Official: Wii Online Sucks

[bignds]

In the latest issue of the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine , Next Level Games' Mike Inglehart, Director of Mario Strikers Charged, has confirmed the online Wi-Fi mode will only be region-specific to prevent lag issues.

This is from Cubed, and I can back them up, because I have the magazine.

So yeah, could Nintendo **** themselves over anymore? First game specific codes and now this?

[ShadowMarth]

Oh quit your *****ing. It's soccer, that's regional anyway. Badum-psh

[Pilot_51]

As long as it's up to the software to determine if multiplayer is region free or not, I'm not too worried. With sports like soccer which are fast-paced and require good timing, I can easily see why they would want to reduce lag with such drastic measures, it would be havoc playing with people on the other side of the planet.

[bignds]

Originally Posted by ShadowMarth

Oh quit your *****ing. It's soccer, that's regional anyway. Badum-psh

Whining? Sorry for wanting a half decent online service. The point is, it's not acceptable to be having region specific online games in 2007. Having to put up with this AND game specific friend codes? Heh, this only reiterates my decision to buy a 360 this summer.

[Mormon]

who cares if its region specific?

certainly not i.

[Lkr]

biggy go play CS:S on a Chinese server. 5 bucks says it'll lag

[DSDude]

Actually, region-specific is just bleh. In this day and age, if a game like Mario Strikers can't be played between oceans, then we've reached a low. Now, obviously the farther apart the opponents, the more it takes for the information to be reached. However, isn't Mario Strikers a 1-on-1 (or 2-on-2) game? This isn't anything like a Battlefield game with 32 players (hell, I've played such games with minimal lag), this is basically back-and-forth between a couple of people. That shouldn't be so difficult to program. Also, if I have to put in a damn code to play against my friend, shouldn't the lag problem be irrelevant? The point is that I just wanna have fun and communicate with someone I know, missed goals be damned.

I'm very disappointed with the route Nintendo is currently taking with its online multiplayer. Isn't the point of online gaming on consoles ease of use? I understand that MS has been building upon the Live service for years now, but I'll be damned if it isn't one of the best and easiest experiences to play online against friends (I've turned many on-the-fence friends into 360 owners based on the Live prospect alone, and all are greatly satisfied). Now I hear Nintendo, the king of making simple things fun, has a convoluted method for having people play competitively online? Doesn't sit quite right with me. I understand that the Wii isn't even a year old, but damn. Why isn't Nintendo creating a more unified network and aiding developers more in online gaming? Makes my Wii purchase slightly less worth it, because I can't always have friends & family over to play.

The whole reason I wanted Mario Strikers Charged was for the prospect of playing against some of our members on other continents through the Wii. Now I'm stuck playing against Mormon and Lkr? I'll pass, thanks. That's not even to mention the many friends I have that live in various other parts of the world that I game normally with on Live. I love my Wii, but I think I was right in thinking that I would lower my expectations for its online multiplayer. Got my 360 and PC for those.

You'd do well to get a 360, biggy, if you want REAL console online multi.

[Pilot_51]

Do we actually know that Mario Strikers is 100% region specific or is it just the random matching that's region specific? I think it's stupid for them to keep you from playing a friend in another continent when you try putting in their code regardless of lag.

Personally I don't think a typical console could beat my PC for online experience, basically because a typical console plays about every type of game a PC does but with different controls that I don't like. Wii on the other hand isn't a typical console and because the controls are so different, many of the games are very different to the point where a PC is at the disadvantage for controller flexibility (unless you hack the Wiimote to work with a PC, but then the games are a problem). Nintendo also bumped up the bar by bringing the control capabilities of handhelds from just a few buttons to PC-like control. That is why only Wii is the console I want to play online with, because it's so very different from PC multiplayer.

I agree Nintendo is handling the online aspect horribly, but I think the whole reason is because they're trying to keep the kids as safe as they can with such an online service, because they know that they're company is trusted by parents to the point where parents don't monitor what their kids do on Nintendo systems. Heck, most parents don't even monitor their kids on other systems including PC (if they do they probably end up on some TV show about online safety). While Nintendo is late jumping on the online bandwagon, I'm confident they'll get it figured out by the next generation. Until then, I've got my PC for hardcore online gaming and my DS for the semi-hardcore.

[Lkr]

you see, but who gives a ****? its mario soccer. i could honestly care less about this game, so you won't have to play me dsdude :P

[bignds]

I wrote up a really long post, but my browser then crashed. So in short.

-I don't care if little Jimmy's parents feel unsafe if he's playing Mario Kart with a 'stranger'.

-I thought Parental Controls on Wii would have eliminated the need of Friend Codes.

-Lkr, it's not so much about th game, its the principle.

I agree pretty much with DSdude on this. And Dsdude? I'll see you on Live.