I'm Sorry, But This Is Ridiculous ...

Normally I give people the benefit of the doubt.

A few nights ago when Nintendo had WiFi issues I shrugged my shoulders and said, "New game, lots of players, it happens".

Yesterday, I got the error again, got a tad bit annoyed but was able to play online later on in the evening so I didn't care as much. I figured whatever issues were out there were fixed.

Fast forward to this morning.

It's currently 10:16am ET and after 7 attempts I kept getting either error 61010 or 91010, and at the end of the day I couldn't get online. All I wanted to do was play a few races before I left for work, and just couldn't. My internet, modem, and everything was working ... Nintendo wasn't.

I would justify this still if it was 5 or 6pm ET, or even late at night, because those are prime playing times. While I don't have any numbers to back me up, I'm fairly confident that 10am ET is not the heaviest time for online play. The fact that I couldn't get online annoys the hell out of me.

I believe that I should be able to play a desirable feature on a game I paid for whenever I please. Call me a complainer, but that's how I feel.

Now I have to go to work, and I sincerely hope that when I get home tonight Ill be able to kick some heavy duty VR booty.

I'd complain, but I'm not paying to play online. If this were Live, it would be a totally different story. It's annoying, but at least I can still have a good time in Single Player if I need to get my fix.ozzsoad

Now that's a good way to put it. The service may be lacking often but a least we don't pay.

I think you are both right. It is free, hence the fact that we can't complain when it goes down because we contribute nothing to keeping it running. But on the other side of the coin, its still a service that is promised and promoted by Nintendo, and is therefore tied to Nintendo's reputation to provide quality service and products. When it goes down, it makes them look bad that a promised feature isn't working the way they claimed.

But for a free service, it runs very well. I've been happy with it 90% of the time.

[QUOTE="ozzsoad"]I'd complain, but I'm not paying to play online. If this were Live, it would be a totally different story. It's annoying, but at least I can still have a good time in Single Player if I need to get my fix.wiifan001

Now that's a good way to put it. The service may be lacking often but a least we don't pay.

[QUOTE="ozzsoad"]I'd complain, but I'm not paying to play online. If this were Live, it would be a totally different story. It's annoying, but at least I can still have a good time in Single Player if I need to get my fix.wiifan001

Now that's a good way to put it. The service may be lacking often but a least we don't pay.

I disagree. You paid $50 for access to online play. It's a feature of the game, it should work. I understand that their network will have problems from time to time, but that shouldn't be the norm. I don't have MK, but I would be getting pretty annoyed as well.

Just because they have a pricing structure that doesn't include a monthly fee, doesn't make it ok for them to sell products that don't work correctly. Hopefully they get it fixed in the future.

everything was going fine before the American release :o:o:o ;)

but then again its free , they'll fix it up

The only thing that really worries me is that nintendo is planning on improving its online structure in the future.... at the cost of having us poor gamers pay for it. It will most likely be subscription based, but its not yet confirmed whether it'll be for all games comin in the future.ibra_unit

That is completely false. Nintendo is offering a pay for play service so third party devs can get paid for their content online. It has nothing to do with the overall system.

As far as the online issues it seems that Nintendo is redoing their servers since the DS is also having some problems. Since nothing released is even close to the kind of systems they have for the DS it's not the load that's getting to them. They have to be changing something.

[QUOTE="wiifan001"]

[QUOTE="ozzsoad"]I'd complain, but I'm not paying to play online. If this were Live, it would be a totally different story. It's annoying, but at least I can still have a good time in Single Player if I need to get my fix.presto7640

Now that's a good way to put it. The service may be lacking often but a least we don't pay.

I disagree. You paid $50 for access to online play. It's a feature of the game, it should work. I understand that their network will have problems from time to time, but that shouldn't be the norm. I don't have MK, but I would be getting pretty annoyed as well.

