What is Nintendo waiting for? March 27, 2007
A very interesting opinion piece written by (site was down during posting of this article): videolamer.com
Nintendo has a chance to regain some market share this generation. The Wii is still hard to find five months after launch and there are reports that Nintendo’s stated mission of expanding the market is succeeding. But for every smart move they make, a dumb one – like keeping the friend code system intact – is soon to follow. I have compiled a short list of things Nintendo really should do sooner rather than later.
The most grievous sin Nintendo has committed is their neglect of online play. What were they doing while Xbox Live took off? It’s as if they only started thinking about the structure of Wii online after the system launched, instead of seven years ago when SegaNet showed us how cool online gaming could be. Personally, I think the lack of online capability (for gaming right now) is what makes the Wii feel a little old, not the weaker comparative processing power.
Neglecting the online component doesn’t only hurt the consumers, though. Wii Sports Online would be more popular than Jesus, Mohamed, and Pee Wee Herman combined. Nintendo is really missing the opportunity to have a second money printing game machine. Conversely, the lack of a strong online component may scare off fence sitters. It’s a little silly that you can play free MMO games on your PC but can’t play much Wii online.
That Nintendo refuses to enable Virtual Console games for online play is their second stupidest move. Playing Double Dungeons may be less amusing than playing Saga Frontier while being murdered, but if I could play it online with Pat, there is no doubt in my mind I would. Streets of Rage, Toejam and Earl, Tecmo Bowl, Contra III, Puyo Puyo, Gunstar Heroes…I’d even play Altered Beast online once, if only to pretend it’s 1989 again (it was good back then, especially if you were seven and retarded).
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Prolonged exposure to Saga Frontier has been proven to cause cancer in lab rats.
According to the programmers I’ve spoken to, it likely wouldn’t take an inordinate amount of time to rework these games for internet play. Nintendo has played the, “true to the original� card pretty well, but most people can still see through it. “True to the original� really means, “no extra work for us.� Why they won’t enable these VC games for online play is mysterious. Sales would surely improve enough to make the effort payoff.
Here’s something Nintendo actually said was a possibility – translated VC games. Imagine Lady Stalker, FEDA, Fire Emblem, Der Langrisser, Bahamut Lagoon, Battlemania 2, Monster World IV, Shin Megami Tensei, Rent-a-hero, or Bahamut Senki fully localized and available for eight bucks. You may not recognize many of these games, but I assure you they would change your life…but only if they are in English (the language of change)!
And then there are all those indie games on the Wii that we are still waiting for. A fully realized Indie Channel would be extremely cool. This component is more important than Nintendo realizes because it can justify their entire business strategy. The Wii is cheap to develop for and I’d argue a democratic view on development follows naturally from an attempt to widen the market.
Ideological nonsense aside, the amount of unique content that an Indie Channel would offer could keep gamers glued to their Wii in these drought periods between big games. Murmurs of this channel have been heard for a while now, but if Nintendo knew what they were doing they’d already have half a dozen smaller games available for download.
Finally, there are the improved GameCube games Miyamoto mentioned. Better graphics, possibly new features? This isn’t necessarily a great idea, but it’s another bullet point on the list of things Nintendo “may� do on the Wii. I have no idea how it would work, but let’s pretend you can pay a few bucks to download the super code that will improve the game, which you already have a disc for. I’d probably play a prettier, extended version of Luigi’s Mansion, and I’d certainly pay some money for an online multiplayer version of Pikmin.
Part of the problem Nintendo runs into with this improvement concept is that historically, sequels are nothing but better graphics and a new mode taped on to an original game. Online Double Dash would eat into sales of the Wii Mario Kart, and why would they give us multiplayer Pikmin when they can just release the same game as Pikmin 3 and charge $40 more? Still, no one lesser than Shigeru Miyamoto himself said they are looking into the concept of beefing up GC games. I’d prefer it if this panned out and wasn’t another thing Nintendo talked up then ignored.
It is clear why Nintendo haven’t done these things yet – they cost money and take time. But every half assed game or product they make impedes the progress of these listed goals. Instead of spending the time and money on the new reportedly shitty Wario game for the DS, they could have localized four Japanese RPGs.
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I’m stumped! Nintendo is a front runner in developing new ways to play games. Think about it! The virtual boy, N64 analog stick controller, all the great functions of the Nintendo DS we had never seen before and now the Wii… yet they won’t use technology their competitors use that the consumer demands?
