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[Stulaw]

Isn't Scott Moffitt the marketing executive? Why would he know anything he hasn't been told yet?

 

[MaxDOL]

The Japan side probably deny the account system until they can figure out how to keep one account - one console/handheld at the same time.

They are too greed unlike Sony to let you use one account on more than one device.

 

[DragonSworne]

I'm glad my consistent complaining on Club Nintendo and ranking games all lows and stating the low score is because of the account system is finally getting through.

This should be priority number 1 for Nintendo, but sadly I think Nintendo thinks it's more important to release another update to Miiverse instead...

 

[PaulLFC]

They talk about "solving" it like it's rocket science or something. Unbelievable.

 

[WrenchNinja]

... we just got through months of angst over Xbox One and the prospect of killing physical games because digital is evil and destroys game sharing.

I kinda got the impression that anybody who really wants to be able to lend and share games goes physical anyway, regardless of the platform.

The way Microsoft was doing it with the Xbone eliminated sharing and reselling entirely. Downloads aren't evil, what Microsoft was doing, turning physical into a an extremely restrictive download was.

You can share and lend right now with the 360. There are download only games that only come out on e shop, psn and xbla. I can sign into another i device and get and download my apple library. Why should a parent have to buy three copies of Pushmo because of Nintendo's incompetence? Don't be disingenuous.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

... we just got through months of angst over Xbox One and the prospect of killing physical games because digital is evil and destroys game sharing.

I kinda got the impression that anybody who really wants to be able to lend and share games goes physical anyway, regardless of the platform.

Why don't have both?

 

[Jomjom]

I guess Nintendo only calls it criticism when it's in the form of Miiverse drawings, otherwise it's "whatever you want to call it." Get to those drawings guys!

 

[Gaogaogao]

sooner rather than later nintendo.

 

[Lordwindowlicker]

Are they fucking idiots?

They're obviously not.
However, I'm sure they're not as smart as some forum poster with no real insider information nor a deep understanding of their network infrastructure. THAT sort of person certainly knows what's what!

 

[Kai Dracon]

Why don't have both?

We can have both, but given the common and strident opinions over preserving physical games, it seems users who manipulate digital systems to effectively share games are an edge case on any platform or digital service.

i.e. the vast majority of people who want to share buy discs / cartridges.

You can share and lend right now with the 360. There are download only games that only come out on e shop, psn and xbla. I can sign into another i device and get and download my apple library. Why should a parent have to buy three copies of Pushmo because of Nintendo's incompetence? Don't be disingenuous.

I'm not counting accessing your personal library on multiple devices with 'sharing' in the same sense. Some people do figure out ways to let others access their accounts and activations (like the old PS3 game sharing circles) but it always looked like a minority. Most of the concern over digital accounts appear to be about the security and future proofing of one's own personal digital purchases. Game sharing with other people not so much.

Though granted, a parent who actually knew how to use digital services well could conspire to buy multiple devices and create one user to log into all of them for multiple children. So long as enough activations were supported. I don't think you can do this with Sony's platforms anymore really, and I thought Apple accounts are limited to five devices in total.

 

[Lambtron]

Come the fuck on. There's no excusing this.

Nintendo is a HUGE corporation. If they really wanted to, they could and would have this stupid shit sorted out.

I'm not excusing it. I don't like the system the way it works. What I'm saying is it's not just a problem some high school student can knock off in one day as people have hyperbolically thrown around in this thread. There's more to it than just the links of the software.

- Right now WiiWare/Wii VC stuff needs to be played in Wii mode on the Wii U. So if they truly want to unify they have to pull it in there... where there are already known exploits and issues. Also there aren't N64, Genesis, TG16/PC Engine, etc. emulators working that are Wii U specific. So even if you unify it you have two separate places where people need to go to play the games which is not ideal.
- What happens to people who have purchased the same game on different services? I assume the people who care enough to know about the account system care enough to know they spent $15-20 on stuff that's now only $5. It'll create a negative customer experience.
- Migrating data, even when you have it all (as they do on the back end through my Club Nintendo account), is never going to be exact. They'd have one shot at combining the records into one account and anything that's missed would be a mess. What if someone hasn't linked their CN account? It won't be there for them to link. They'd be mad when they didn't magically get their Wii games, etc.
- Thus far the games you purchased on the previous generation stores (DSiware & WiiWare) were able to be transferred to the 3DS and the Wii U. Will they be able to do that next generation? The expectation is there now. I'm tech savvy, have a fair bit of disposable income, and understand why my 360 XBLA games & PS3 PSN games won't work on the new generation consoles but it still pisses me off. I don't think the Nintendo demographic (babbies and grannies am I right?) is going to be happy about that either. Especially since it works with their iPhone and their iPad and their whatever else.