Just because they have a pricing structure that doesn't include a monthly fee, doesn't make it ok for them to sell products that don't work correctly. Hopefully they get it fixed in the future.

[QUOTE="presto7640"][QUOTE="wiifan001"]

[QUOTE="ozzsoad"]I'd complain, but I'm not paying to play online. If this were Live, it would be a totally different story. It's annoying, but at least I can still have a good time in Single Player if I need to get my fix.Cesar_Barba

Now that's a good way to put it. The service may be lacking often but a least we don't pay.

I disagree. You paid $50 for access to online play. It's a feature of the game, it should work. I understand that their network will have problems from time to time, but that shouldn't be the norm. I don't have MK, but I would be getting pretty annoyed as well.

Just because they have a pricing structure that doesn't include a monthly fee, doesn't make it ok for them to sell products that don't work correctly. Hopefully they get it fixed in the future.

I understand everything but your last line. Its offered but not promised? So they tell us it will have online play, but they mean to say "it might have online play if we choose to offer it to you"? When they put the blue symbol on the front of the box, its a promised feature of the game. When they advertise it on the TV is a promised feature of the game. When they talk about it on the back of the box, its a promised feature of the game.

[QUOTE="presto7640"][QUOTE="wiifan001"]

[QUOTE="ozzsoad"]I'd complain, but I'm not paying to play online. If this were Live, it would be a totally different story. It's annoying, but at least I can still have a good time in Single Player if I need to get my fix.Cesar_Barba

Now that's a good way to put it. The service may be lacking often but a least we don't pay.

I disagree. You paid $50 for access to online play. It's a feature of the game, it should work. I understand that their network will have problems from time to time, but that shouldn't be the norm. I don't have MK, but I would be getting pretty annoyed as well.

Just because they have a pricing structure that doesn't include a monthly fee, doesn't make it ok for them to sell products that don't work correctly. Hopefully they get it fixed in the future.

I disagree again. No company can support an online service without money. Their costs for their online system is included in your $50 game purchase. XBox's cost are not included in their game, it's covered by their monthly fees. So, with Nintendo part of your game purchase is going to Nintendo's servers.

Nothing is free, even if it appears that way. You're paying for the service through your game purchase, so it really needs to work.

[QUOTE="presto7640"][QUOTE="wiifan001"]

[QUOTE="ozzsoad"]I'd complain, but I'm not paying to play online. If this were Live, it would be a totally different story. It's annoying, but at least I can still have a good time in Single Player if I need to get my fix.Cesar_Barba

Now that's a good way to put it. The service may be lacking often but a least we don't pay.

I disagree. You paid $50 for access to online play. It's a feature of the game, it should work. I understand that their network will have problems from time to time, but that shouldn't be the norm. I don't have MK, but I would be getting pretty annoyed as well.

Just because they have a pricing structure that doesn't include a monthly fee, doesn't make it ok for them to sell products that don't work correctly. Hopefully they get it fixed in the future.

I don't play franchise mode in Madden, obviously that doesn't mean that I get a refund for that part of the game. It's not their problem if you don't use something that you pay for.

If I bought a Hungry Man dinner that told me it would provide tasty corn with my meal, and I open it up and there's no corn, I didn't get what I paid for.

I'm not paying extra for said corn, it's included in the price of the meal. The fact that they didn't provide it is strictly on the shoulders of Hungry Man. The statement, "I didn't pay extra for it, it's included in the meal" doesn't justify them not providing it.

WiFi is a feature of Kart, a desirable feature of Kart. I didn't pay $50 for the game and then an extra $10 for online play. I paid $50 for a game that included online play. Nintendo is not allowing us to play online, thus they're not delivering the corn that was promised in my meal.

I don't care what their excuse is. It's a feature that they told me was included in the game, and thus far 75% of the time I try to use it, I can't. I'm sorry, but that's BS.

On a side note, Hungry Man dinners are awesome and I highly recommend them.

