Nintendo Confirms Free Online Play For Wii

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."

Comments

Great Move

[tommertron]

Gets people to pick up the hardware. Also, if people can get on for free, it's a lot more likely that they'll stick around and maybe buy a few classic games.

Re:Great Move

[creepynut]

It's a tossup, but the way I see it there are 2 groups of people.

1. Those who buy/play games because they're good, fun games
2. Those who buy/play games because they want to get the most of their monthly subscription.

I most certainly fit into group 1. I don't have the time or money to throw away not only on a subscription, but on new games to keep me from getting bored with my subscription.

Live will have to follow suit

[SuperKendall]

It seems like with both Sony and Nintendo supplying free online match play, Microsoft will have to give in and make Live free. They can still make money selling games like Geometry Wars, and also in game content...

Re:Live will have to follow suit

[UbuntuDupe]

Yes, good point, the PS3 has a huge advantage in cost.

Re:Live will have to follow suit

[p0tat03]

Depends. If Ninty's online service is of the same calibre as Live (instead of just a random PC-like matchmaking service) and becomes HUGE, I can see Live becoming free. But as of now MS is the only one that has proven themselves capable of making a good console online experience.

Re:Live will have to follow suit

[xenocide2]

I doubt Nintendo will offer an IM service to players. It's useful and lets players build communities, but the potential for Internet preditory practices is something Nintendo understandably wants to avoid, at the expense of building an online community. Look at the awkward systems on the DS. You can't communicate with people you haven't already met in the real world. And even if you do get their number through outside means like a gamefaqs forum, few games allow serious conversations. Mario kart provides no method of communication at all. Metroid Prime only allows you to talk with people you've met before, and only during the time for choosing game options.

What this embargo on interplayer communication means is team oriented play is nigh impossible. You'd have to do something similar to the iconographic messages used in Phantasy Star Online, which was primarily designed to let people of different languages play together. Building up a meaningful vocabulary like that will take a lot of investment from both the designer and the players.

Re:Live will have to follow suit

[badasscat]

Mario kart provides no method of communication at all. Metroid Prime only allows you to talk with people you've met before, and only during the time for choosing game options.

Seriously, some of us actually prefer this. It's the really hardcore players that get into the whole "clan" thing - even instant messaging through a game console is pretty geeky. I mean you can talk about how many subscribers XBL has - you're still talking a couple million people out of a population of 300 million in this country, and it's been stuck at that same number for a long time now. (It's also counting people like me, who got a free subscription, never used it, and then let it lapse.) Online team play and online chat with random people are features for a) the very young, and/or b) the very hardcore.

I think one of the lessons you can take from the DS is that the mass market either doesn't mind, or actually prefers, to be without these features. One of the things that drove me away from XBL was just the sheer idiocy I was forced to endure, and I know I'm not the only one who feels that way. It got so I would actually disconnect my headset and try to play without it, but then I'd either get kicked out of games or not allowed in because you can tell who's not voice connected. So then I'd connect my headset but just leave it on the floor - worked a little better, but it's a stupid thing to have to do. The bottom line is while I want to be able to play against other people, I do not want to have to talk to or listen to them. I know I'm not alone in this - it may go against the hardcore gamer grain, but there is a lot of resistance among more casual players to being forced into this soup of mostly teenage male hormones.

I've always said that XBL is just a disaster waiting to happen. Someday, a teenage prostitution ring is going to be discovered operating through XBL and that'll pretty much be the end of that for MS. They'll be held liable, whatever their user agreement states. You can bet congress will take notice if the courts don't. Why would Nintendo want any part of that potential headache?

I think it's probably pretty smart to enable anyone to play online for free, but to sell some sort of microphone attacment to those who want it. So if you want to have your games with friends, or you want to use the service as a dating service or whatever, you can. But those of us who just want to play a quick game against a human without fuss and without having to deal with a bunch of morons can do so without being shunned because we've turned off a required piece of borg electronics.

Seals the deal

[Rectum2003]

This seals the deal for me! I wans't quite sure I wanted to buy a next-gen console, but this, the wi-mote, the 27-game lineup, the non-evil practices, I'm sold!

Re:Seals the deal

[WankersRevenge]

This seals the deal for me! I wans't quite sure I wanted to buy a next-gen console, but this, the wi-mote, the 27-game lineup, the non-evil practices, I'm sold!

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo#1990.E2.80.9 31995:

"By the end of the 1980s the courts found Nintendo guilty of anti-trust activities because it had abused its relationship with third-party developers and created a monopoly in the gaming industry by not allowing developers to make games for any other platforms."

All three of these next-gen console companies are bastards ... as a consumer, you should hope for a draw so that there is innovation as opposed to stagnation

Re:Seals the deal

[cowscows]

That was a good number of years, and a no-longer-existing monopoly ago. Nintendo really seems to be making a lot of the right moves as of late. They know that they have to earn their money now, they can't just dictate why people are going to give them money, or force unfavorable terms on developers. They've also had some employee turn-over over the decades, so hopefully they've purged most of that arrogant mindset.

While I'm not naive enough to think that the bottom line isn't Nintendo's biggest concern, their recent history, combined with what they've shown about their future leads me to forgive them their past wrongs. If they manage to pull together an 85% marketshare this next-gen somehow, and then start being assholes about it, my feelings will quickly change. But I don't see that happening, so I'm not too worried.