And the people who want the account system, who say it's so easy, would be the first to yell and scream if there was things that didn't work how they expected. I think that they should unify the different stores and accounts. I think they will unify the different stores and accounts still this generation (I'd be legitimately shocked if it wasn't solved by this time next year, hell E3 or something). It sucks but the amount of teeth gnashing and hyperbole ("digital money rape" was just yesterday!) that comes up anytime this topic is remotely broached, and especially with how "easy" a fix it is, just seems way out of proportion to me.

 

[WrenchNinja]

We can have both, but given the common and strident opinions over preserving physical games, it seems users who manipulate digital systems to effectively share games are an edge case on any platform or digital service.

i.e. the vast majority of people who want to share buy discs / cartridges.

If it's an edge case, it's not going to hurt Nintendo's bottom line for including the ability to do it like you can on every other freaking service.

 

[PaulLFC]

They're obviously not.
However, I'm sure they're not as smart as some forum poster with no real insider information nor a deep understanding of their network infrastructure. THAT sort of person certainly knows what's what!

When you've finished being sarcastic maybe you should consider that pretty much every service that allows the purchase of digital content, that has more than one system for consumption, has a unified account system. Therefore, it can't be that difficult to "solve".

 

[Elija2]

- What happens to people who have purchased the same game on different services? I assume the people who care enough to know about the account system care enough to know they spent $15-20 on stuff that's now only $5. It'll create a negative customer experience.

I imagine breaking your 3DS and not being able to restore your purchases on a new one would also create a negative customer experience.

 

[wsippel]

Apple piracy rates?

PSN still being alive and with better rep even after the hack?

Yes, both the iOS and the Mac App Store DRMs have been broken, and piracy rates are crazy. And yes, Sony managed to get PSN up and running again after several weeks, and managed to calm down most consumers, but that was an expensive and painful endeavor no company would want to repeat.

Piracy rates? Network hacks? What does that have anything to do with people asking for a proper account system?
I'm guessing we have to wait for nintendo's proper account system which will be piracy free and their network will never be hacked.

Piracy has nothing to do with DRM, which is the most integral part of an account system? OK.

 

[Kai Dracon]

If it's an edge case, it's not going to hurt Nintendo's bottom line for including the ability to do it like you can on every other freaking service.

That's why I think such factors are not really why Nintendo is dragging their heels, even though some think the main reason they don't have a competitive account system is to segregate game sales.

 

[Fracas]

I love Nintendo, but this is straight up inexcusable. Just a display of absolute incompetence. This is just so basic and I don't understand why it's such an issue for them.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

We can have both, but given the common and strident opinions over preserving physical games, it seems users who manipulate digital systems to effectively share games are an edge case on any platform or digital service.

i.e. the vast majority of people who want to share buy discs / cartridges.

.

And again, why not?

 

[Rodney McKay]

I'm not excusing it. I don't like the system the way it works. What I'm saying is it's not just a problem some high school student can knock off in one day as people have hyperbolically thrown around in this thread. There's more to it than just the links of the software.

Granted this is no simple "throw a switch and *POOF* it works" situation, but they first mentioned this unified account system over a year ago.

Honestly, at this point I could care less about having a joint 3DS/Wii U; I just want a basic account system that lets me sign put in a username and password on ANY 3DS I want and download my games. If I buy a new 3DS I wouldn't need to do a stupid wireless data transfer process which requires I keep my old system (so I can sell it first, as apposed to later). If I lose or destroy my 3DS and I buy a new one and easily sign in and download my games.

 

[Morfeo]

Lol, do they really need to solve anything here, why cant they just blatantly rip-off the competition - its not like they leave Nintendos ideas alone anyways.

 

[mantidor]

How many more users and purchases would they gain if users felt comfortable and confident in their services? You can't, as a business, get into that trap that your awkward, difficult to use system is the reason people are tied to it, and that opening it up will drive down sales because you'll lose that sliver that has to double-dip. The business world is littered with the corpses of companies who got out the gate first, but couldn't offer a music service like Apple, a game service like Steam, or a movie service like Netflix.