[QUOTE="Cesar_Barba"]

No, we paid $50 for the game. In that case, if I buy a game for my 360 for $60, I am also paying for that on-line play... oh wait, no, I already paid $50 for that alone. The on-line is an amenity to the games on Wii, it's offered, but not promised.wilsn2019

I understand everything but your last line. Its offered but not promised? So they tell us it will have online play, but they mean to say "it might have online play if we choose to offer it to you"? When they put the blue symbol on the front of the box, its a promised feature of the game. When they advertise it on the TV is a promised feature of the game. When they talk about it on the back of the box, its a promised feature of the game.

We can also say the same thing about the many games on PS2 that no longer have working servers, and while I know that was years ago, that logo for on-line play is still printed on the box of some of my PS2 games, as well as some of my Dreamcast games.

If I bought a Hungry Man dinner that told me it would provide tasty corn with my meal, and I open it up and there's no corn, I didn't get what I paid for.

I'm not paying extra for said corn, it's included in the price of the meal. The fact that they didn't provide it is strictly on the shoulders of Hungry Man. The statement, "I didn't pay extra for it, it's included in the meal" doesn't justify them not providing it.

WiFi is a feature of Kart, a desirable feature of Kart. I didn't pay $50 for the game and then an extra $10 for online play. I paid $50 for a game that included online play. Nintendo is not allowing us to play online, thus they're not delivering the corn that was promised in my meal.

I don't care what their excuse is. It's a feature that they told me was included in the game, and thus far 75% of the time I try to use it, I can't. I'm sorry, but that's BS.

On a side note, Hungry Man dinners are awesome and I highly recommend them.

KenSPT

I see where you're coming from and agree. Temporary issues can be forgiven as even Live has to be taken down for maintenance every couple months for a day at a time. I also agree that Hungry Man rocks......remember the commercials with Booker T? He'd say "A whole pound of food that men love. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and pudding! Getcha own, sucka!" Great commercial.

Look...

You can't play Resident Evil Outbreak (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Resident Evil Outbreak File 2 (Playtation 2) online anymore.

You can't play SSX 3 (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Timesplitters: Future Perfect (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Metal Gear Solid 3 (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Goldeneye: Rogue Agent (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Alien Front Online (Dreamcast) online anymore.

You can't play Daytona USA (Dreamcast) online anymore.

You can't play POD Speedzone (Dreamcast) online anymore.

You can't play Bomberman Online (Dreamcast) online anymore.

And these are just ones that I played alot and can remember off the top of my head.

Online play isn't a guaranteed feature, nor is it permanent. Please, get over yourself. In a couple years the servers for Mario Kart will be shut down anyway. I've always wished game review sites would adjust reviews for when the online play for a game goes down. Because in reviews they generally mention how the online play functions. And if there is no online play anymore, that part of the review means nothing.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane though. At least I will always have the friends I met through these games.

Look...

You can't play Resident Evil Outbreak (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Resident Evil Outbreak File 2 (Playtation 2) online anymore.

You can't play SSX 3 (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Timesplitters: Future Perfect (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Metal Gear Solid 3 (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Goldeneye: Rogue Agent (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Alien Front Online (Dreamcast) online anymore.

You can't play Daytona USA (Dreamcast) online anymore.

You can't play POD Speedzone (Dreamcast) online anymore.

You can't play Bomberman Online (Dreamcast) online anymore.

And these are just ones that I played alot and can remember off the top of my head.

Online play isn't a guaranteed feature, nor is it permanent. Please, get over yourself. In a couple years the servers for Mario Kart will be shut down anyway. I've always wished game review sites would adjust reviews for when the online play for a game goes down. Because in reviews they generally mention how the online play functions. And if there is no online play anymore, that part of the review means nothing.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane though. At least I will always have the friends I met through these games.

Fredrick2003x

That's irrelevant. That simply means that none of those games are supported anymore. Just like everything else you buy will eventually no longer be supported.

