Slate Declares the Wii Online 'A Smashing Failure'

[Bigred]

Why is the online of the Wii being compared to XBL? They're not in the same league or the same thing. The only thing they may share is that they hold internet connections and allow for online play. Service, everything. It's all different.

Are you crazy? They're exactly the same thing except XBL is better... alot...

 

[jondeak]

Im sorry but their saying that its ok for xbox and sony to be online but not nintendo....um excuse me but lets not forget who started this show.......Nintendo. And they should 100% be connected.

 

[T3kNi9e]

Started what show? I hope you don't mean consoles, because Nintendo didn't start anything.. Atari was the first console o.o

and no, they are not saying Nintendo should not have online, it's saying they need to step their game up.

 

[Band geek]

Nintendo wasn't the first console by a longshot, but they did save the industry after the crash of '83.

 

[Dorkfish]

Are you crazy? They're exactly the same thing except XBL is better... alot...

Thats an oxymoron. How can they be the exact same thing yet have one be better than the other?

 

[illmasaki]

wii online isnt as good as xbl but it is free (at least for now)

friend codes are only required if u wanna play people you know. if u play randoms u dont need to use the friend codes at all

i agree that no voice chat is one drawback in wiis online features but who knows whats in store in the future.

but to say that ssbb is trying to appeal to casual gamers because of the lack of motion controls is stupid

in fact i think their should be more games that dont require motion controls
ninty should of created 2 different controllers, one which doesnt require any motion controls
oh wait they did

ninty does need some improvements for its online

once nintendo has more experience with online im sure it will get better

 

[T3kNi9e]

Okay, then how about not comparing it to XBL and compare it to PSN?

Wii's online isn't good at all, free or not free it sucks. PSN (Playstation Network) is free and still way better than Wii's "Online".

 

[sagema]

Too much was written. Here's what Nintendo needs for online. They need VC online like Zbattle for the Zsnes emulator. Next we need a mother fing chat room. Some way to communicate other than smoke signals. There. I fixed Nintendo's problems. Hire me Nintendo.

 

[Squall7]

Did you know Xbox Live has a "family zone" where you can play online without being mentally scarred by a few 'naughty' words?

Talk about playing down, a "few" naughty words isn't a problem. A stream of offensive words is.

Rather than being paranoid about the whole online thing Nintendo could have learned from Microsoft and allowed the user to decide for themselves how 'safe' they want to be online.

You say paranoid, I say secure and protected. Also, why is it that people seem to think that there's no way of doing online unless it's the Microsoft way? Like I said before, if you want a "Live" style online, there's always xbox Live.

Have you actually used Xbox Live? I can assure you, it's quite possible to play against people you want to play against on it.

When you're entering groups on things like Halo and COD4, in my experience you don't know everyone playing. If it's a 4 player or less, I can see how it is possible.

And friend codes really are a hassle, especially when you have a different code for every bloody game (why not keep it unified?).

To be honest, I'm not that bothered. I know the people who I enter in friend codes for will be up for it. Even if they're not, it's only a 12 digit number. Not like anyone's asked me to go to their house to get their friendcode. It should be a minor inconvienience (sp?) at most, yet a lot of people are whining on about it all the time.

Oh yes, and I think the Wii would have been better off with a hard drive. 512 MB is just too small for building up a collection of VC games and Wiiware. You'll get no argument from me on the lack of microtransactions for the Wii though, they're a plague on the video games industry.

VC have no collectable value and can be redownloaded whenever (at least not in the sense that they're limited and rare). It kind makes little sense to have them clog up your hard drive in the first place (unless you like maxing out the number of VC games you download, and playing them all at the same time, rather than one at a time).

Besides, I've got an SD card. You can always transfer them to the SD card for safe keeping, then put the ones that you want to play on the Wii's system.

Admittedly limiting the HD is limiting the Wiiware, but then it wasn't designed for memory hungry games anyway, but rather lighter almost VC style games that are completely original.

All this bad rep about Nintendo's online doesn't really take into account that it is a family machine. If a child wants to play with a school friend over the internet, at least the friendcodes allow them to make sure it's just them that are playing, that they both want to play and that it's in a safe environment. I'm sure if Nintendo had online exactly like Xbox Live, parent's wouldn't be pleased. And also, non-"core" gamers would feel isolated too, since a lot of the stuff being said can be rather elitist. With games like COD4 actually rewarding players that get multiple kills by giving them an even easier time killing the poor "non-elite", it's easy to understand how certain mechanisms can actually alienate people who don't play all that often. Sure you can back out of matches with people who have a higher gamerscore or whatever, but in the end, isn't that promoting a two-tier gaming philosophy, rather than a whole "We play" philosophy?

