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Mario Kart Wii Online Details

Gigglepoo said:
My 'anything' would involve moving the Everybody Votes! channel to the last page.
Ehm, don't download it in the first place then?

I still remember in one of the dev interviews that they mentioned they had folders before (SNES, N64 etc.) but decided to ditch them for some odd reasons only people at Nintendo can understand. At least give us the choice.
 
SnakeXs said:
MK Channel = Genius.
QFT


Phife Dawg said:
I still remember in one of the dev interviews that they mentioned they had folders before (SNES, N64 etc.) but decided to ditch them for some odd reasons only people at Nintendo can understand. At least give us the choice.
emot-psyduck.gif
emot-psyduck.gif
 
Phife Dawg said:
I still remember in one of the dev interviews that they mentioned they had folders before (SNES, N64 etc.) but decided to ditch them for some odd reasons only people at Nintendo can understand. At least give us the choice.

Not that odd a reason:

Iwata:

Regarding the Channel panes, there was also some talk of organizing them in a multi-layered way at first, wasn't there? At present, old titles that you purchase via Virtual Console will be displayed as separate Channels, but in the initial days of development we thought about organizing them in folders. There would be a folder for NES games, a folder for SNES games and so on. Looking back, what do think of that idea now?

Kuroume:

Of course, I think we were correct to choose the current front-end. The first one we came up with had the Virtual Console as a single Channel, containing folders for each console, as you said. The user would have to then go through the layers of folders to select a game. But since our concept was for Wii to start quickly, and for the user to be able to start playing as soon as possible, it didn't really seem to make sense to go to the trouble of placing games within such a deep folder structure. In our simulations of how the front-end would actually be used, a number of people felt that it would be more satisfying to have all the purchased games lined up on the first screen. If games like Mario or Zelda were placed alongside the News and Forecast Channels, then people with no interest in games might be more likely to give them a try. We therefore settled on the current front-end, and this decision allowed us to stay true to our concept for Wii.

Iwata:

The exciting Channel experience we have at the moment, with all the features lined up together, would have been lost if we had gone ahead and created that multi-layered structure. So, looking back at the development of the Wii Channels, it wasn't a matter of asking what could be added. Rather, when deciding the final specs, I think we were asking what could be discarded, and what to avoid. Our Channels appear full to the brim with ideas, but we actually cut out a huge number of them. It was vitally important that someone made a clear-cut decision about what to retain and what to get rid off. I think the right decisions were made.
 
burnfout said:
Wake me up when they ditch friends codes, otherwise I am not playing this online.

The friend codes issus is lown way out of proportion, essentially its the same as a gamertag, it just comes in the form of a bunch of numbers, but it does the same thing in the end. Once sorted your friends merely see your mii and its name.
 
Gigglepoo said:
My 'anything' would involve moving the Everybody Votes! channel to the last page.
You can do that now... I stuck a bunch of stuff I don't use out of sight on page three.
 
SuperAndroid17 said:
No SSBB Channel , fail


MK ladder but no SSBB ladder/ranking? seriously nintendo , throw us a fucking bone.

Couldn't at least give them props for giving us this channel? Or do they fail regardless (since no SSBB channel), even though they're at least making some progress? Because that's a bit silly.
 
PantherLotus said:
which part?

What I really meant was this is too good to be true and I'm not sold that Nintendo could actually pull this off, I know its straight from the horses mouth, but somehow I believe that there's some a catch or they won't be able to pull it off, just a bunch of promises that won't come into fruition, hopefully I'll be proven wrong as MK is my favourite game series of all time.
 
Anyone whos already decided they're not playing this, what are you doing in this thread? GTFO

Sounds pretty good. They really should have made USB keyboards work in the lobby though at the very least.
 
Sounds good. Pre-ordered already.

I'll still have to text my buddies to tell them to get there asses onto MK, but I can cope with their 13 digit mobile phone numbers ok.
 
PantherLotus said:
if there were only 3 symbols that would allow only 1000 different people.

That assumes it only uses numbers. If it uses letters and numbers, It'd be more like 46.656.

With Letters, Numbers and Characters, You'd get more. I used the various punctuation marks and symbols on the keyboard just for an example, and it comes to 314,432.

I keep the main channels on the main page, and then whatever 3-4 games I'm playing the most often. Though I might send some stuff off.

Couldn't at least give them props for giving us this channel? Or do they fail regardless (since no SSBB channel), even though they're at least making some progress? Because that's a bit silly.

My favorite part is that Mario Kart fails because Brawl didn't get it's own channel. I mean, it's sad and all, but don't blame Mario Kart for it.
 
brain_stew said:
The friend codes issus is lown way out of proportion, essentially its the same as a gamertag, it just comes in the form of a bunch of numbers, but it does the same thing in the end. Once sorted your friends merely see your mii and its name.