My college wont ledft use the wireless for my Wii so I have no personal experience with the Wii online but I don't thinks its fair to let nintendo off the hook (if it is working poorly) becuase its free, the PSN works fine, great in fact and its free. I think the real travesty is the fact that Xbox Live costs money at all! Its not really that difficult, PC games have been working online flawlessly forever!

My college wont ledft use the wireless for my Wii so I have no personal experience with the Wii online but I don't thinks its fair to let nintendo off the hook (if it is working poorly) becuase its free, the PSN works fine, great in fact and its free. I think the real travesty is the fact that Xbox Live costs money at all! Its not really that difficult, PC games have been working online flawlessly forever!

Galaxybear

OK nothing works 100 percent of the time, including LIVE, my friend has a 360, I was refering to major and consistantproblems like I have heard about others having with ssbb, MK, and Strikers, meanwhile I have personally never had a problem with PSN whihc is not to say there havent been any but that its been good enough that this casual player had no probs.

[QUOTE="Fredrick2003x"]

Look...

You can't play Resident Evil Outbreak (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Resident Evil Outbreak File 2 (Playtation 2) online anymore.

You can't play SSX 3 (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Timesplitters: Future Perfect (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Metal Gear Solid 3 (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Goldeneye: Rogue Agent (Playstation 2) online anymore.

You can't play Alien Front Online (Dreamcast) online anymore.

You can't play Daytona USA (Dreamcast) online anymore.

You can't play POD Speedzone (Dreamcast) online anymore.

You can't play Bomberman Online (Dreamcast) online anymore.

And these are just ones that I played alot and can remember off the top of my head.

Online play isn't a guaranteed feature, nor is it permanent. Please, get over yourself. In a couple years the servers for Mario Kart will be shut down anyway. I've always wished game review sites would adjust reviews for when the online play for a game goes down. Because in reviews they generally mention how the online play functions. And if there is no online play anymore, that part of the review means nothing.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane though. At least I will always have the friends I met through these games.

presto7640

That's irrelevant. That simply means that none of those games are supported anymore. Just like everything else you buy will eventually no longer be supported.

not to mention mario kart was released less than a week ago, in the US, and isn't "years" old. So its also irrelevant to make an argument and say that just because it will go down eventually, means its ok for it to go down less than a week after its release. What it will do years from now has no affect on what it does now.........

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26370171

For those that haven't noticed, it would seem that the issue was due to Nintendo setting up an online tournament involving Free-roaming Chain Chomps. This would not only explain the connection error before, but also after.

So for no extra cost, now you are getting Nintendo organized tournaments as well as online. Pretty sweet deal for a few hiccups.

[QUOTE="Galaxybear"]

My college wont ledft use the wireless for my Wii so I have no personal experience with the Wii online but I don't thinks its fair to let nintendo off the hook (if it is working poorly) becuase its free, the PSN works fine, great in fact and its free. I think the real travesty is the fact that Xbox Live costs money at all! Its not really that difficult, PC games have been working online flawlessly forever!

Cesar_Barba

Man PSN and Nintendo WiFI are both so annoying. It has to do more with where the companies are based. MS has more resources to utuilize a more standard online experience while Nintendo and Sony are still rejecting it all together.

My college wont ledft use the wireless for my Wii so I have no personal experience with the Wii online but I don't thinks its fair to let nintendo off the hook (if it is working poorly) becuase its free, the PSN works fine, great in fact and its free. I think the real travesty is the fact that Xbox Live costs money at all! Its not really that difficult, PC games have been working online flawlessly forever!

