I'm going to list out everything that the Wii U does with its online service, good and bad. I know there are several ways Nintendo is behind in the online arena, but the way people talk about it, it's like we're still stuck in the days of Wii and game specific friend codes.Â
NINTENDO NETWORK
+ Free online play
+ Supports DLC and patches
+ Supports self publishing for indie games
+ Easy framework for devs to port existing games on other platforms, including Xbox and PlayStation, but also WebKit games, iOS and Android apps, and so on
+ Integrated online social network (Miiverse); allows for instantaneous communication via text chat (formatted text and custom text), screenshot sharing, voice chat, video chat, and more.
+ No Friend Codes, unique usernames, notification system for friends
+ OS level messaging that can be accessed at any time
+ Miiverse itself includes communties and boards for every game for discussion of games, as well as tips and help, where needed
+ Background downloads and download management, so that you can download multiple games at once even when you are playing other games
- Purchases are tied to your account, which, in turn is tied to your hardwae (functionally the same as your games being tied to your hardware)
- Headset is not included with every system, meaning voice chat is not supported at an OS level.
- No cross game chat
- Their online network is not integrated across 3DS and Wii UÂ
So what is it about it that sucks so much, really? I'm interested in knowing, because it looks like a lot of people assume that the Wii U's online is similar to the Wii, that is, crap.
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