No 3rd Party Online Support for Wii Until Next Year?

Via Joystiq, a preview for Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam at IGN. Such a thing isn't really news, of course, but down at the bottom of the article there is some distressing information. According to IGN, third party online support for the Wii will have to wait until next year. Joystiq points out that this could mean launch titles like Monkey Ball, Blazing Angels, and Call of Duty 3 may be offline-only.

Comments

Re:Geez, it's a $200 system!

[hal2814]

I don't see how it can't be justifiable. X-Box live didn't launch with the X-Box but Microsoft kept plugging it as a major selling point. The 360 is gung ho HD-DVD even though it's not being offered right now and it made a big deal out its backwards compatibility that is still a work in progress. And one day, you'll be able to turn your Colecovision into a computer with a keyboard module. Ok, maybe the last one was a stretch but they were telling us that at launch and it did help sell units. Not every piece of hardware or piece of functionality in general is available at launch.

Re:Audience

[brkello]

Wow. Something that could be perceived to be negative about the Wii is reported and the highly moderated posts are the ones who rush to defend their actions. Not a surprise but it still bugs the living heck out of me. What this is saying is that third party launch titles will not be online. Yeah, games in the future will have it...but still it sucks that the Wii will be limited for those initial games.

Listen, companies you love can do bad things. Companies you hate can do good things. If what IGN is reporting is true (big if), then this is a dumb move by Nintendo. The only good thing you can say about it is that at least it isn't something they plan to be permanent.

As far as the whole "myspace" comment goes...saying that Nintendo is doing this to avoid pedophiles...give me a break. If there is a post in here where the government is trying to protect children from adult content, everyone runs around in circles screaming how terrible that is and how parents should be responsible (and I agree). But as soon as Nintendo does it, it is a good thing? I don't think so. I sincerely hope they don't force a similar "friend code" system on the Wii. It just makes it a pain in the butt to maintain friends and set up games.