Some people seem to either not grasp the concept of easily MUTING someone or being such a stupid fanboy they choose to ignore it all together just do they basically have their own "In Wii's Defense"

Yes, but in order for you to choose whether or not to mute somebody, that certain sombody has to start their flaming/trash talk/whatever in the first place. If I'm playing against someone in real life, I don't expect a stream of vulgarity while I'm trying to enjoy a game. And what exactly does "voice chat" add to the game exactly? Why would you need it on any "free-for-all" games, or any one-to-one games? Heck even team games, there's usually only a select amount of instructions that could be mapped to the buttons anyway. Besides, team games, from what I've witnessed is usually a case of free-for-all, but you're only shooting half the people instead of everyone else. I certainly don't think there's really any Wii games that really neccessitate voice chat atm. Besides, surely it takes up bandwidth? I know I'd prefer to have a smoother game than one that lags like crazy, but you can still ***** about anyone else. I know for a lot of people it isn't merely a choice, but to some, it might just be...

 

[Napalmbrain]

I never said they have to do it "Live style"- I have no idea how good the PS3's online services are. What I'm saying is that Live makes an excellent example of how to do things. Let the customer decide how 'secure' they want to be, and if someone breaks the rules you could always report them to Nintendo. And if it comes down it, other people in this thread have already mentioned that you could simply mute the voice chat.

 

[Squall7]

I never said they have to do it "Live style"

Yes, but you were comparing them, thus you're saying the ideal online would be live and therefore anything that doesn't have Live's features is not as good.

- I have no idea how good the PS3's online services are.

Neither do I, but as far as I'm aware, they have similar services. This is another example of "follow the market leader", as though it's set to be the future of gaming.

What I'm saying is that Live makes an excellent example of how to do things.

Yes, if you don't really have much of an expanded audience, and instead usually have "core" gamers. Nintendo isn't exclusively for the "core", and for some reason, it's part of what seems to be peeving people off - why can't people just share their console? It's not like they're trying to steal your gaming experience, merely expanding it.

Let the customer decide how 'secure' they want to be, and if someone breaks the rules you could always report them to Nintendo.

That would be great in theory. Wouldn't work in praticality. Otherwise we wouldn't have such media crusades such as Manhunt 2, Bully, Mass Effect, etc... It's obvious the parent's often don't give a blind bit of notice to things like certification and parental controls. I do blame the parent's, but then the system isn't perfect either.

And if it comes down it, other people in this thread have already mentioned that you could simply mute the voice chat.

As I mentioned before, you have to hear it in the first place to decide to turn it off. Not to mention the fact that you still know its going on. Sometimes it's not the words people say, but the fact that they're saying them that really peeves me off. Whether I mute or not, they will still be saying stuff. I'm not sure if I really want to play with somebody like that. Sure you can report, but then it seems many people like trash talk, if I tried to ban all of them, then there wouldn't be many people left...

 

[Napalmbrain]

Yes, but you were comparing them, thus you're saying the ideal online would be live and therefore anything that doesn't have Live's features is not as good.

Neither do I, but as far as I'm aware, they have similar services. This is another example of "follow the market leader", as though it's set to be the future of gaming.

Yes, if you don't really have much of an expanded audience, and instead usually have "core" gamers. Nintendo isn't exclusively for the "core", and for some reason, it's part of what seems to be peeving people off - why can't people just share their console? It's not like they're trying to steal your gaming experience, merely expanding it.

We wouldn't all be comparing it to Xbox Live if we didn't think that was the best system. If Microsoft are the market leader then there must be a good reason why they got there.

That would be great in theory. Wouldn't work in praticality. Otherwise we wouldn't have such media crusades such as Manhunt 2, Bully, Mass Effect, etc... It's obvious the parent's often don't give a blind bit of notice to things like certification and parental controls. I do blame the parent's, but then the system isn't perfect either.

Nintendo have provided adequate parental controls, and if those parents fail to take heed of them, it's their own fault.

