Wii U online plan relies on publishers says Nintendo of Americ

[Terminator02]

In an interview with Forbes, Nintendo of America president and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime addressed questions about the newly announced Wii U, including the future for online play on the console. When asked whether it would be reasonable to expect an upgraded online system to launch with the Wii U he said:

"We've said that the Wii U will have an extremely robust online experience. There will be other publishers talking about that as well, and from our perspective, we think it's much more compelling for that information to come from the publishers than to come from us."

But why would that strategy be more "compelling" to come from external partners? It appears Nintendo may be taking a hands-off approach to their online service. "Instead of a situation where a publisher has their own network and wants that to be the predominant platform, and having arguments with platform holders, we’re going to welcome that. We’re going to welcome that from the best and the brightest of the third party publishers," he added.

Though that approach may seem funny when compared to the emphasis Sony and Microsoft place on their respective PlayStation Network and Live services, Nintendo has shown itself to be shy about entering the online gaming space. Despite the landslide success of the Wii, its online capabilities remain hamstrung by awkward friend codes and the largely ignored Wii Speak voice chat peripheral. Relying on publishers to furnish the online services for Wii U games effectively keeps the whole issue of how gamers behave online at arms length for Nintendo, or so perhaps it expects.

Sony took a somewhat similar approach in the early days of its online presence, leading to labyrinthine registration systems such as the Konami ID system. Its multi-step process proved to be a hassle and potentially contributed to the tepid reception of Metal Gear Online.

Fils-Aime told Forbes that for the Wii U, Nintendo plans to create a flexible online system that allows publishers to whatever approach they consider best. While on the one hand that approach offers the opportunities of an open system, it also raises concerns that the online experience for Wii U could be fragmented. If that plan for the Wii U is to compete with the 360 and PS3 for core gamers, anything short of the amenities offered by their online services will put Nintendo's new machine at a competitive disadvantage.[/p]

Source (Shack News)

 

[machomuu]

Uh oh. I'm having a hard time telling if this is good or bad, but I'm leaning towards the latter and hoping for the former.

 

[Selim873]

I kind of thought that's how it worked out already, especially EA, since the Xbox connects to the EA system with their games but still requires LIVE Gold to get in. I guess I'm wrong, I'm a bit hesitant about this one too.

 

[jan777]

Old news, I believe.

Ninty is letting the devs choose their own way on how to handle online. I guess that way, if online sucks, Ninty doesnt have to take the blame for it.

 

[chartube12]

Even PC games are leading towards a single log-in to rule them all, Admit slowly. I hope devs are smart and make a single log-in for games they have made. Nintendo themselves seemed to already messed up with online again!

 

[purplesludge]

Old news, I believe.

Ninty is letting the devs choose their own way on how to handle online. I guess that way, if online sucks, Ninty doesnt have to take the blame for it.

Yep old I pretty much said the same thing in the other thread.

 

[Celice]

In a way, it's not really any different from the PC market.

Except all the grubby console developers.

 

[PettingZoo]

not devs, publishers. I'd hate to see what Activision would do

 

[chris888222]

Nintendo added that online will be greatly improved on the Wii U and 3DS.

Wii U at least we see something, but 3DS?

 

[ferofax]

...gah. they really don't love much online, do they? they claim it'll be robust, but by other people's hands? i don't like the prospect of that...

it's like as long as they don't need to get their hands messy with online, it's okay if it fails or not. they better have active participation with devs instead of complete hands-off, and they BETTER not restrict them on anything, if that's the case. at least devs tend to listen to customers more than Nintendo, but Nintendo shouldn't be complacent.

EDIT: wtf, i got completely sidetracked. PUBLISHERS?! awhellno

 

[purplesludge]

In a way, it's not really any different from the PC market.

Except all the grubby console developers.

The pc market can use the gfwl servers or the steam servers. The wiiu will apparently be completely reliant on whatever the devs have.

 

[chartube12]

Time for Sony to step in and say "hey Nintendo game Devs and Pubs, use our online system for Wii U games"...cross system play anyone?

 

[chris888222]

This isn't possible but if there's such thing as cross system online it would be awesome.

I'm still a little mad that the 3DS's online service has no major improvements - since Nintendo did add that in in 'taking online seriously'.

 

[chartube12]

Final Fantasy 11 could be played with people who had the PS2, Xbox and PC. It was the very first cross system online game.

 

[chris888222]

Off topic but - from that image the browser SEEMS to have multitouch

 

[hetoan2]

Off topic but - from that image the browser SEEMS to have multitouch

One Finger => definitely multitouch. There's no way you could ever zoom in by using another part of the device. Ever.