As for how it will really pan out, I hope Sony loses big, because they really could use the sort of humbling that Nintendo has already been through. Sony has basically gotten a draw(at best) with the PSP vs. the DS, and they still don't seem to have learned anything from it. Sometimes it takes a complete stomping to make people really reflect on the decisions they've been making. And even if the PS3 completely bombed, Nintendo and MS would still have each other to keep them reasonably honest.

Re:Seals the deal

[zerocool^]

Depends on if you're looking at letters of law or spirits of law.

By the letter of the law, people who host roms are giving away software which has not been released freely, and for which the copyright has not expired. I mean, it's only been 10-15 years since the SNES games were made and sold for $49.99. 15 year old books can't be given away for free.

However, by the spirit of the law... I don't see downloading ROMs as hurting someone. It isn't physically stealing, it's copyright infringement. No one is being deprived of a good or service. All of the money that has been spent on development, production, and marketing has already been spent. No additional money or effort is being spent by the copyright owners, and the games are no longer offered for sale. To me, that signals product abandonment.

This might change after the retro services offered by the Wii.

~Will

Re:Seals the deal

[LordKronos]

No additional money or effort is being spent by the copyright owners, and the games are no longer offered for sale. To me, that signals product abandonment.

That's
right.
These
games
have
been
completely
abandoned
by
Nintendo.

P.S.

Wow, Nintendo. You've won me back.

[dominion]

Damn, could they make the Wii any more attractive to casual gamers? I've always wanted to play online games, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna pay for a game, and then keep paying more for the service.

$200-$250 price point, fun games, and free online play. The only way they could make it more attractive is to [insert natalie portman reference here].

Not the VC

[Wind_Walker]

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.

Wiinner

[Belgarion89]

Did anyone else try pronouncing "wiinner" from TFA? Anyone who did keep a straight face?

Not to rain on a parade...

[Volante3192]

It's the same premise. 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.

Note they didn't explicitly say "online play will be free," rather that "some online content will be free."

This still leaves the door to some subscription based services, possibly including 3rd parties. Course, some free content better than no free content.

Just seems that the general view is everything online would be free, I just don't read it like that.

Re:Not to rain on a parade...

[MindStalker]

I think the "no hidden fees" bit is pretty self expanitory. SURE there may be a subscription based MMORG released, and noone expects that to be free, but its clear that all of what you get with an XBOX Live premium service will be free.

Sounds great, but please keep maintenance in mind.

[y5]

For me, the Xbox was much more fun online than the PS2 due to the fact that they actively maintained the network. While I could play SOCOM and deal with the abundance of hacks and online Pro Action Replay users, it just wasn't fun compared to any time I'd sit and play Rainbow Six 3 or even Halo2. And while I credit MS for not regarding its online game system as something that could police itself, I also understand that they wouldn't have done so if it weren't for the monthly fee.

On the end-user side, the presence of a monthly fee also helps cut down on people who would not otherwise regard their online gaming as a privilege. Sure, you have brats and cheaters, but not near the amount that were on the free PS2 connection.

Here's to hoping that the improvements in the online capability of the DS (compare Mario Kart DS to Metroid Prime Hunters) will carry on to the Wii, and continue to get better.

::fingers crossed:: And maybe my dream will come true. What are the chances of Nintendo buying all companies responsible for creating Pro Action Replay and like devices, and only releasing them for competing systems? I would love to see that =)

Re:Confirmation for friend codes as well?

[LordSkippy]

grownups play xbox games.

You sir, have evidently never been on X-Box Live. You'll never find a more wretched hive of foul-mouthed prepubescents.

Recently, a friend of mine said he was thinking of buying an X-Box 360. He wanted it because of the camera attachment being used in games, so he can see the other players. He thought it was cool.

My response: "I've played on Live with all the 13 year olds cussing in my ear. I don't think I want to see them."

Easy can be a bad thing

[roguenine19]

Nintendo is really trying to emphasize the ease with which one can do just about everything with a Wii: input is intuitive, online play is free and wifi is automatically enabled, etc.

However, all this ease of use can be a bad thing if it limits how we can use the system. The DS' online play, for example, was designed to be easy and straightforward, but in doing so it severely restricts the experience. In-game chat is nonexistant, friend codes are a pain in actual practice and it doesn't support WPA encryption. I see the same problems potentially popping up for the Wii. What if I don't want my box connected to the Internet when I'm not playing games? What if I want to be able to play online with random people, and not have to use a site for swapping friend codes? What if I want to use something stronger than WEP encryption?

Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to the Wii, because I trust Nintendo to deliver straightforward, fun games that Just Work. They have a good track record on that. What they don't have is a good record on online gaming.

I just hope they don't go so far in trying to make online gaming cheap, easy, and safe that it ends up being a royal pain to play. Then again, I suppose there are far worse things to be afraid of.

Encryption level?

[Sp00nMan]

I really, really hope the Wii doesn't only support WEP like the DS does. It's bad enough having to run my wireless network in degraded security mode. Maybe they will go with WPA2 and somehow upgrade the DS in the future?

Re:Encryption level?

[bwalling]

I really, really hope the Wii doesn't only support WEP like the DS does. It's bad enough having to run my wireless network in degraded security mode.

Sheesh, you nerd! It's your house - WEP is fine.

Re:Encryption level?

[poot_rootbeer]

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.

Re:Makes Strategic Sense

[danielk1982]

You do sound like an MBA student.