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Nintendo explains WiiU online, makes little sense, doesn't actually say anything

W

wsippel

Banned
Yeah, official word, just as promised. And I'm none the wiser: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-wii-u/716198

There won't be a "centralized, one size fits all online gaming approach". Instead, they'll leave it to 3rd parties and will try to support their visions. Whatever that's supposed to mean. I know publishers love their weird little systems like Cerberus, Social Club, UPlay, CoD Elite and what not, but what about the stuff that has to be system level, like cross game chat and invites and stuff like that? And what about small developers and publishers who don't have their own system in place?


EDIT: Or maybe they work with 3rd parties on an online system. Damn Nintendo's secrecy and my limited grasp of the English language. Transcript (provided by Truth101):

Online gaming is very important to us, and we've heard the demands of the veteran gamers that want that. So, we're going to be more flexible with online this time when it comes to online, we're going to work with our 3rd party partners. We're not going to have a centralized one type fits all approach, it is going to be more the publishers trying to figure out what they want to do and we'll try to bring that to life and make sure our platform can support that vision.
Click to expand...
 
M

Mama Robotnik

Member
Damnit Nintendo. I don't want to make a dozen accounts with each and every publisher to play their games online.

Ring up Gabe, ask him if he'd like to port Steamworks to WiiU as its online service. They're eager to get on the PS3, they might be eager to get on the WiiU too.
 
D

Dystify

Member
Didn't understand it perfectly yet, but I don't like the sounds of it.

I hope at least there'll be one account per publisher or something... It should've been unified by Nintendo.
 
E

elrechazado

Banned
great job nintendo.

Anyone who thought, after all that nintendo has done and tried, that they'd magically get this right for wii u, is nuts.
 
W

wsippel

Banned
Mama Robotnik said:
Damnit Nintendo. I don't want to make a dozen accounts with each and every publisher to play their games online.
Click to expand...
I'd at the very least expect some sort of persistent persona & single sign-on.
 
L

Lan_97

Member
Can't wait to see what Konami whips up.

Also, didn't some EA games already do this on Wii? (Have their own multiplayer service, and avoid friend codes)
 
C

corn_fest

Member
I hope he's simply referring to being open to other systems, such as Sony allowing Steam integration with PSN. If there's really not even a central friends list, what a complete and utter failure.
 
P

pseudocaesar

Member
Thats actually really confusing, after seeing the success of live and to a lesser extent PSN, why on earth would they not try and emulate that strategy.
 
A

Averon

Member
In retrospect, I guess it was wishful thinking to think Nintendo could get at least a PSN level network up and running.

edit: And Nintendo can forget about recapturing hardcore gamers. Having at least a PSN level online gaming network is a prerequisite.
 
H

H_Prestige

Banned
pseudocaesar said:
Thats actually really confusing, after seeing the success of live and to a lesser extent PSN, why on earth would they not try and emulate that strategy.
Click to expand...
Because Nintendo doesn't care what the competition does.
 
H

Hot Coldman

Banned
OTabc.gif
 
K

Keyouta

Junior Member
Why doesn't Nintendo start their own network? They want the "hardcore", but are still sluggish in the online functionality. Fuck, this is one of the most important aspects. Ffs.
 
F

Father_Brain

Banned
This is still vague. I can't believe that it won't have some form of unified online, even a rudimentary 3DS-esque one (which would still be a massive FAIL, but hey).

On the upside, the wording and context of Ubisoft's statements to MTV seem to suggest a decent centralized online setup, but I suppose it's best to remain pessimistic until Nintendo confirms details.
 
P

patsu

Member
wsippel said:
Yeah, official word, just as promised. And I'm none the wiser: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-wii-u/716198

There won't be a "centralized, one size fits all online gaming approach". Instead, they'll leave it to 3rd parties and will try to support their visions. Whatever that's supposed to mean. I know publishers love their weird little systems like Cerberus, Social Club, UPlay, CoD Elite and what not, but what about the stuff that has to be system level, like cross game chat and invites and stuff like that? And what about small developers and publishers who don't have their own system in place?
Click to expand...

I wonder what will happen if developers demand that Nintendo online gamers play with PSN and PC online gamers together. Might as well form an alliance.
 
E

Effect

Member
Not sure how I feel about this. On one hand this is annoying and seems like it could a bit frustrating. However it seems to give 3rd parties complete freedom to run things how they choose, especially since companies like EA and Ubisoft have been investing in their own online systems and don't want to allow Microsoft to completely own the market. This sounds like it could be an interesting way of attracting 3rd party support by allowing them a chair to the table without out Nintendo taking anything off their plate. Something they don't get at Sony and Microsoft where they have to do things their way. THe details on that are going to be weird though. Will you have an account to tie all these other accounts together? Will the interact? Etc?

So it sounds like we could have an entire Uplay network for Ubisoft games, EA's Origin, Activision's network, etc. Maybe smaller companies could buy into either one they wish. At least this is how I think this could turn out. I just hope if this is the case there is a centralize friend list but doesn't sound like it. Though this sounds like it might put security on the backs of each of these publishers and not Nintendo. So if one gets hacked it doesn't affect the others.
 
D

DeaconKnowledge

Member
Uh, I think he's talking about philosophy, not actual implementation.

Sounds to me like he's saying Nintendo will listen to what 3rd parties want instead of saying "here it is, you're on your own."
 
Z

Zeouterlimits

Member
A poor decision if it is as it sounds.
Assuming they realise the error of their ways, it'd take a big effort to have a big online platform ready for release.
 
R

Raide

Member
Are 3rd Parties really going to port their heavily online MP games if they have to build their own setup just for Wii U? At least PS3 and 360 owners have all that under the hood, so Developers don't have to worry all that much.

Leaving it to Developers to sort their own separate stuff out is asking for trouble and more frustration for gamers.
 
B

BlazingDarkness

Member
'There won't be a "centralized, one size fits all online gaming approach".'

And this is why Nintendo will fail to attract the hardcore.

Well done Nintendo, you done goofed.
 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
I honestly thought it's not possible to dream up an online system worse than the friend codes one they currently have.

I take that back.

At Nintendo, they dreamers.
 
P

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
And the convoluted messages from Nintendo keep coming.

If they are actually talking about game accounts being per game or per publisher, that's absolutely ridiculous and they have no clue what people want. That would be a horrendous decision. Just awful.

If they're talking about having a unified friends list/messaging service that the 3rd-parties are then able to link with on their own "account" (meaning no separate log-in/passwords required), then I have no problem with it.

Either way, it just sounds like Nintendo is punting here. "Well, we've got no damn clue what people want and how to do it ourselves so we'll let the 3rd parties do it!"
 
R

RedSwirl

Junior Member
Keyouta said:
Why doesn't Nintendo start their own network? They want the "hardcore", but are still sluggish in the online functionality. Fuck, this is one of the most important aspects. Ffs.
Click to expand...

They already admitted that the company just didn't have the know-how when it comes to online infrastructure to attempt something like that. When I heard they were working with outside companies, I thought it meant that they had found a specific partner to help them build their infrastructure.

I always knew that most of you guys would be disappointed with whatever Nintendo came up with, just because they were never even trying to create a Live-style system, but I would at least expect a unified account system. Sony already tried the flexible route with the PS2. They didn't continue down that path.
 
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