Online gaming is something I have been involved in since it’s infancy on PC. I played Age of Empires and many other games using a good old 56k modem. The experience was of course lacking to say the least. In recent years online gaming has been given the boost it needed, by making it more accessible and easier to use. Systems like Xbox Live and PSN – I won’t go into the whole, “it not working properly yet” part – have made internet gaming available and popular.
There is, however, one company involved in the console market today who just can’t seem to get it right. As you can probably tell by the title of the article, that company is Nintendo. Not only is there a distinct absence of a coherent online gaming platform, but it would seem that Nintendo have had very little interest in making one. With the success of the Wii and DS without a popularised net environment, I can understand that they have the option to leave it.
Now with the next generation of consoles on the horizon – the next portable generation is already here! – Nintendo are going to have to put some serious consideration into making there next machine worthwhile playing online. Nintendo are the number one company for hardware sold at the moment, but with dwindling sales of the Wii and a mixed response to the release of the 3DS, I would think it fundamental that they get themselves kicked into gear. The majority of Wii owners barely use the things; they remain dusty and unloved under the TV table, or in some cases still in the boxes. The last thing these people are going to want to do is go out and buy the next big gimmick and have that sit under the table too.
What can Nintendo do? The answer is quite simple…conform. I don’t want them to give up their identity and the uniqueness that they have as a company, but would it kill them to have a damn friends list for the online play!? To my mind here is exactly what Nintendo need to do to bring their next console from gimmick to essential:
- Friends List: Like I said before, this is a vital addition to get people playing online and not just at home, or when there are friends over. The friend codes, despite being safer for children to use, are nothing but a hassle. In some cases you need different friend codes for different games, which is just ridiculous when you think about it. It seems this issue is part-way to being fixed with the introduction of the friends list on the 3DS. With that, the friend code is a one-time thing and once you have input the code, the person is added to a friends list; not as a code, but as the persons name. This is far better than before.
- Online Store: I like the idea of buying all of the older games through the virtual console market, because there are some classics. However, the selection of WiiWare – Nintendo’s ‘homebrew’ games for the Wii – is nothing short of atrocious for the most part. With such amazing – sarcasm – titles as “5-in-1 solitaire” and “Let’s Catch” it isn’t a wonder I rarely visit the Wii Store. Don’t get me wrong, there are some really great games on the store, but it is the bad ones that are remembered. There are sadly more bad than good.
- Demos & Trailers: One of my favourite parts of the Xbox Live experience is finding all of the new playable demos and watching the newest game trailers. A service like this would certainly spice things up for Nintendo. I find that watching the trailers for games makes me more likely to buy them, so it would be with in their best interest to get the videos and demo games online.
- Chat: The Wii’s version of online chat is awful. My anecdotal proof of this is that when my friends were playing Monster Hunter Tri – one of the few Wii games to support voice chat – instead of using the console’s own chat system, they opted to run a Ventrillo server on their PCs instead. It needs to be better.
Bear in mind that I am stating all of this from the mindset of the “hardcore gamer” – really dislike that term, but it seems to be the most descriptive. So, when I am asking for these things it is because the Wii was not exactly what I wanted from a console. At the same time though, it wouldn’t have taken much for it to have been what I wanted.
At the moment, Nintendo consoles are like the video gaming equivalent of karaoke machines; when everyone is drunk, you bring them out. There are so few things they need to do to make this next generation a success for them in more than one way, and it would be a great disappointment to me – and many others – if they don’t make the changes.
E3 is fast approaching, and with it, the first legitimate look at Nintendo’s next console – “Project Cafe”. My excitement levels are reaching fever pitch as I can see that the rumours are hinting at a console that is aimed at more than the casual market. But, if this ends in disappointment it will be for the very last time. My hopes are that they will really blow everyone away with what they have to show…so come one Nintendo! Hit this one out the park! And if you think that is me hinting that I am looking for a new Wii Sports style game, you are wrong.
Explodobot 