Galaxybear

i was about to say the same, and i like the corn and hungry man example posted earlier. when nintendo states that there going to provide us with online, im not going to think, "well... its probably going to be a half-assed feature. but at least its there." no. i want it to work and to work properly. it urks me that people are making excuses for nintendo. psn is a free online service and it works fine.

the other day i heard matt cass comment on complaints abot brawl's online. he said, "... if it doesnt work, then upgrade ur damn connection u lazy bastard." y? y should i be the one that has to accomedate? does it say anywhere that i need to upgrade my connection? i dont think so. i shut off my 360 with limited interruptions, and smooth online play. then i turn on my wii, hop on brawl, and get games that lag, freeze and dissconnect. damn it nintendo, get with the program

(have yet to get mk, most likely this weekend. thought that itll be an improvemnt over brawl, but from what im hearing...)

Hungry Man dinners do indeed rock.

It's understandable that a consumer that purchases a product wants to access a feature of that product that is offered as part of its core value. Whether or not you pay for the online service is immaterial, since consumer expectation has been set by the product's purveyor. Nintendo states that its online service is cost free; Microsoft charges a fee. In either case, the manufacturer has set announced the limits of its service, and it is within those limits that we expect the service to function. If my game, regardless of platform, promises online play, it should provide that within those announced limits. Whether it is a free online service or a paid online service is moot.

That doesn't mean that technology-dependent products may not have those features occasionally inaccessible. PlayStation Network was not allowing connections to GTA4 online Tuesday night, which frustrated many players--understandably so. PSN is also cost-free, but a core value of the product was temporarily missing.

I don't think any of us enjoy it when technical restrictions bar us from enjoying the product we paid for, and I think it's fine to express that frustration. Recently released prducts should be feature complete. As others have noted, that feature may be discontinued at some point in the future, but honestly, that is a non-argument. If it were 2010 and the feature were discontinued, that argument would hold. However, not only is the product new to the market, but the online service has not been discontinued. It is, simply, suffering from technical difficulties.

Personally, I expect all currently offered online services to work, regardless of console. It's part of the advertised and expected value of each machine. In fact, this is true of all consumer electronics. We rightfully expect them to fully function as intended.

everything was going fine before the American release :o:o:o ;)

but then again its free , they'll fix it up

frozenthino

HBO is included in my cable package. Earlier this year it went down for a week, Cablevision gave me a credit. Technically I'm not paying extra for HBO as it's part of my package, but since it's something I should have recieved my account was credited. This situaiton is no different.

The long and the short of it : Nintendo made a promise to it's consumer to provide online play, and it's not working properly.

The argument that it's free is a moot point, it's a service they promised to provide.

If you're going to make the argument that people shouldn't complain because they're not paying extra, then theoretically people shouldn't complain if the Grand Prix feature stops working, or maybe the time trials. You don't pay extra for those, if they don't work, that's life ... right? I mean, you paid for the game and the wheel, and technically as long as you own the disc and that plastic circular thing, you got what you paid for ... right?

The problems are sporatic.

This weekend it worked fine for me, Monday it worked fine for me, Tuesday it gave me problems, as it did for a portion yesterday as well. This morning I couldn't get on at all before work, and that's when I started this thread.

I'm sure, or atleast I hope, in time it'll all be ironed out ... sooner rather than later. The problem is, this is a new game that I just bought this weekend. I'm excited about playing it, as I normally am about most new toys. The fact that I can't access what I consider the most desirable feature of the game gets me a little perturbed.

Personally, I think I have every right for being perturbed without being considered a "whiner" or "unreasonable complainer".

I'm not asking for Miyamoto to come and cook me dinner as a make good, I just want to be able to beat some 13 year old in France on Wario's Gold Mine. Of course, if Miyamoto would like to cook me dinner, he's more than welcome.

You'd think with some of these AAA games (Mario Kart, GTA4, etc.), that the companies would anticipate that tons of people are going to want to play online right away, and have the servers up and running correctly from the start. Instead of having to slam bang everything together right after release when everyone starts complaining about it. Don't they want us to be happy with our $50-60 games?ItsEvolution

What boggles me is that Nintendo apparently had these same problems with Smash Brothers when it was released.