As I mentioned before, you have to hear it in the first place to decide to turn it off. Not to mention the fact that you still know its going on. Sometimes it's not the words people say, but the fact that they're saying them that really peeves me off. Whether I mute or not, they will still be saying stuff. I'm not sure if I really want to play with somebody like that. Sure you can report, but then it seems many people like trash talk, if I tried to ban all of them, then there wouldn't be many people left...

You act as if almost every online player is a trash-talking kid, but there are plenty of normal, decent people who play online. Why should the chance for friendly banter via voice chat be taken away because of a few idiots? You've had friends around to play together on multiplayer games, right? I bet you don't sit in silence.

 

[Squall7]

We wouldn't all be comparing it to Xbox Live if we didn't think that was the best system. If Microsoft are the market leader then there must be a good reason why they got there.

There's plenty of reasons why consoles sell. Xbox 360 is very different to the Wii. It seems a lot of the time though, people aren't complaining about lack of 360 Live style service, but rather that it isn't Live at all (for example, people wanting gamertags, and all the extra trimmings of Live).

Nintendo have provided adequate parental controls, and if those parents fail to take heed of them, it's their own fault.

Hence why it might work in theory, but not in practice.

You act as if almost every online player is a trash-talking kid, but there are plenty of normal, decent people who play online.

I'm sure there are, but there is also a lot of the former too.

Why should the chance for friendly banter via voice chat be taken away because of a few idiots? You've had friends around to play together on multiplayer games, right? I bet you don't sit in silence.

The kind of discussions that my friends and I have during local multiplayer games don't usually consist of "noob" being said every 5 minutes and "B*tch" being said. Besides, even if something was said, it was said between friends, and not broadcast out to strangers. Like I said before, even I sometimes swear when I get angry, or when I'm trying to fight against something very difficult, I don't want what I say to be transmitted out to people I don't know well in real life. Likewise, I don't want to hear it from others, and there are people out there that do like to swear, a lot, online (heck even sat through a Vlog of a young girl "defending" her right to offend others on xbox live).

 

[Napalmbrain]

There's plenty of reasons why consoles sell. Xbox 360 is very different to the Wii. It seems a lot of the time though, people aren't complaining about lack of 360 Live style service, but rather that it isn't Live at all (for example, people wanting gamertags, and all the extra trimmings of Live).

Hence why it might work in theory, but not in practice.

No, I'm saying that because there's protection already there it's the parent's fault if they don't take notice, and they shouldn't go whining to Nintendo.

I'm sure there are, but there is also a lot of the former too.


The kind of discussions that my friends and I have during local multiplayer games don't usually consist of "noob" being said every 5 minutes and "B*tch" being said. Besides, even if something was said, it was said between friends, and not broadcast out to strangers. Like I said before, even I sometimes swear when I get angry, or when I'm trying to fight against something very difficult, I don't want what I say to be transmitted out to people I don't know well in real life. Likewise, I don't want to hear it from others, and there are people out there that do like to swear, a lot, online (heck even sat through a Vlog of a young girl "defending" her right to offend others on xbox live).

While playing against friends online, things would still be said between friends, just through a voice chat system. Why not let me, the consumer, decide for myself if I'm okay with trash talk and such, instead of having the decision made for me? Perhaps you could have a system where, for example, you could decide to enable voice chat for matches between friends, and disable for matches with strangers, if you so wished?

 

[Squall7]

No, I'm saying that because there's protection already there it's the parent's fault if they don't take notice, and they shouldn't go whining to Nintendo.

Yet it does happen in practice. People do complain. They shouldn't, but they do.

While playing against friends online, things would still be said between friends, just through a voice chat system. Why not let me, the consumer, decide for myself if I'm okay with trash talk and such, instead of having the decision made for me? Perhaps you could have a system where, for example, you could decide to enable voice chat for matches between friends, and disable for matches with strangers, if you so wished?

Regardless, I still don't see voice chat as a neccessity. Perhaps I've just had a bitter experience. Text is fine with me.

Even so, lack of voice chat shouldn't really be enough to dissuade people from going online with the Wii. I mean, how many forms of communication do we really need? We've got phones, text on MSN etc... Heck if we wanted to brag to friends, we can even save our matches on brawl and send them to friends to prove how "awesome" you are, even if your friend is not playing the game at that moment.

Besides all this, I still prefer playing with friends in the room. It's not always possible, but then in the mean time, there's always those single player games...