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GameCube (Games) Wireless Networking Hardware

Nintendo Going Online, Releasing New Games 112

Posted by Zonk from the mario-hits-the-network-pipes dept.
GamesIndustry.biz has an article up about the Big N's future plans. Shigeru Miyamoto stated recently that Nintendo plans to be fully supporting online play within a few years, with the DS leading the way. From the article: "Miyamoto, credited as the design genius behind key Nintendo franchises including Zelda and Mario, told the magazine that online gaming will reach the mainstream within three to four years, and that Nintendo will be moving in that direction as a result." Gamespot also has details on upcoming Gamecube games, including another Mario, the next Legend of Zelda, Donkey Konga 3, Mario Baseball, and a new Kirby game.
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Nintendo Going Online, Releasing New Games More

Nintendo Going Online, Releasing New Games

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  • Online gaming is already mainstream. It may not be FPS, but many people I know who are not techs play Hearts online, or some other card game.
    • Not only that, they've been mainstream for years. However, Nintendo has neglected them for their entire history, and actively opposed them for a very long time. Last year, it was said that the Sega Saturn had more online games than the Nintendo GameCube. The numbers may have shifted by now, but that's still pretty sad compared to Sony and Microsoft (not to mention the PC, which has had online games almost longer than there's been a way to play them online).

      Nintendo's caught playing catchup with Sony yet ag
      • " However, Nintendo has neglected them for their entire history, and actively opposed them for a very long time. Last year, it was said that the Sega Saturn had more online games than the Nintendo GameCube. The numbers may have shifted by now, but that's still pretty sad compared to Sony and Microsoft (not to mention the PC, which has had online games almost longer than there's been a way to play them online).

        Nintendo's caught playing catchup with Sony yet again because of that mistake...."

        Nintendo isn't
        • Nintendo was absolutely opposed to online gaming. The only reason why they are shifting gears is because they are under fire from Sony and M$. Aside from the business side of things, Nintendo wanted to cater to very young kids, and they weren't sure kids could handle online gaming.

          In short, kids would be swearing, doing immature things like pausing 40 times. Not to mention years ago when gamecube was under construction, they weren't sure if TCP/IP would be too complicated for young audiences. That's how
          • "Nintendo was absolutely opposed to online gaming. The only reason why they are shifting gears is because they are under fire from Sony and M$. "

            Niether are true. Nintendo's not opposed to on-line gaming, they're opposed to making a bad business move. Either on-line gaming is free to the customer at the big N's expense, or big N has to charge a fee and scare away a bunch of customers. Sony and MS aren't forcing Nintendo in this direction, they're not even very successful with their services. If anyth
            • What's flamebait about my post?
            • Sony and MS aren't forcing Nintendo in this direction, they're not even very successful with their services.
              Console based on-line gaming is just plain not a successful venture.
              What's flamebait about my post?

              Saying that Xbox Live is not very successful is either flamebait, inaccurate, or at least premature. 1.5 million paying subscribers, pre Halo 2, is not bad. Not great, but not exactly a failure.

              Not a successful venture? Based on what? Because you're not profitable enough 2 years into a long te
              • "Not a successful venture? Based on what? Because you're not profitable enough 2 years into a long term investment based on a relatively new concept?"

                Do you envision 10 million people using it and turning over a nice profit for MS? From your interesting choice of words "Not great, but not exactly a failure" I'm guessing you're not as optimistic. Frankly, there is little reason to believe a significant number of people would be willing to pay $10+ a month for an on-line service for gaming, especially whe
        • Personally, I would much rather play on 'official' servers, than every Joe Blow's machine who decides to run one.

          Why? Cheating...the bane of the online gamer. (Or the joy of some fucking knuckleheads)

          If you let people run servers on their PC's, you are going to have tons of cheaters- it is a sad fact.

          Personally, I would much rather play on Xbox Live than PC games, mostly due to that reason.
  • the link labelled "upcoming Gamecube games" appears to just redirect to whatever the current page is :P

  • At least it's a start... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by tktk ( 540564 ) on Friday November 26, 2004 @02:42PM (#10926359)
    I always wondered if Nintendo didn't want to go online since they didn't have as much computer/server experience as Microsoft or Sony. In a pinch, Microsoft and Sony could probably pull workers from other divisions to set up game servers.

    Online support for the DS would give them an easy chance to practice. It's a small group of users. And besides, it wouldn't take much bandwidth to serve DS games.

    • Re:At least it's a start... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by antifoidulus ( 807088 ) on Friday November 26, 2004 @03:34PM (#10926732) Homepage Journal
      Maybe because it is not as fun?
      I'm probably in the minority here, but I love offline gaming and hate online gaming. Maybe the games have improved a bit, but the last time I played a game online, I had trouble finding people who suck as bad as I do, and getting killed repeatedly is not very fun. Also, the average gamer's maturity level leaves something to be desired. They appearently seem to enjoy linking one's sexuality with one's skill in a particular game. Not sure how those are coorelated, I chock it up to poor math education.
      In contrast, to me playing in someone's living room with a bunch of good friends and some booze is much more enjoyable. You can catch up while blasting eachother and/or sending your sphere-enclosed primate off a cliff. I don't get that much time to play games, so when I do play them, I don't really want to have to deal with the frustrations that I perceive to be common in online gaming.
      • Amen to that.

        I totally support you, and you are not alone in the situation.

    • Experience they have. They had different online services for the nes, snes, and n64 in japan, before MS or Sony entered the market.