Granted, I don't own Smash Brothers so I can't speak first hand, but from what I read it was the same issue.

If this happened with their last "big release", why didn't they prepare for it? This is 2008, having accessible working online play isn't an insane thing to expect from a Japanese company as large as Nintendo is.

We're not talking about the release of Mario vs Sonic At The Olympics here, this is freaking Mario Kart, arguably one of the top 5 franchises Nintendo has. For Nintendo to not be prepared for online play is simply irresponsible.

I'd complain, but I'm not paying to play online. If this were Live, it would be a totally different story. It's annoying, but at least I can still have a good time in Single Player if I need to get my fix.ozzsoad

Amen!

One thing about Nintendo we have to remember is that they're in the video game making business, not the networking business. More than likely Nintendo doesn't manage the networks for their WiFi Connection. I believe it would be outsourced, so if there's any issues with the network it may not be handled by Nintendo.

Personally, I think I have every right for being perturbed without being considered a "whiner" or "unreasonable complainer".

I'm not asking for Miyamoto to come and cook me dinner as a make good, I just want to be able to beat some 13 year old in France on Wario's Gold Mine. Of course, if Miyamoto would like to cook me dinner, he's more than welcome.

KenSPT

You've got it all wrong, you don't expect him to cook for you, you have to cook him a nice big steak and invite him. Of course, some creme brulee makes the deal sweeter, and let me tell you that my creme brulee is absolutely wonderful (yes, how humble of me, right?)

While you guys are on here complaining, the servers are up and running. The way some of you are reacting to this makes it sound like the servers are offline for days at a time.

That tournament is driving(heh) me nuts. I can't get under 2 minutes, no matter how hard I try. Again, damn those Blue Shells.

While you guys are on here complaining, the servers are up and running. The way some of you are reacting to this makes it sound like the servers are offline for days at a time.

That tournament is driving(heh) me nuts. I can't get under 2 minutes, no matter how hard I try. Again, damn those Blue Shells.

ozzsoad

While you guys are on here complaining, the servers are up and running. The way some of you are reacting to this makes it sound like the servers are offline for days at a time.

That tournament is driving(heh) me nuts. I can't get under 2 minutes, no matter how hard I try. Again, damn those Blue Shells.

ozzsoad

I, and others, are also at work ... so I can't play the game right now.

In short, the servers should work when I want to play, I shouldn't play when they randomly work. If the game doesn't work when I can play, the servers might as well be down for days at a time, as there's really no difference.

I hope I'm not coming across like an a$$, I don't mean to, but just because it's up now doesn't justify the down time in my opinion.

What boggles me is that Nintendo apparently had these same problems with Smash Brothers when it was released.

Granted, I don't own Smash Brothers so I can't speak first hand, but from what I read it was the same issue.KenSPT

It's not the same issue. Brawl's online wasn't functioning immediately upon US release. It gradually (very gradually) got better, but it's still not up to par a couple months after release.

Mario Kart's online worked pretty much flawlessly immediately upon release. The issues yesterday were with the Nintendo WiFi Connection service as a whole; the problems affected every Nintendo WFC game across the Wii and DS. We can only assume that this was maintenance or an unforeseeable problem with the service as a whole.

No online service is 100% reliable because so much of it depends on factors out of the control of the game maker. There are a lot of connection between Nintendo and a Wii owner; all we can do is worry about our own, and all Nintendo can do is worry about what's on their side. What we can complain about is when those problems are a result of something completely controlled by the game maker. With my experiences so far in Mario Kart Wii, I find nothing like that to complain about apart from the downtime yesterday. An announcement on their site would've been nice; but since it was only for a few hours, I'm not too bothered.

[QUOTE="ozzsoad"]

While you guys are on here complaining, the servers are up and running. The way some of you are reacting to this makes it sound like the servers are offline for days at a time.