I take it you don't actually own an Xbox 360.
 
brain_stew said:
The friend codes issus is lown way out of proportion, essentially its the same as a gamertag, it just comes in the form of a bunch of numbers, but it does the same thing in the end. Once sorted your friends merely see your mii and its name.

Xbox 360:
- Add a friend by their username, which is the same for every game.
- They receive a message that you have added them and are offered the chance to add you. Instantaneously. You can also attach a message explaining who you are to this request.
- Once added, you can instantly invite them to a game, see the games they own, or see what they're playing right now. When they get online, you know... plus privacy settings allow them to hide this.
- If their 360 dies, you don't need to re-add them.
- If <Friend A> is at <Friend B>'s house, you can play with them.

Wii:
- Add a friend by 12 digit numbers, which might be their Wii code, might be their Mii code, or might be a game code. You might have to add them via the Wii, you might have to add them in game.
- They do not receive any indication you have added them. When they add you back, it can take a while for your Wii to realize this.
- Once added, you can do precisely nothing except send them a Wii system message which could take up to 24 hours to get to them. In-game matchmaking works on the fly, but it requires them to be in the game and looking for a match. When they get online, who knows?
- If their Wii dies, you do need to re-add them.
- If <Friend A> is not on his/her Wii, you cannot play with them.

I'm not even going to get into the voice chat thing, or "Friends of Friends", or anything else.
 
I can't believe people are bitching about this. The ability to race other ghosts is an awesome feature.

And people need to just give it up with the friend codes. It is what is. We've known this for over a year. It's not going to change. Bitching about it in every Wii online thread is getting old.
 
beef3483 said:
And people need to just give it up with the friend codes. It is what is. We've known this for over a year. It's not going to change. Bitching about it in every Wii online thread is getting old.

Just like bitching about no in-game XMB or a high price or mandatory installs in PS3 threads or hardware reliability or lack of standard HDD or high accessory prices or Live fees or ads in X360 threads or availability or shitty ports or lack of a storage solution in Wii threads.

In previous generations, we either got a fair shake or every company fucked us in the same ways. This generation has the unique situation of having three different companies fucking us in different but equally unpleasant ways.

Friend codes CAN change. Discontinuing the use of game-specific friend codes is completely doable. Voice chat on a go-forward basis is completely doable. Adding firmware features so that the Wii OS isn't so crippled is completely doable. Storage, either via proprietary peripheral, use of the SD card, or USB storage, is completely doable.

The fact that these things have not been done is not reason to stop complaining, it's reason to complain even louder... especially since this time one year ago, no major IP was hurt by a crippled online system. Now we've seen Brawl, BW2, Mario Strikers, and MKWii hurt. It's very unfortunate.
 
beef3483 said:
I can't believe people are bitching about this. The ability to race other ghosts is an awesome feature.
I can't believe people are praising things which should be standard.
And people need to just give it up with the friend codes. It is what is. We've known this for over a year. It's not going to change. Bitching about it in every Wii online thread is getting old.
No, people actually assumed that Nintendo wouldn't keep the friend codes the way they were when Pokemon BR was released, because it seemed so dumb and counter-intuitive to have to re-add friends for every game. But they did, and the result is that people are declaring a MK channel (which just seems to emulate what most other racing games already do in-game, but oh boy now I can look at leaderboards from the dashboard) to be "genius".

Is there any other game, specifically 3rd party games, that install channels on the dash? Does Nintendo even allow that, or are new channels for 1st party games only?
 
Stumpokapow said:
Just like bitching about no in-game XMB or a high price or mandatory installs in PS3 threads or hardware reliability or lack of standard HDD or high accessory prices or Live fees or ads in X360 threads or availability or shitty ports or lack of a storage solution in Wii threads.

In previous generations, we either got a fair shake or every company fucked us in the same ways. This generation has the unique situation of having three different companies fucking us in different but equally unpleasant ways.

Friend codes CAN change. Discontinuing the use of game-specific friend codes is completely doable. Voice chat on a go-forward basis is completely doable. Adding firmware features so that the Wii OS isn't so crippled is completely doable. Storage, either via proprietary peripheral, use of the SD card, or USB storage, is completely doable.

The fact that these things have not been done is not reason to stop complaining, it's reason to complain even louder... especially since this time one year ago, no major IP was hurt by a crippled online system. Now we've seen Brawl, BW2, Mario Strikers, and MKWii hurt. It's very unfortunate.

LOL Trust me, it's not going to change. The execs have been saying so since the Wii was released.

And shitting up game specific threads certainly doesn't make a difference in thier opinion. There was things to get excited about in this thread, but instead people want to regurgitate the same old shit.

No6 said:
I can't believe people are praising things which should be standard.