Earlier there were talks of Nintendo and Apple merging and Reggie made the statement that Nintendo liked having control of their own ecosystem or something like that. I think thats exactly it. Nintendo is simply stubborn! They only want to do what they want to do their way!
+1 on both the article and on the above comment. It truly blows my mind to watch nintendo take a huge step forward by creating such an intuitive gaming system, and then take an even bigger jump backwards by not utilizing it’s online capabilities early on. Just thinking about playing Double Dragon 2 online takes me back to junior high. That was one game that me and my cousin were disgustedly good at, and I would love to relive that without having to drive over to his house that is just too far away. C’mon Nintendo, pick up the ball you dropped and run with it. I’m not sorry that I bought the Wii, but I’ll be truthful and say that I haven’t been playing it much. After I had beaten Zelda and Excite Truck, I haven’t really touched it. I use it to play SSBM and the first Baiten Katos, and of course Wii Sports, but just not as much as I use my PC and Xbox 360. That being said, I’ll still stand by Nintendo, even though they are making me feel like I’m walking in sand.
Great report and some things to think about. I don’t think its too late for Nintendo even if we must wait till after the Pokemon launch to play online. I couldn’t give you a reason why Nintendo has done this….again. People wanted online on the Cube as well if I remember correctly and that never happened. In fact I recall them having a lot to say about their brand of gaming. I see the Wii as a culmination of that brand, uniting the household and making games more accessible. Online gaming for the most part is oriented toward more advanced users as rediculous as that might sound. Sure Nintendo has cut their foot off here but at the same time they understand how to appeal to a market of their choosing. While I and others might not get this reasoning, it makes some sense from a business stand point. Their brand was made to be a communitive system with in person interaction. In their eyes online gaming would sorta defeat that (maybe).
Ultimately I don’t think Nintendo adding online connectivity will be its downfall, far from it. They just know the majority of their audience and want to make a product specific to them. I don’t know if any of this makes sense to anyone. Think of McDonald’s and the success of the original cheeseburger as compared to the arch deluxe.
When does Nintendo ever listen to it’s consumers and loyal fans?!
Nintendo is merely rolling out features at a constant rate to constantly attract people to the Wii. And not wasting them at once.
!!!! PLEASE NOTE !!!!!
The PHOTOGRAPH used on this “report” has been STOLEN from my Flickr account. It has been USED without my PERMISSION and I deem that this has VIOLATED my personal rights. As a regular visitor to this site I was majorly disappointed to see that the photo was used without asking permission first. I have never to date refused the use of a photo and I would have allowed it of course but given the circumstances (that I was not asked) I will have to ask that the author removes the photo immediately.
This is the first warning, escalations to follow.
- Greg Ryan
Hmm… Which one Greg Ryan? The Wifi adapter? Or is it the image at the top of the screen? Either way, if you are worried about your intellectual property being stolen you might want to keep it off the net from now on.
The leading photo of the article!
© All rights reserved!
Clearly displayed on the source website AND if you might note, I have a copyright clearly displayed on the photo itself.
See the original Flickr post and you shall see.
GET THIS PHOTO OFF THIS SITE NOW!!!
And shanoboy… my intellectual property has been shared throughout many websites…. after permission was granted. I have no problem in sharing my wealth and nuggets…. I get pissed at people taking something that they have no right to use for their own sites promoting their “own” stories. All the work here has been rehashed.
Escalating!
i agree with noodle. why would nintendo want to sell more consoles while they can’t even keep up with demand. all nintendo fans should just learn to be patient
Hi agree with Greg Ryan if this is he’s picture AND IT IS it should should be removed now. As you have not got PERMISSION to use it….. Take it down NOW………
As on the above,
Using Greg’s Photo is Stealing his intellectual property.
PLease remove asap…
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RE: COPYRIGHT PHOTO BEING USED ON SITE!
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I am very disappointed to see a copyright protected photo being used on this site, and i hope that this is not the case with all the photos being shown on this site.
I think the author needs to do a bit of research into the photos they use, and also they should read up on violation of copyright acts, as it seems that copyright means nothing to them!
Please dont steal photos. It takes photoshop nerds a long time to do these.
Hi, agree with Mark. Greg is entitled to the basic courtesy of being asked before his Flickr pics are used.
It says little for the professionalism of this site if it not only steals copyrighted photos but also slyly frames the copyright message out of sight.
I wouldn’t advertise with such amateurs!!!!
I am going with Greg on this.
On your Leave a Reply you ask for the.
