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Wii Games Go Online, Lose Happy Clouds

Posted by Zonk on from the but-the-happy-clouds dept.

Ars Technica has the news of some comments made by Reggie Fils-Aime on the SpikeTV show GameHead about Wii's online multiplayer future. Essentially, there aren't any games in the near future to look forward to, online. The Japanese launch saw the inclusion of Pokemon Battle Revolution, a with a solid online mode. The first batch of online games is slated for sometime around March or April. From the article: "Many games still in development for the Wii are designed around playing with people who are physically present: a recent preview of a new anime-themed golf game for the Wii on Electric Playground revealed that the developers had not included online multiplayer modes. Fils-Aime also indicated that new multiplayer channels were on their way for the Wii's online service, but declined to give any details about what new features might be enabled on them." In somewhat related news, it seems that the Bob Ross game may not end up happening after all. The loss of happy little clouds will be felt by every Wii owner.

13 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Online Wii killer app... by Pojut · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You heard me say it here and now folks. If the new Smash Brothers is online-capable, and they do it right...holy shit.

    --
    Living With a Nerd
    1. Re:Online Wii killer app... by Hott+of+the+World · · Score: 3, Informative

      Just the implication of what it will mean for Nintendo, will guarantee that they won't "do it right".

      I'm hoping and wishing as much as the next guy, but the smart money is on being let down with the multiplayer aspects. I don't blame them, much. Multiplayer is damn hard to do right. Especially on a console.

      and It's damned impossible to do it for free.

      --
      | - | - |
    2. Re:Online Wii killer app... by seebs · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I can't imagine a playable online version of Smash Brothers; I don't have good enough latency to play it from anywhere to anywhere else. Way too much immediate response involved.

      --
      My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
    3. Re:Online Wii killer app... by AuMatar · · Score: 4, Insightful

      THe complete opposite- voice is ok when with your guild, but with random players? Totally ruins the experience. I really don't want to hear random 13 year olds whining when I kick their ass, or dragging when they kick mine. Or random chatter about their lives that I quite honestly don't give a damn about.

      --
      I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  2. That's a shame... by EmDot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't they know all the world needs is a little Prussian Blue?

    --
    "The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success" -em
    1. Re:That's a shame... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      "All right, we are going to use a fan brush here and uh why don't you take some hunter green and we are going to put a happy little bush right down over here in the corner there and that'll just be our little secret and if you tell anyone that that bush is there I will come to your house and I will cut you." -- Bob Ross on The Family Guy

  3. Friend codes by interiot · · Score: 3, Informative

    Honestly, even if there were multiplayer games, they'd still be hampered by friend codes. I understand Nintendo's motivations for using friend codes, but still, they're a pretty big drag on online multiplayer, especially for adults want to play by some other schedule than when their handful of friends are on.

    1. Re:Friend codes by Defiant00 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Based off of the DS' implementation of friend codes, you can play with random people (and in the case of Clubhouse Games it removes the drawing/chat and instead just lets you pick standard questions/comments as well). The only thing friend codes are for is for playing with your friends, not making it so you cannot play with anyone else.

      Of course, you can select to play with only those who you are friends with, but that does not prohibit you from being randomly matched up with an opponent who you have not exchanged codes with.

      The only game that I know of that you had to have a friend code for was Animal Crossing, and that merely because the average person wouldn't want random visitors trashing their towns.

      Games that allow random play:
      Mario Kart
      Tetris
      Clubhouse Games
      Metroid Prime Hunters

      I'm sure I'm forgetting a few more, but those are the ones I have.

    2. Re:Friend codes by mjhacker · · Score: 3, Informative

      Star Fox: Command
      LostMagic

      I don't see why everyone freaks out about Friend Codes... maybe they're just misinformed.

  4. Mii Parade by Ark42 · · Score: 4, Interesting


    I'm really sad that my Mii Parade is always empty. None of my friends can afford a Wii, so I never get to interact with others online. Why the heck isn't there an option to do something like enter your zip code and obtain Mii's from people within a certain radius from you or something?

    --
    Morphing Software
  5. Re:Bob Ross Would Be the Killer App on Wii by hibiki_r · · Score: 4, Informative

    Since the wiimote doesn't try determine the size of your screen at all, just increasing the sensitivity would be enough to make a painting game as precise as they want. Almost every game menu uses the remote as a pointer anyway, so the resolution is definitely there.

  6. Re:Well it's not online but... by Phisbut · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Online is good and all but with out a solid online platform having to share friends codes is more than a little annoying. Especially if we are forced to both be on at the same time.

    How do you expect to play online with your friends if you are not all online at the same time? Does Xbox Live somehow manage to let you play online with people that are offline?!?

    --
    After 3 days without programming, life becomes meaningless
    - The Tao of Programming
  7. I don't think the Wii NEEDS online. At all. by HeavenlyBankAcct · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Wii seems to me like it's designed to be a social device, the type of system you play with your family and friends. Online gaming is only 'social' at its lowest common denominator. I, for one, don't give much of a shit whether the Wii EVER "gets online right." In my mind, they've already gotten multi-player right by focusing on solid, fun, and communal play when two people are in the same room.

    I play MMO's and I dig the pervasive online nature of the beast, but more than that, I love playing the Wii with my real life friends -- I, for one, have no desire to play Wii Tennis with STABZUFACE24 from Wisconsin. Am I alone here? I'm sure there's got to be more gamers than me out there who really don't care about online multi-player whatsoever, when half the fun of it is you and your buddies laughing at each other making asses out of yourselves.