No, people actually assumed that Nintendo wouldn't keep the friend codes the way they were when Pokemon BR was released, because it seemed so dumb and counter-intuitive to have to re-add friends for every game. But they did, and the result is that people are declaring a MK channel (which just seems to emulate what most other racing games already do in-game, but oh boy now I can look at leaderboards from the dashboard) to be "genius".

Why should other systems online modes set the standard for Nintendo? That is what this is about, isn't it? Stupid console wars bullshit. Nintendo does what they do. Express your displeasure in a different thread. Once again, there is no reason to shit up game specific threads.

No6 said:
Is there any other game, specifically 3rd party games, that install channels on the dash? Does Nintendo even allow that, or are new channels for 1st party games only?

This is actually a relevant issue to discuss.

And now, I will say no more to you. You have a post history that suggests it's futile to discuss Wii related issues.
 
No6 said:
Is there any other game, specifically 3rd party games, that install channels on the dash? Does Nintendo even allow that, or are new channels for 1st party games only?

Remember, back at GDC, when Nintendo announced the Pay and Play option for games? I seem to remember you in that thread. Nintendo also announced that they were making an API for installing a game specific channel available to 3rd parties. Whether anyone will use this is currently up for debate.
 
April 11 worldwide? Or April 11 the Japanese date? (Or the European date?)

What I'm getting at is, when's this out in the US?
 
How is a major publisher/developer still releasing online console games with no real way to communicate with your opponents? Not even fucking text chat. Good lord, it's 2008.
 
SuperAndroid17 said:
MK ladder but no SSBB ladder/ranking? seriously nintendo , throw us a fucking bone.

The lack of ranking on SSBB seemed to be a decision from Sakurai, rather than some kind of limitation, so it's unlikely it'll ever get one.
 
epmode said:
How is a major publisher/developer still releasing online console games with no real way to communicate with your opponents? Not even fucking text chat. Good lord, it's 2008.

I'm under the impression that they feel there would be dire consequences for using a Live/PS online type communications system. Whether that's the truth or not I don't know, I admit.
 
Stumpokapow said:
Interesting.

Disc, Shop, Mii, Photo
News, Forecast, Opera, Voting
Rating Miis, Game Info, TV Guide, Wii Fit
Mario Kart

So without any VC or WiiWare games at all, if you're Japanese and have Wii Fit and Mario Kart, you're on to page two of the channel menu. If the Wii gains 3 channels per year over a five year period, you'll be half-way through page three.

My first three pages are nearly full and that's without the internet channel and maybe one or two other things downloaded :(
 
Duderz said:
April 11 worldwide? Or April 11 the Japanese date? (Or the European date?)

What I'm getting at is, when's this out in the US?

I don't remember there being a press release about a US date yet, but IGN and a couple of online retailers all have April 28 as the key date.

Sounds good, it pretty much has everything I expected from MK Wii and that's great. It's a sufficient interface to have some fun races (and battles), keep track of your records, see if friends are online, etc. That's all I need. Being able to communicate in-game would be cool, but I still don't consider it a necessity, and certainly not even close to being a deal-breaker. There's plenty of fun to be had with what Nintendo is offering here! Can't wait to fire it up.
 
epmode said:
How is a major publisher/developer still releasing online console games with no real way to communicate with your opponents? Not even fucking text chat. Good lord, it's 2008.

I think it has text chat...with people you've added to your friends list.

As somebody who plays Team Fortress 2 mute and against strangers, it may not surprise you to learn this stuff doesn't bother me.
 
Cosmonaut X said:
Not that odd a reason:
For me it is. I don't see no benefit unless you own just 1 or 2 VC games. If you own a lot it wold be easier and faster to have a channel for each plattform. Like I said, make the current one the default but give users the option to have folders - apparently the code is already there.

Teddman said:
You can do that now... I stuck a bunch of stuff I don't use out of sight on page three.
Why don't you just delete that stuff?

TheGreatDave said:
I think it has text chat...with people you've added to your friends list.

As somebody who plays Team Fortress 2 mute and against strangers, it may not surprise you to learn this stuff doesn't bother me.
Just pre-defined phrases. Doesn't bother me as well.
 
TheGreatDave said:
As somebody who plays Team Fortress 2 mute and against strangers, it may not surprise you to learn this stuff doesn't bother me.
Neither me. I've always treated online as a 'better AI' mode.
 
Yeah, I've thought that Nintendo would want to use pre-defined phrases to keep their 'family-friendly' image intact. Which is why they try and avoid the 'anything goes' method that is advocated around here - I think Nintendo's very scared of bad PR and would also like to sidestep potential landmines - look at how when submitting a 'Mii' online you can only use initials to circumvent any copyright issues. I think Mario Kart chatting will be 'Hi, How are you', and 'Good game!' kind of phrases, some funny ones, but no vulgar/derogatory ones.
 
