Is Nintendo Going Down The Wrong Road For Multiplayer?

Wii Sports Resort does not have online multiplayer.
That is one of the largest miscues this generation.

Now come with me back to Nov of 2006 when a little title "Wii Sports" came out. That title did NOT have online multiplayer and that was the correct move. The whole point of the Wii was to play together and bring people together to play games. There was no need for online multiplayer, the miracle of the Wii is spreading it's greatness person to person and that's the right way to do it.

Just ask the representatives for the Swine Flu or the Black Plague how effective human contact is when it comes to spreading something.
Nintnedo did it the right way.

Now Nintendo has had 3 years of holidays where people can all come together and play the Wii. The problem is that after these holidays they don't get a chance to come together until the next family event.

The grandma that gets a Wii doesn't have anyone to play it with in the nursing home. Sure she can ask a few of her friends there and maybe a few nice orderlies but it's not the same.

The father who gets a Wii can only play it every other weekend with his son because that's what the court deemed fair as far as visitation after the divorce. He'd like to play more but without his son to show him the ropes he'd rather just let it sit for 2 weeks monthly.

The Wii which started bringing people together with games is now keeping people apart with games

A great example is the new Super Mario Bros. Now we know that the Wii is too weak to handle multiplayer in that game but remember that the game will also feature the new Nintendo plan of having the games play themselves with no human interaction at all. Well if they were to take out that function maybe they'd be able to add online multiplayer. (this is just a speculation on Jason's part, he also sometimes thinks that he can hear Mrs. Butterworth's cries for help in that jar)

The goal of games playing themselves is to help people in tough spots but couldn't multiplayer also achieve the same results?

Grandma in the nursing home will have the game play itself to know how to get past a particular area but couldn't she also get that help from her grandson?

The ambition to include everyone in the Wii experience has shifted to a more singular focus

Anyone else think that Nintendo should concentrate more on the togetherness of playability rather then the singularity?

It is probably just my tainted life where my family is all under the same roof though that makes me think this way...raahsnavj

Yeah but no one has their Moms and Dads and grandmothers and grandfathers and uncles and aunts and cousins and other relatives I have yet to think of lol

Yes the games playing themselves thing is stupid. I still wish Wii Sports Resort should have online because most of my friends suck and would rather go out to drink but oh well.

Yes the games playing themselves thing is stupid. I still wish Wii Sports Resort would have online because most of my friends suck and would rather go out to drink but oh well.OreoMilkshake

[QUOTE="OreoMilkshake"]Yes the games playing themselves thing is stupid. I still wish Wii Sports Resort would have online because most of my friends suck and would rather go out to drink but oh well.Vexx88

I agree completely.

Jaysonguy i don't think the Conduit did,....Oh wait.

on topic: Yes. Nintendo has been going down the wrong path since the day XBL on the original Xbox came out of beta. The original XBL is better than Nintendo WFC. You can always get people to play local by advertising it with people playing locally and having local multiplayer, just because you add online doesn't magically mean no one will say "hey come over and play my wii!"

I don't think WSR not having online is that terrible, don't get me wrong i'd love some online B-Ball, Sword fighting, Dogfights, but it would've been a much bigger mistake to not have Brawl/Kart/Battalion Wars 2/Pokemon Diamond/Dr.Mario etc online

No "human interaction" and "play themselves" Jayson?

Ok, in the games they do feature that option, it basically works as a in game strategy guide, you see a strategy guide is an accesory, it costs more, it shows you pictures and text on how to beat the game and gain items

in their new player assistance thing, from what i've seen, it simply plays the scene out showing you what you need to do, and then you have to do it, you have to actually play it.

its a free strategy guide Jayson. It really seems that way.

[QUOTE="raahsnavj"] It is probably just my tainted life where my family is all under the same roof though that makes me think this way...Jaysonguy

Yeah but no one has their Moms and Dads and grandmothers and grandfathers and uncles and aunts and cousins and other relatives I have yet to think of lol

The problem is Nintendos still stuck in 2001 if you know what I mean.

The problem is Nintendos still stuck in 2001 if you know what I mean.

zaku101

more like 1995 when online gaming used individual IP addresses (ala Friend Codes)

at least in 2001 i didn't have to give my friends 15 digit codes to get killed over battle.net on starcraft

its a free strategy guide Jayson. It really seems that way.

darth-pyschosis

It's more then that, it's the game playing itself until it passes whatever part you're having trouble with then you take control of the character again.

It's essentially passing the controller to a friend and having them play past a hard part of the game.

Couldn't that be reached with online multiplayer?

If Grandma is having a difficult time with a certain part can't the grandson show her what she has to do online.

