Nintendo to introduce online play charges
Nintendo has announced plans to rake in even more cash out of the Wii. It will begin charging gamers to play some video games online over the console's Wi-Fi link.Dubbed Wi-Fi Connection Pay and Play, the service will see virtual red stickers added to certain titles to highlight to users that they must pay to play them online.
Although a formal pricing strategy hasn't been detailed yet, Nintendo did say that gamers will pay for titles using Wii Points, the console's virtual currency.
Gamers can already play lots of titles online for free and some content is expect to remain free of charge, but probably not the best stuff.
Nintendo's not alone in charging users to access online content. Xbox 360 owners can already access games and other material through the console's Xbox Live service, but gamers are offered a staggered pricing strategy. For example, the gold-level membership, which claims to offer exclusive content, costs £40 (€60/$80) per year, while access to the silver level is free.
"And the circle has been charged through the power of unphysics, which are physics so stupid they erase normal ones from your mind." -Wields-Rulebook-Heavily at rpg.net
if it gets a unified friends system and some better features, I'm fine with it.
For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I learned that, I gave Jesus a chance. ~Ron Shelton, Bull Durham, 1988
That's perfectly fine. Just give me a better way of adding/tracking friends, voice chat and DLC.
XBL / Art / Blog / Buy me!
Weird approach, saying that they will charge for the online play but not presenting anything that could make it worth looking twice at.
Computers don't make errors. What they do, they do on purpose. By now your name and particulars have been fed into every laptop, desktop, mainframe and supermarket scanner that collectively make up the global information conspiracy.
-- Dale Gribble
For some reason, I doubt that will come first.
I am also waiting for the USB hard drive. I'm not sure I want to see DLC for "Rock Band Wii" saved on SD cards.
"And the circle has been charged through the power of unphysics, which are physics so stupid they erase normal ones from your mind." -Wields-Rulebook-Heavily at rpg.net
Lots? I thought the number of games with online multiplayer could be counted on one hand.
Shame on you, Nintendo. First produce something worth paying for, then charge for it.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
BF2142 Stats
Yeah, pretty amazing. Paying money for the most ridiculous online system of the 3 major consoles? I'll pass.
xbox LIVE: NatsuMatto
That's What She Said -- A Podcast About NBC's THE OFFICE
I already don't play Wii games online because of the hassle and layers of freind codes. This just takes the extra step towards discouraging me from ever trying it.
I would think the first rule of PR is to ignore forum people, because they vacillate between crazy and liar. - Elysium
I'm pretty apathetic to wii online charges because I just don't associate the wii with any precedent, any concept or wish for online play. Nintendo has just never delivered it and it never really figured into the reasons I bought A Nintendo system for. The Wii is our family system. I'd be happy just to have the 4 of us Super Smash Brawling and Mario Karting around in the family room.
If they make the online system more robust, I can see why they may want or need to charge. Only time will tell though if its worth it.
Xbox Live: Irongut | Playstation ID: Irongut_GWJ
I might have missed it, but what exactly would I be paying for? Something like Xbox Live?
Honestly, I'm not seeing it, but Nintendo has a way to make stupid things work.
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
Engadget pretty much put my thoughts up:
It really just sounds like a case of:
-We know y'all are going to want to play our upcoming stuff online.
-We think you're all sheep with disposable income.
-We now have great way to separate you from that disposable income!
Now the Wii can print money too!
"And the circle has been charged through the power of unphysics, which are physics so stupid they erase normal ones from your mind." -Wields-Rulebook-Heavily at rpg.net
They are mad to think about charging people for the system as it is now. You know what I'll pay for Nintendo? More damn space in the Wii channel menu so I can access all my VC games at once and the ability to run crap off the damn SD card! USB hard disks are not necessary when you can have to to 8GB of additional storage simply by updating the firmware to let me use it.
"Just because something's popular, that sure doesn't make it right." -Penn Gilette
"You can't fix stupid." -Ron White
blog.digital-lifeline.ca
My feelings exactly.
"We are at war, and the enemies are...the publishers. No, they're not. It's not that easy. The enemies are mediocrity, laziness, and fear, and they exist in all of us." - Tim Schafer
XBL- Devmani
PSN - Devmani
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As far as I know, that's not how SD cards work.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
BF2142 Stats
You can run things off SD cards if the system is setup for it. You can do it easily on PCs.
"Just because something's popular, that sure doesn't make it right." -Penn Gilette
"You can't fix stupid." -Ron White
blog.digital-lifeline.ca
My first thought, when reading the title of the thread, was simply, "Aw, Hell No!"
