the feature. While I find it important for certain games to have it, even certain Wii games, I find this feature to be important to a very small, but vocal minority. That's not to say it shouldn't have been created. My point is that there was little point because it just won't matter to a good majority of the purchasers of this game. I happen to be on the side that's not interested in the multiplayer aspect of this game at all, online or local, so don't think I have a personal stake in this. I prefer to play my Mario alone.

You're right in saying it was a lazy move. Nintendo has the funds to make it happen, and it was their choice to omit the feature. My earlier points were that there are many games that a very vocal minority on the net screamed for bots, or screamed for splitscreen mulitplayer or splitscreen co-op and they didn't get it. These were important features to some people, and if this requires a slap on the wrist in a review then I think those same indiscretions deserve their own slaps on the wrist too. It all comes down to laziness. A game heavily featured around multiplayer should have all three components or be docked points(local, online, bots). No exceptions. The newest FPS or racing titles shouldn't get the easy way out for omitting local multiplayer just because those particular consoles thrive on online. You still have a small minority that wants things differently, and that is just the way that the Wii's online community is, a vocal minority. I mean we're living in an age where progress in graphics has cost us the features we've expected out of genres for years. Who'd have ever thought a racing game would ever be released without splitscreen multiplayer? Unheard of. So while I understand your point, I'd just like to see a little more consistency out of the IGN review staff in regards to these things.