Nintendo is capsulizing the experience rather then opening it up for more interaction

Yes, and no.

Yes, because I think Nintendo could have done better with their online interface, knowing not all of us have the freedom, or sometimes want, to play with relatives when it comes to videogames. At the same time, though,I don't think Wii Sports Resort would have benefited from online play, because it would just feel like you were playing against a harder CPU, instead of a real person. So, in conclusion, I agree with Nintendo on some parts, and disagree with them on others. I just hope that in the future, though, that they make their online interface as slick as XBOX LIVE.

Ehh, a man can dream...:D

Right?:?

How does online = togetherness? You're still isolating yourself from human contact, playing with someone in the same room is far more rewarding and fun.

Besides, with games like Wii Sports Resort it makes sense not to have online. Can you imagine swordfighting online? A game of such precision and speed just wouldn't work, not even XBox Live could pull it off.

I play online because, well, I'm much better at games than anyone I know, but I'd still rather play with someone in the same room.

[QUOTE="darth-pyschosis"]

its a free strategy guide Jayson. It really seems that way.

Jaysonguy

It's more then that, it's the game playing itself until it passes whatever part you're having trouble with then you take control of the character again.

It's essentially passing the controller to a friend and having them play past a hard part of the game.

Couldn't that be reached with online multiplayer?

If Grandma is having a difficult time with a certain part can't the grandson show her what she has to do online.

Nintendo is capsulizing the experience rather then opening it up for more interaction

No Jayson. It essentially is a video they show you on how to do it, and then it places your character before it happened and you have to do it

EDIT: additionally you can't savve your progress when it plays out scenes of the developers playing the game. its like a scene select menu which a lot of games have featured

like in Mercs, Manhunt, etc. You beat a part of the game, and then you can choose to replay it.

yes, besides third parties, nintendo has failed hard on multiplayer this gen.

and the whole hint system is utterly stupid, i want to actually play the game and figure it out on my own.

ohh and by the way i still say the NSMBwii can handle multiplayer easilly, but nintendo is being their usual selves.

How does online = togetherness? You're still isolating yourself from human contact, playing with someone in the same room is far more rewarding and fun.

ozzsoad

Because the Grandmother gets to play with the grandson other times then just family get togethers

The father gets to play with the son more often then just every other week

The opportunity for playing together increases if you add it

How does online = togetherness?

ozzsoad

Because racism and homophobia can make you feel like you are part of a very special community.

[QUOTE="ozzsoad"]

How does online = togetherness?

LordQuorthon

Because racism and homophobia can make you feel like you are part of a very special community.

This is true (that a lot of that happens online)

usually the only games without bad language online and offensive gestures are team based games, and thats only if you're playing with good people

in brawl, kart most ppl would prolly be just as big as dou**** as in halo, and others

but games like BWii could benefit, just like how you need to talk to your teammates in Fat Princess, Battlefield, TF2 to communicate to win

[QUOTE="ozzsoad"]

How does online = togetherness? You're still isolating yourself from human contact, playing with someone in the same room is far more rewarding and fun.

Jaysonguy

Because the Grandmother gets to play with the grandson other times then just family get togethers

The father gets to play with the son more often then just every other week

The opportunity for playing together increases if you add it

I can count the amount of times I've played my dad online with one hand. It's fun for a few minutes but we quickly get bored. Now when he's out to visit we play for hours. It's so much more fun. It makes playing online very dull.

That's also what the purpose of Wii Speak was, to bring friends and family together in one living room evem though they might be miles away from each other.

Huge missed opportunity here. Every time I play table tennis I get ticked that there is no MP. This could have been the greatest multiplayer game on the Wii. I don't know why Nintendo is so afraid of online multiplayer.Travo_basic

they aren't afraid, they don't need to make it better or at all

there aren't enough people saying "I am not buying a Wii because it does not feature PC/PSN/XBL level online multiplayer in both features and games themselves"

if Wii sells as much with poor online why make it better? that costs money! seriously, 360 almost has ALL the dedicated online console gamers, where as PSN/WFC pick up the scraps.

a lot of people don't even know the Wii even has online games still (and some of those people OWN wiis)

In my opinion, I'm glad the Wii focuses on more local multiplayer. If I want to play online multiplayer I have my PlayStation 3 or my Xbox 360. Wii has its own selection of games, and genres which I enjoy. Mario Kart Wii and Strikers are honestly the only two games that have nailed online multiplayer to best of the Wii's ability. Brawl was a laggy and sketchy piece of multiplayer, but local was always fun. But I enjoy my Wii for games like Zelda, Metroid, Mario, and so on.

This is just my opinion though, for those with only a Wii I can see how this can get frustrating.