That is the crucial point, how many? and no, GAF is hardly representative of mainstream gaming. They know they have to move and evolve, that is for sure, but for games like say SMB3 wouldn't it be leaving money on the table to just make it wildly available? Their software is one of the few that retains value for a long time, specially old classics.

And that is a very stupid, shortsighted thought process.

Nintendo is leaving so much money on the table by not leveraging their fanbase / IP with a straight forward, easily portable, perk filled Nintendo account system that spans across all of their hardware.

They released GBA straight ports of NES games, at GBA prices, and worst, they actually sold . I think the unified account would be the thing leaving money on the table, at the very least, it's not something the should just jump right into and they should analyze carefully, which I'm sure is exactly what they are doing. Wind Waker HD is retailing at full price too, it's performance will for sure have some influence in how they are going to handle GC virtual console, even if it's not just a straight port.

I do think a lot of people haven't been paying attention when they repeat something like "Nintendo just wants to resell you stuff, that's why they have no accounts". I don't really think that's most of it. It's Nintendo that has gone out of their way - possibly even to their detriment - to provide backwards/forwards compatibility in both console and portable hardware. And device sometimes necessarily complex system and content transfer features.

At most, they're only guilty of the oft-cited claim when it comes to a separate virtual console on Wii U and 3DS given some of the same games are available on each VC. But I think on the whole, their reluctance to structure their digital services like most other companies is based on other concerns.

Backwards compatibility is a way to entice your current costumers to feel safer about jumping into the next hardware iteration, I don't see how it shows Nintendo doesn't favor double dipping. In fact VC Wii games have a fee if you want them transfered to WiiU.

 

[MercuryLS]

It still baffles me people are that naive to think "Nintendo don't know tecnology and the internets".


The obvious "problem" they haven't solved is how to adapt the business model correctly, since they can release the same game and get the same people to buy it several times, why give that up? If they ever make an unified account I wouldn't be surprised at all if my 3DS VC games don't replicate along all my Nintendo hardware. It's not them being tecnologically impaired, is them liking money.

Exactly. Nintendo have always been greedy fucks, it's also why it takes fucking forever to see price drops on Nintendo titles.

 

[enzo_gt]

Scott Moffitt: If you look at the account system, the network ID system that exists now on Wii U, that's an effort for us to move beyond a device-centric approach to an account-centric approach. But we haven't done it on the handheld side of the business at this point. We hear that feedback. We hear that criticism, or whatever you want to call it, from time to time. We're not blind to it. But it's not something we've solved.

 

[ElTorro]

Read the title and cried.

No hope for cross-buys either, then...

 

[Waylon Drums]

I'm not totally sure, do people here think this problem should have been solved already?

 

[Roto13]

I can kind of give them a pass on the Wii, but this shouldn't be an issue any more. They should have moved past this with the DSi. No later than the 3DS.

 

[pvpness]

I'm not totally sure, do people here think this problem should have been solved already?

Lol.

 

[EloquentM]

They're lying lol. Club Nintendo + wii u already shows signs of an account system. Someone up high probably doesn't want to do it.

 

[Lambtron]

Exactly. Nintendo have always been greedy fucks, it's also why it takes fucking forever to see price drops on Nintendo titles.

Nintendo titles don't drop in price because they aren't competing with themselves due to yearly iterations.

 

[mantidor]

I imagine breaking your 3DS and not being able to restore your purchases on a new one would also create a negative customer experience.

Except that you actually can. It's cumbersome, but you can restore your games.

 

[wsippel]

They're lying lol. Club Nintendo + wii u already shows signs of an account system. Someone up high probably doesn't want to do it.

I feel like I'm wearing down my keyboard for nothing, but again: the accounts aren't the problem. They already have accounts. The DRM is the problem.

 

[Javier]

Is this the first time they actually acknowledge this?

 

[I Stalk Alone]

Lol, do they really need to solve anything here, why cant they just blatantly rip-off the competition - its not like they leave Nintendos ideas alone anyways.

I wonder if what they are trying to solve is that they have to implement their own system without having to break an apple or ms or google software patent.

any takers?

 

[wsippel]

any takers?

Patents are certainly an issue as well, though copying Google or Apple would be a shitty idea to begin with - because their systems DO. NOT. WORK.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

I feel like I'm wearing down my keyboard for nothing, but again: the accounts aren't the problem. They already have accounts. The DRM is the problem.