Pachael said:
Yeah, I've thought that Nintendo would want to use pre-defined phrases to keep their 'family-friendly' image intact. Which is why they try and avoid the 'anything goes' method that is advocated around here - I think Nintendo's very scared of bad PR and would also like to sidestep potential landmines - look at how when submitting a 'Mii' online you can only use initials to circumvent any copyright issues. I think Mario Kart chatting will be 'Hi, How are you', and 'Good game!' kind of phrases, some funny ones, but no vulgar/derogatory ones.

I prefer they implement Phantasy Star Online chat system, till today its one of the best.
 
Stumpokapow said:
Just like bitching about no in-game XMB or a high price or mandatory installs in PS3 threads or hardware reliability or lack of standard HDD or high accessory prices or Live fees or ads in X360 threads or availability or shitty ports or lack of a storage solution in Wii threads.

In previous generations, we either got a fair shake or every company fucked us in the same ways. This generation has the unique situation of having three different companies fucking us in different but equally unpleasant ways.

Friend codes CAN change. Discontinuing the use of game-specific friend codes is completely doable. Voice chat on a go-forward basis is completely doable. Adding firmware features so that the Wii OS isn't so crippled is completely doable. Storage, either via proprietary peripheral, use of the SD card, or USB storage, is completely doable.

The fact that these things have not been done is not reason to stop complaining, it's reason to complain even louder... especially since this time one year ago, no major IP was hurt by a crippled online system. Now we've seen Brawl, BW2, Mario Strikers, and MKWii hurt. It's very unfortunate.

Amen.
 
Stumpokapow said:
...
...
...
The fact that these things have not been done is not reason to stop complaining, it's reason to complain even louder... especially since this time one year ago, no major IP was hurt by a crippled online system. Now we've seen Brawl, BW2, Mario Strikers, and MKWii hurt. It's very unfortunate.

OR perhaps send a message in the only way they understand and don't buy the offending products.

Seriously, by filling every thread about an online Nintendo game with complaints about the way Nintendo do online, you guys stop people who want to enthuse or look forward to the game from having a good conversation about things they actually want.

Whining over and over in threads on a message board is not a way to get Nintendo to change their stance. They know how the alternatives work. They have decided what they want to do. If the alternatives sell better, then they'll change.

So buy the alternatives and let the rest of us input stupid numbers and play happily ever after, k?
 
swerve said:
OR perhaps send a message in the only way they understand and don't buy the offending products.
Except that doesn't really send a message at all. How is Nintendo supposed to know that I'm boycotting Mario Kart due to their crappy online structure? I could be avoiding it because I want two racers in a kart or I think motorcycles are dumb or I hate things that come in white boxes or I'm bored of the Mario Kart formula.

Companies don't really use sales as an impetus for change unless they're drastically declining, and I think we all realize that Mario Kart Wii is going to be a financial success. Community feedback has much more influence on games like this. Put it this way: Nintendo didn't decide to put Brawl online because people weren't buying Melee, they put it online because the community wanted them to.
 
Is there any info whether you can fully customize what items to use in a online race / tournament?

I'll be all over the online mode in any case, but if only there was a chance to get rid of the blue shell. A green shell, mushroom and banana only tournament would be ace!
 
If the reason they put it online was because of community feedback, how come they put it online in a way that everyone in the community whines about?

They put Brawl online because that's what it required to make the sequel worthwhile, and that was how to assure huge sales. They've put almost all of their competitive games online since Mario Kart DS, and have done so not because of the kind of community feedback you're talking about, but because of the shape of the market, market research, focus grouping, common sense, and so on.

If Mario Kart Wii is a financial success, as you've suggested, then what impetus is there for Nintendo to change what they're doing? They can see the usage statistics for their online services. If people are buying the games and using the online, then they've no reason to change the formula based upon what GAF thinks. Wallet Vote.
 
Friends codes rock. It shows me who really has no other people to play their games with when they bitch about this issue on GAF.

How did you people survive multiplayer gaming on consoles a decade ago?


Also swerve deserves a cake full of orgasms.
 
Stumpokapow said:
The fact that these things have not been done is not reason to stop complaining, it's reason to complain even louder...

I agree (although the friend code system doesn't bother me), I just hope you're sending your complaints straight to different parts of Nintendo as well. Otherwise....well, you know.
 
speedpop said:
Friends codes rock. It shows me who really has no other people to play their games with when they bitch about this issue on GAF.

How did you people survive multiplayer gaming on consoles a decade ago?


Also swerve deserves a cake full of orgasms
.


:lol
 
And about Nintendo finally hopping to the Online train. It's what they've said all along, now is the time when enough moderate / normal gamers have easy day-to-day access to a high enough speed internet. They have a good enough reason to do the extra work required.
 
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