If Grandma is having a difficult time with a certain part can't the grandson show her what she has to do online.

Jaysonguy

Yeah...we all know Grandma isn't going to be doing that. My Grandma doesn't even have cable television and still can't figure out her VCR.

We (the online community) are such a small minority that it would be a waste of time to include online in games like this. It's very time-consuming to get a game online, it takes dozens of testers (which each cost $$) months to get the bugs sorted out, it takes resourses and space to dedicate a team towards the online aspect, and in the end barely anyone uses it.

You yourself said that the New Play Control games were a waste of time because the developers working on porting those games could be making new games instead, this is the same thing. What's the point when the majority of the userbase isn't even going to touch it anyway? At least with the New Play Control games people are actually going to experience all the work put into them.

I agree. Miyamoto states that the games are more based around social multiplayer, but that's no reason to not include online multiplayer with wiispeak support. They haven't made a single game since AC that uses the thing! Just think: Excitebots is the ONLY game Nintendo is releasing this year with online multiplayer.

Online is overrated

*looks at sales*

yeah, i'm not alone

same couch local play > than online play.

remember goldeneye? why was the 4 player so epic? b/c ppl sat and played alone on seperate tvs? no ...it was same couch/room gameplay, trash talking ....making weekend get-togethers exciting and intense.

right now, playing halo 3 w/ my buddies over splitscreen = fun times. sometimes we have another 360 brought over for system link....we're still yelling accross the house, trash talking and then going out for a beer/bbq to take a break together. playing halo online even against each other just doesnt bring that great feeling...its just 'meh'.

so, i personally..along with my freinds enjoy wii's same couch play. my freinds and i, get together and we enjoy games like quantum of solace splitscreen / ssb brawl, mario kart, nfs, wii sports/play etc. my parents also play wii w/ me sometimes and its same couch play. my bro enjoys having versus often.......so looking at for example mohh2 ....where only online multiplayer is available....how are me and my bro supposed to enjoy that one? buy two wiis? c'mon.

as for playing w/ grandma, i love my grandma and i vist her often, and i bring my wii over sometimes and we play ... i'd rather visit grandma in person, spend time with her and maybe play wii. having online for grandma...what for? reduce my visiting frequency and develop a distant online relationshiop with her? no sorry, im not jasonguy who prolly lives online. ilike to havereal freinds..not cyber ones.

same couch local play > than online play.

...

as for playing w/ grandma, i love my grandma and i vist her often, and i bring my wii over sometimes and we play ... i'd rather visit grandma in person, spend time with her and maybe play wii. having online for grandma...what for? reduce my visiting frequency and develop a distant online relationshiop with her? no sorry, im not jasonguy who prolly lives online. ilike to havereal freinds..not cyber ones.

MisuK

Online isn't family-friendly at all. Maybe that is why they refuse to make some of their games online!. That is, with Wii Speak. I hate Wii Speak. I don't want everyone hearing what kind of language goes on.

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

If Grandma is having a difficult time with a certain part can't the grandson show her what she has to do online.

bob_newman

Yeah...we all know Grandma isn't going to be doing that. My Grandma doesn't even have cable television and still can't figure out her VCR.

We (the online community) are such a small minority that it would be a waste of time to include online in games like this. It's very time-consuming to get a game online, it takes dozens of testers (which each cost $$) months to get the bugs sorted out, it takes resourses and space to dedicate a team towards the online aspect, and in the end barely anyone uses it.

You yourself said that the New Play Control games were a waste of time because the developers working on porting those games could be making new games instead, this is the same thing. What's the point when the majority of the userbase isn't even going to touch it anyway? At least with the New Play Control games people are actually going to experience all the work put into them.

Touche.

excuse me did you say wrong road for multiplayer seeing as thier the only ones offering it without lag ,, , -and the price of online sevice providers , ,

i say they are going on the right road , ,

they add online but didnt take out local for those who dont wanna pay for online or deal with lag , ,

mari okart

ssbb

mario galaxy

wii sports

wii play

wii fit

wii sports resort

wii music ,

excite bots /truck

dk barrel blast

plus all the third party titles are local multiplayer unlike 360/ps3,

so i again say their on right road

I dont really like playing online anyway.

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

[QUOTE="ozzsoad"]

How does online = togetherness? You're still isolating yourself from human contact, playing with someone in the same room is far more rewarding and fun.

Because the Grandmother gets to play with the grandson other times then just family get togethers

The father gets to play with the son more often then just every other week

The opportunity for playing together increases if you add it

I can count the amount of times I've played my dad online with one hand. It's fun for a few minutes but we quickly get bored. Now when he's out to visit we play for hours. It's so much more fun. It makes playing online very dull.