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Nintendo Confirms Free Online Play For Wii

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the with-your-internets-and-whatnot dept.

Via Gamasutra, an interview in USA Today with Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime confirms that the Wii's online component will be free to play. The outspoken Nintendo advocate says "We will offer online-enabled games that the consumers will not have to pay a subscription fee for. They'll be able to enjoy that right out of the box. The Wii console is going to be Wi-Fi enabled, so essentially, you'll be able to plug it in and go. It won't have hidden fees or costs."

4 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. Not the VC by Wind_Walker · · Score: 4, Informative

    Let's make something clear though - the highly anticipated Virtual Console (which is able to download and play NES/Genesis/SNES/N64 games) will not be free. The pricing hasn't been released yet, but current estimates are $5 to $10 for a game. I would also hope that browsing these games would be free as well (unlike Xbox Live Arcade, where you must first pay for XBL and then pay again for XBLA games)

    This announcement is for games like Mario Kart Wii or (please God let this be true) Super Smash Brothers Wii. Those games will be free, and that's what Reggie was talking about.

  2. Here's the link by goodenoughnickname · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm not crazy -- this was already confirmed during E3: E306: Wii WiFi To Use Those Stupid @$#!ing Friend Codes

  3. Re:Now offer a Nintendo Game Development Center... by FLAGGR · · Score: 3, Informative

    Don't get your hopes up. Nintendo has to approve you before you get a devkit, which means you have to have the financial ability to make a game, the talent and staff to do it and probably a good idea (unless your a proven developer) If you think that you could make the cut, check out their official site:

    http://warioworld.com/
    and more specifically http://warioworld.com/apply/wii.html

    And this is nothing new by the way, its been the same for all their consoles. However they seem to be more interested in indie companies this generation. I quote, "Keep in mind that we typically look for companies that are established game developers."

  4. Re:Encryption level? by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 5, Informative


    Network encryption on the DS is done in software, not hardware. Each title comes with its own code for managing the wifi connection.

    The developers of Mario Kart DS were not able to implement anything more secure than WEP in that title without affecting playability. So that game does not support WPA and never will. It's not unreasonable, though, that later titles, once devs learn to make better use of the system -- or titles like the Opera browser in which frame-perfect network synchronization is not as critical -- may support additional forms of encryption.

    Myself, I just locked down my wireless router to require WEP and only accept traffic from the MAC addresses of the wireless gear I own. It seems a fair compromise eto me.