Balls.

Everyone else has figured this out, they just don't want to do it.

 

[vagabondarts]

They won't even let you download save data from the cart to your system until you've bought the digital version.

Don't spin it, Moffit. These practices are cumbersome and unnecessary.

Unless Sony sales skyrocket I don't see them addressing it

 

[Mashing]

I think that what it comes down to is that Nintendo has very poor infrastructure (system administration and/or network administration) teams. They should think about hiring some new people that could probably solve this problem in less than a month.

 

[weevles]

This probably wouldn't have been so difficult to solve if they implemented everything the way every other game service else handles digital purchases in the first place.

 

[fabricated backlash]

What confuses me is that this isn't a complex technical problem. It isn't something that requires countless engineers working for years to discover.

It's essentially a commodified service that even small businesses are capable of. That means this is a structural problem and not a technical one.

I think that much is clear as day. The whole WiiU fiasko shows that the companies structures are way overdue for an overhaul.

 

[dcx4610]

Step 1. Create account
Step 2. Register hardware via serial number/MAC address
Step 3. Log in to any Nintendo system with said with said account.

Hire me Nintendo.

 

[Ricerocket]

The way I read it, they don't want to go with a universal account.

 

[lyrick]

As long as they don't go with the Hybrid Sony Model I'll be okay with whatever they do. If they want to go pure Account based like the earlier proposed Xbox One model or current Steam model that's great, if they want to stick with a pure Hardware based model it's almost passable and has allowed me to keep all my digital purchases thus far.

The Sony model can go to hell. It's part account and part hardware. with license activations differing for different types of media, game activations limited to a certain quantity of specific types of machines based on when you purchased them and no transparent future compatibility with console hardware.

 

[wsippel]

Balls.

Everyone else has figured this out, they just don't want to do it.

Yeah, they figured it out. That's why Google and Apple face piracy rates of up to 95% and can do fuck all to fix it.

 

[ElFly]

Isn't Scott Moffitt the marketing executive? Why would he know anything he hasn't been told yet?

It's the only guy journalists have access to.

They can't just walk up and interview whoever is in charge of the eshop.

 

[Gormless Noodle]

I personally think that Nintendo doesn't do it, purely to protect their younger userbase. The amount of Xbox Live accounts that have and are still being stolen, is pretty frightening and we don't even need to talk about Sony.

This might be their biggest worry and quite frankly, I think it's a valid one. Would I rather have an account system? Of course. But I can see their concerns.

 

[Waylon Drums]

Yeah, they figured it out. That's why Google and Apple face piracy rates of up to 95% and can do fuck all to fix it.

You're sounding way too pro-Nintendo right now. That's a paddlin'...

 

[Raytow]

They're obviously not.
However, I'm sure they're not as smart as some forum poster with no real insider information nor a deep understanding of their network infrastructure. THAT sort of person certainly knows what's what!

Hahahaha, oh boy are you seriously defending this?

 

[Lasdrub]

All they mean is that they haven't changed the way they do it. There is no problem that is preventing them from doing an account system unless the problem is that they haven't decided to do it yet. It's not a complicated thing.

 

[moltonasty]

As long as they don't go with the Hybrid Sony Model I'll be okay with whatever they do. If they want to go pure Account based like the earlier proposed Xbox One model or current Steam model that's great, if they want to stick with a pure Hardware based model it's almost passable and has allowed me to keep all my digital purchases thus far.

The Sony model can go to hell. It's part account and part hardware. with license activations differing for different types of media, game activations limited to a certain quantity of specific types of machines based on when you purchased them and no transparent future compatibility with console hardware.

Wat. The Sony model is fantastic...pay for a game once, and get to play it on my PS3 as well as my Vita (for compatible games). How can this be seen as a bad thing?

 

[Mithos]

Step 1. Create account
Step 2. Register hardware via serial number/MAC address
Step 3. Log in to any Nintendo system with said with said account.

Hire me Nintendo.

Step 1: Buy and download Ducktales Remastered on Console 1.
Step 2: Pull internet access on Console 1.
Step 3: Login on you account on Console 2
Step 4: Download Ducktales Remastered on Console 2.
Step 5: Play the game on both Consoles at the same time.

How do you stop Console 1 and Console 2 from being able to play the same game at the same time.

That is my guess on what Nintendo it trying to figure out.