That tournament is driving(heh) me nuts. I can't get under 2 minutes, no matter how hard I try. Again, damn those Blue Shells.

KenSPT

I, and others, are also at work ... so I can't play the game right now.

In short, the servers should work when I want to play, I shouldn't play when they randomly work. If the game doesn't work when I can play, the servers might as well be down for days at a time, as there's really no difference.

I hope I'm not coming across like an a$$, I don't mean to, but just because it's up now doesn't justify the down time in my opinion.

No online service is 100% reliable because so much of it depends on factors out of the control of the game maker. There are a lot of connection between Nintendo and a Wii owner; all we can do is worry about our own, and all Nintendo can do is worry about what's on their side. What we can complain about is when those problems are a result of something completely controlled by the game maker. With my experiences so far in Mario Kart Wii, I find nothing like that to complain about apart from the downtime yesterday. An announcement on their site would've been nice; but since it was only for a few hours, I'm not too bothered.

JordanElek

I agree, no service ( online or not online ) is 100% reliable. You're not always going to get great food from KFC, you're not always going to get great cell phone reception, and Nintendo isn't always going to have great online gameplay. I understand that.

It's nothing more than a frustrating situation.

I work, as do 90% of the others here. My hours are such where I only have a small amount of time everyday to enjoy my games. If during that small window the service I shelled out my money for isn't working, it's irritating to me. I think that's understandable. I want to be able to play my game.

It's a Flowers for Algernon scenario. I had such great online game play this weekend that it set a high standard for me. I realized how great the online game play was, and as such want more of it. To not be able to access it at no fault of my own is irritating on many levels.

I work, as do 90% of the others here. My hours are such where I only have a small amount of time everyday to enjoy my games. If during that small window the service I shelled out my money for isn't working, it's irritating to me. I think that's understandable. I want to be able to play my game.KenSPT

I hear you. I got home from work yesterday ready to play, just to find out that it was completely out of commission. I just took that time to beat some of the Grand Prixs that I hadn't played yet. Later that night, it worked fine.

It's a Flowers for Algernon scenario. I had such great online game play this weekend that it set a high standard for me. I realized how great the online game play was, and as such want more of it. To not be able to access it at no fault of my own is irritating on many levels.KenSPT

Since I own Brawl, it's the opposite for me. Brawl set the lowest standard possible for online gaming on the Wii. Even with the downtime, Mario Kart's online has surpassed Brawl's on every level. I can easily forgive a couple of random disconnects or some downtime. For Brawl, the first two weeks were almost entirely downtime. Without that Brawl experience, I'd probably be feeling the same way you are. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing, in all honesty. ;)

I cant stand Nintendo's silent protest to anything online. MKW is a huge leap for them and I commend them.

WHile I know online is not what it should be there is some extreme exaggeration as to what works and what doesnt. SSBB according to the general consensus at SW is completely unaccessible and broken. I am betting that most of the people who complain have crappy internet connections. SSBB works pretty good now. Yes I have loads of complaints but i get into a match pretty fast.

I think at this point all big games for Nintendo that feature online should work. Its lame that Nintendo is creating unreliable features.

If Nintendo is going to have a feature then it should work. Regardless of being free or not it should work. If Nintendo cannot maintain stable servers due to price, then charge us. I am perfeclty fine with being charged if it brings in a higher level of playablity.

I just want to point out that Nintendo never stated that they were promising constant online availablility. Just because it says you can play online on the box, it doesn't mean that they are promising that it works 24/7.

Also, "technically speaking", the online feature is, in fact, always available. It just doesn't connect. :P I mean, it's not like the button that says "Nintendo WFC" goes missing. It's still there, so the option is available all the time.

Of course, this is getting way too technical, and I am aware that they are supposed to offer online without problems. I just felt like being "that guy" who has to ruin everything. It's been a while.

Wait, no. I do it all the time. Never mind.