Roughly a year and a half ago, Nintendo sat at the poker table with Microsoft and Sony. At the time, Microsoft had already shown its hand with the 360, and Sony claimed to be holding onto more aces than a standard deck would allow. So what did Nintendo do? It pretty much bet everything on the mediocre-looking hand that was the Wii. Although the big N’s opponents laughed, the House-that-Miyamoto-Built turned out to be sitting on a monster.
The Wii is the mosquito that slayed the lion, outselling both of its higher-specced competitors by high numbers with lots of zeros. Shortages plagued retailers for months. Even in Japan, used Wiis commanded prices as high if not higher than new models.
It was a system that appealed to everyone. Sports games were so simple that even parents, excited to see their children finally getting off the couch, could join in with enthusiasm. New games from heralded Nintendo franchises such as Zelda and Mario sated the fanboys, and an ever-expanding Virtual Console system meant that retro enthusiasts could have their cake and eat it too. Gamers from ages 5 to 105 are Wii-ing as you read this page, proving the console’s wide reach and mass appeal.
Yet, there were bumps in the road, noticeable from launch. Rather than attempt to emulate Microsoft’s Live! system, Nintendo chose a bothersome method of registering online friends known as Friends Codes. These multi-digit numbers, unique to each console, would allow friends to send messages, trade Mii avatars and… precious little else. There were no games with online capability available for the Wii until the release of Pokemon Battle Stadium. Oh, and even then, PBS (and each subsequent game) would require a separate Friend Code. The fans continued to wait for online play, while being satisfied by non-online games such as Mario Galaxy or No More Heroes. Solid releases by all accounts, but if one didn’t have significant others (or roommates, or family members) to play with, they were left gripping their Wiimote by their lonesome - or, as was more often than not the case, flipping on their 360 and logging into Live!.
Finally, the last couple months have heralded two “sure-thing” multiplayer bombshells - Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Mario Kart Wii. Though given rave reviews by critics and the gaming community alike, these games also made it very apparent that Nintendo has labored mightily to bring forth a mouse in respect to their online capabilities. With frequent disconnects, lag, and inability to find matches, gamers panned Nintendo for SSBB’s online performance. The problem only magnified when Kart was released. The official Nintendo servers were quickly overwhelmed, and the online menu revealed a startling lack of features that one would find in almost any other racing game, such as a lack of bot characters or options to turn on/off items. Even Mario Kart’s chat system, which relies on selecting pre-written text, reeks of obsolete chatting technology from the late 90s.
Nintendo, in trying to make a “safe” system for gamers of all ages (by essentially restricting the amount of interaction players have with each other except in person), has inadvertently alienated its core audience of hardcore gamers. Half the fun is in playing the Wii with others. To not have solid online capabilities in this day and age is a travesty. Nintendo’s attempts at PR have fallen flat, with all claims stating that the company is centered on making the service “free, easy, and safe”. Indeed, the service is safe - when everyone has given up playing, there’s nobody online to be harassed by. Free is also true; although this may be a case of “you get what you pay for.” Easy? I’m not sure if remembering a 12-digit number once can be considered easy, never mind one for every new game.
In neglecting to put serious thought into a proper online experience by essentially dumbing down, softening, and cushioning every interaction until the meaning has been lost, Nintendo has taken the fun out of gaming. Quite frankly, it pains me to write this. I was second in line at my local GameStop to reserve a Wii and first in line on launch date. After 15 minutes of hassle to get one race in with friends back in the US, I find myself for the first time wondering if my $250 could have been better spent.
I received Mario Kart and Grand Theft Auto IV in the same package. While I’m slowly unlocking Mario Kart at my leisure, until Nintendo decides that online gamers aren’t second class citizens behind seniors and schoolchildren, I plan to spend most of my gaming time in Liberty City.
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