It seems like everyone is taking a shot at the Wii’s online multiplayer option. Many gamers have experienced severe lag time and infinite waiting periods. It took me about an hour to get a match going and when it finally happen the session lagged so much it felt like a scene from the “Six Million Dollar man” (70’s humor). I felt fortunate to play with the Wii’s multiplayer as horrible and brief as it lasted. Then I played my Xbox 360 and I never knew how good I had it. Xbox Live allowed me to see all my friends and every game they were playing. I could speak to them whether they were playing a game or watching a movie. I could go on and on but this column is about the Nintendo Wii not the Xbox 360. Yet it got me to thinking, why did Nintendo attempt to do multi-player? Nintendo clearly isn’t ready to deal with server, bandwidth or matchmaking issues.
Unlike Sony and Microsoft, this is Nintendo’s first attempt at multi-player and the endeavor seems more ambitious than first thought. Pressure from Sony and Microsoft consoles forced Nintendo into avenues they weren’t ready to attempt; like multi-player. The Nintendo Wii simply is not the power console as its competitors. Wii owners are not graphics specific and they do not need online multi-player to be happy. Nintendo’s target audience is not the same audience as Microsoft and Sony. Nintendo is old school when it comes to gaming they rely on gamers playing together in the same room instead of gamers connecting around the world. The mere fact that Nintendo even tried to do multi-player online is asinine.
Sony realized there six-axis controller was a horrible idea and they are dumping it for a Dual Shock 3(rumble) controller; should Nintendo scrap its online multi-player. Hell-to-the yeah! I’m sure Nintendo fan boys may lose bragging rights but they wouldn’t really care because they didn’t buy the Nintendo Wii for the multi-player online anyway. So Nintendo scrap the multi-player online and do what you do best. Entertain the senior citizens and teenagers and provide us with 2 out of 10 good Mario games this generation.
Posted by Roger Thorpe, Apr 03, 2008 10:31 AM
RuffPlayRUS wrote on Apr 03, 05:40 pm
Give Nintendo a chance they will get it together. SSBB is an awesome game without multiplayer.
anonymous wrote on Apr 04, 03:49 pm
You mean SSBB is an awesome game without "online" multiplayer right? By the way, when I played online multiplayer with a friend, I had absolutely no lag (3 of us on 1 machine, 1 on another about 100 miles away). This was a couple weeks back.. has that changed all of a sudden?
Boj wrote on Apr 04, 03:56 pm
O_o What does graphics have to do with online play? Why is it an asinine idea that Nintendo tried to do online play? So the messed up this time. They'll get it right at some point. Hardly a reason to shut down now.
mannyd274 wrote on Apr 04, 04:37 pm
First attempt at online? The DS has online capabilites and has been out for several years. I don't know what lag you're talking about (you don't give any examples.) Both Guitar Hero III and Medal of Honor Heroes 2 play lag free. MHH2 btw has really good online features. Of course it's via EA Nation but Guitar Hero III isn't and it has a lot of the online capacity that gamers enjoy. Look, I wish Nintendo would dump the friend code thing and offer more robust online features (voice chat, matchmaking, leaderboards,etc.) to all or at least most of it's online products and licences. These are all things that can be corrected. The machine can handle it. None of this is rocket science and none of it requires a fancy rig to pull it off. Hopefully they'll listen to the complaints.
Generation ABXY wrote on Apr 04, 05:30 pm
While lag isn’t non-existent on the Nintendo Wii (or PS3 or Xbox 360), that isn’t why their online model is catching so much flak. More than anything, it is for friend codes and, other times, because the system receives a gimped version of the game (which isn’t even Nintendo’s fault most of the time) and because the lack of a proper HDD makes DLC almost impossible. Also, Sony isn’t “dumping” the SIXAXIS, they are just adding rumble. The DualShock 3 still includes the same motion-sensing capabilities of the PS3’s original controller, and likely many games will continue to support it. So, you know, way to do your research. Should Nintendo give up on online? No. Is this article idiotic? Hell-to-the-yeah!