Name (required)
Mail (will not be published) (required)
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Website (SO WE CAN TAKE YOU PHOTO’s)
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Yeah its bad form using his picturs with out permission… You should respect his wishes and remove the picture ASAP!
Down with this sort of thing!
Its a shame that such a site feels the need to rip off a persons picture to promote what amounts to be plagiarism. Is it a case of “In for a penny, in for a pound?” Wiinintendo’s doesnt write its articles it simply googles them.
Well, in our defense you have to remember that this is a blog. Yes, some of our articles are found simply by “googling� them but that’s what most news style blogs do!
We find Nintendo news and bring it together, all in one nice package then comment on it! We also allow for our readers to comment on it in the comments. That’s what makes blogs fun and great. Blogs allow us to go beyond just reporting news, it allows us to talk about it together.
And not all content on this site is “googled�. The Wii fitness tests have been reported on by numerous credible news organizations! All was exclusive material to this site. Cut us some slack, the picture has been removed and I’m sure all wiinintendo bloggers will be sure to learn from the mistake in the future.
Shanoboy,
1) In Flickr we have an option to allow a photo to be BLOGGED. Was there ever that option on my photos? Never. I am not anal about my photos when it comes to sharing. I’m a giver and rarely a taker, but when you ask you may receive. I’m vastly disappointed that it had to come to this. The photo was my property. I worked hard at it, just like you have with your site.
2) Googling is fine; I do it all the time. Google is a master tool for this purpose and many more. BUT it is vital to respect the rights of others. It’s OUR responsibility to make sure that we at least credit people for their works and when we cannot source the author then link thru to get some form of contact base. I was very contactable and have been for all my other photos that have provided to others.
3) “Cut us some slack” ?? I wish I could. The site has a strange balance. I do like the materials, I myself like the way that you have gathered the data to one central resource but I have to stand up and fight for the authors of material that is being ripped off every day. There was not credit to me on this site yet the news article itself was linked and credited. Can you explain the difference? Why is my photo any different from the original article itself? Is it that is does not matter as much perhaps?
Now…. thank you for removing the photo. It’s a pity it was not pulled on your initial response. I hope that lessons were indeed learnt and I hope that we ALL have learnt something today.
I wish you all the success but please stay away from copyright infringements. I’ll contact the appropriate parties and ask them to withdrawn my case and claims.
-Greg Ryan
Please remove the photo ASAP or at least apologise and ask permission from Mr Ryan. It is common curtesy if nothing else.
Hey guys, I just saw this now.
I would have took it down right away.
Sorry.
If I need a general “Wii” or “Nintendo” picture I’ll search the public “blog” photo’s on flickr, must have grabbed this one that wasn’t.
If you see this in the future, please email me:
info@wiinintendo.net
This was an over site and not something we support.
Thanks WiiNintendo
>> Wiinintendo’s doesnt write its articles it simply googles them.
That’s simply not true. I’ll give FULL credit when reporting a story we (I) didn’t write.
We write PLENTY of our own stories.
In this particular case the site that this article appeared on was down due to a “Digg Effect” and there was no way for people to read the article.
What a fiasco. Did that guy have a pose or what? heh
I emailed Greg and things are squared away now.
Na, Will. It was probably the same loser posting under a different name. heh
Copyrights are quite important to remember when its about the internet.. That’s why i don’t share my wii sports remix tracks and i’ll paint myself even all background images for my own site.
Copyrights are quite important to remember when its about the internet.. That’s why i don’t share my wii sports remix tracks and i’ll paint myself even all background images for my own site.
Double click.. Sorry about that.:)
For the attention of “JB”:
Loser? So you know me do you? Interesting. So after one move to make sure that my property is protected you deem me a loser. I can asure you that in the rank of life you seem to be far below the level of all others here. So far, it’s all been civil. You have reduced it to cack!
Now. Let me asure you, all comments that were posted in this blog are from genuine sources. Some are members of the Flickr community, some are Digg members and some others I have no idea. I’d suggest you have the admin check the IP logs and compare time stamps.
Now. Move on. Get a life!
CASE CLOSED! Thanks to a certain Flickr member for the inital tip off. Adijo
Interesting. Double post again. My bad, seem to have grabbed the habit from ST-Are-Ye. LOL.
Take a hike, sounds like a good idea. Where did he get the loser comment from? Some people don’t know when to quit and save face. You got your way now stop trolling. The entire course of this blog has taken a complete detour to the original report. Congratulations!
Thanks Will