My second thought, upon further consideration, is that I already pay for Xbox Live. If Nintendo could set up a compelling online community with worthwhile features, I could probably justify the cost.
My third thought was that I'd give my left arm for an online, silky-smooth Smash Bros. game. And probably my right arm for online Mario Kart. Which would leave me armless and unable to play, but surprisingly satisfied.
If Nintendo could pull off a serious online strategy, there's not a lot that could stop them from world domination. I just don't think they've got it in them.
"Even though that place should only be fifteen or twenty minutes away geographically, in actual practice - between the hours of four and seven - Redmond might as well orbit the Earth." - Tycho, Penny Arcade
It seems that people already get worked up about something that has not been really detailed at this point. Based on what's been said so far, they'll simply introduce a system that enables companies to offer subscriptions and DLC. There's no such option at this point, which is one of the reasons why there's no DLC for games like Guitar Hero III (or Rock Band on Wii, when it ships in Q2). Because right now there's no way for companies to do that.
It's not like they'll be requiring money for the service as it is right now.
That's true but I have no problem paying for the service if it's half decent, if the service stays like it is now with friends codes for each game and friends codes for the system than I do have a problem but I guess we will see.
Xbox 360 Live Tag: Lothar71 PSN - Lothars
"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"
Mex refering to Actresses:
Make no mistake, I'd hit them all so hard that my pelvis would have to be classified as a deadly weapon, I just don't think they're all
Maybe it's for companies who want to introduce some kind of MMO.
They are not talking about a subscription service like we have with Xbox Live. It is a game by game system, which is awful. I really don't want to have to decide which games are worth paying for, and when I need to turn off the service for a game I( don't think I will play online enough anymore.
From what little info they have released, I doubt we will use their online service at all. It's odd that MS did not include wireless out of the box, when it is clear that thye make a seriou amount of money from enticing people into their online service, while nintendo has it included so that I can look up the weather.
Both Sony and Nintendo have serious issues figuring out what an online service should be. All they can say right now is that it is free, but what they offer gives value to Xbox Live, which allows MS to charge for it. Nintendo charging really mucks up the landscape.
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What I got out of it is that it will be a pay per minute or pay per hour service. You spend wii points on a time card and buy another when that card is up. I don't think you'll have to decide which games you'll subscribe too.
"I am heavy weapons guy, this is my weapon. She weighs 150 kilograms and fires $200 custom tooled cartridges at 10,000 rounds per minute. It costs 400,000 dollars to fire this weapon for 12 seconds..."
This made me realize that I've never played online with the Wii. Maybe the surprisingly fun Medal Of Honor Heroes 2 warrants a try online. What else is there? I can't think of anything.
http://dustygamer.mcmuumio.net | Xbox Live Gamertag MC Muumio
Excuse me, I forgot. It's not innovation unless it involves another texture pass. - Tycho from Penny Arcade
Game journal - Infinite Ego
My Rock Band profile
Yes, but the way SD cards work that will wear them out much more quickly than using them purely as storage.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
BF2142 Stats
I don't see it as completely worthless. A human opponent is a good option over AI, if you don't like an AI's predictability. I've also played a ton of hours in BF2/2142 by myself on public servers without bothering to turn on voicechat or read text chat. The times I bother to read the chat lines, people aren't saying anything worth reading.
On the topic of Nintendo Wii online, did you guys read about how communication is being handled for the new Mario Kart? It appears that online gamers will be able to communicate via text between matches.
http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/855/855033p1.html?RSSwhen2008-02-26_10450...
I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it's a step in the right direction for Nintendo to connect gamers playing online. On the other, the antiquated set up is like a slap in the face to gamers who have been using voice chat for years.
I haven't played Strikers on-line, haven't even exchanged friend codes with my nephews yet. There just isn't that big of a motivation to set it all up ahead of time. I think if the Wii was doing things the way the 360 does, we would have had loads of games already.
Excuse me, I forgot. It's not innovation unless it involves another texture pass. - Tycho from Penny Arcade
Game journal - Infinite Ego
My Rock Band profile
It depends on the nature of the game. X-Box Live charges a monthly fee covering all games, even if there's only one game you want to play multiplayer. The games are also $60 bucks, a 20% premium over the typical Wii title. So there's a higher base cost associated with the full X-box live multiplayer experience.
If I pick a title, pay $50 for it, then pay and extra $5-10 to play multiplayer, I'm still doing okay. I don't play that many online titles. If I did, I'd rather have the X-box live "all inclusive" pricing plan.