      They just want a good business model.
      --
      Wiki de Ciencia Ficcion y Fantasia [uchile.cl]
    • At the time XBOX Live celebrated its 1 millionth suscriber (July 2004) they had sold 15 million XBOXes. That means that only 7% of XBOXes were online assuming that all of the suscribers still were paying for their accounts.

      Nintendo has supported online games right along, but it sees online gaming as a niche market that it could not hope to turn a profit on. So they give people like SEGA the tools to make a PSO if they feel the investment is worth it. Much like Sony did with the PS2 I might add.

      When online
  • for some reason the second link points back to slashdot.org.....

  • Within 3-4 Years? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by redune45 ( 194113 ) <.moc.enuder. .ta. .todhsals.> on Friday November 26, 2004 @02:47PM (#10926397) Homepage
    The article repeatedly says that Nintendo plans to come online within a 3-4 year timescale. I don't really see that as the near future. All of the current consoles will likely be onto their next versions by then.

    If I had just bought a DS, which hypes online capabilites as a major feature, I would be very annoyed that I had to wait 3 years before I got any games that supported it.

    • Dreamcast? (Score:2, Interesting)

      by pluke ( 801200 )
      does that name ring a bell? And the lucky people in the states got 56k modems us Europeans were treated to 33k modems. To be honest they should have sold it as an add on over here, there were a host of games that didn't even go online whilst the US versions did, i think UT was one of them and they never even released Bomberman in the UK, i had to get it on import.
    • From the summary:

      "Miyamoto, credited as the design genius behind key Nintendo franchises including Zelda and Mario, told the magazine that online gaming will reach the mainstream within three to four years, and that Nintendo will be moving in that direction as a result."

      Doesn't this strike people as Nintendo being stunningly... Uninnovative? A case of 'well, everyone else will be doing it, so we will too'?

      Japan, probably Nintendo's biggest market, has pretty good broadband uptake - apparently as of Sept

      • Doesn't this strike people as Nintendo being stunningly... Uninnovative? A case of 'well, everyone else will be doing it, so we will too'?

        When it comes down to survival of the fittest, you can't not follow the herd. It's not original, to be sure, but if it ensues that Nintendo will live on for the next few generations of consoles, why not do it?

  • Upcoming GameCube games (Score:5, Informative)

    by Geoffreyerffoeg ( 729040 ) on Friday November 26, 2004 @02:51PM (#10926436)
    The second link should be "upcoming GameCube games [gamespot.com]". The A-tag has two double-quotes by accident, causing browsers to read it as A HREF=""....
  • That's all they were waiting for? They are going to have a hard time getting in to the market with the Gamecube 2 and DS. Since Microsoft and Sony already have had a major head start. Good Luck to the Big N I respect them alot, but you know they haven't been doing very good compared to Sony or Microsoft.
    • They've been doing pretty good compared to Microsoft overall. It's just in the US that Microsoft's been doing better. But after reading this article, I'm not sure how long they can keep that up on either front. I hate to say it, but I think Nintendo's going to keep losing ground to Microsoft in the US and Sony in Japan, just like they have been. They still have a good shot with the DS, but I think they dropped the ball with it. The PSP's going to have to have some intrinsic flaw at this point for the DS to

  • Finnaly!!! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MeatBlast ( 834728 ) on Friday November 26, 2004 @03:37PM (#10926748)
    As a diehard nintendo fan since I was 6, I'm glad to see nintendo finnaly join us in the 21st century and go online. Imagine playing Super Samsh Bros. online! Now all nintendo needs to do is to get a 3rd party supporter!
    • Oh, yes, I can already see it, four people randomly mashing buttons in an online game because lag kills any form of strategy. SSBM is too fast to handle lag, it'd be hell to play that online.
      • Okay, I admit that you're right about SSBM but there are other great games that nintendo can put online. F-Zero (which would be great because it's so much faster than your average racer), Metriod Prime, and manny others.
      • Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, and many other arcade games are playable (and played) online with Kaillera, I don't see why SSB:M would be an exception. And if it is reduced to button mashing, then it would attract the legions of Tekken fans. ;)

  • Key word (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Locky ( 608008 ) on Friday November 26, 2004 @03:42PM (#10926771) Homepage
    The key word Mr. Miyamoto used was 'mainsteam'.

    Online gaming for consoles isn't anywhere near mainstream as of now, even with services like Xbox Live.
    • Yeah I mean who has heard of the "internet" besides us? online is not "mainstream" yet. Come on! I have a brother who uses AOL and plays on Live! he got an email last week with a nuke virus that said "openme.exe" so he did! I nearly had to exorcise the damned hard drive to fix it.

      Believe me anyone can use live. Specially now they have the "automatch" thingie, (some people dont even know what a server is!) They dont even need to know how to type anymore (or speak for that matter)

      Im just waiting on my
    • Ok. Nevermind that X Box live has been the main selling point for the console and driven the huge sales of games like Halo 2. Anyway so if console gaming is not mainstream but will be mainstream in "3 or 4 years" - who exactly is going to make it mainstream? Microsoft and Sony? And then Nintendo is going to sweep in and conquer the now mainstream market?
      I own a GameCube and really like it. It's a great little machine and see nothing tech-wise that would prevent it from being a great online console. The only
    • >> Online gaming for consoles isn't anywhere near mainstream as of now

      Guess you've never bothered to look at SOCOM's sales figures.

      • Guess you fail to know the definition of mainstream.

        Less then 5% of PS2 owners playing games online is not mainstream.
        • When it's the 5% of PS2 owners that buy the most games, it is.

          Online play made SOCOM outsell the vast majority of other PS2 games. It's as "mainstream" as any other game.

          Is Soul Calibur not mainstream? It sold less than SOCOM. Fighting games must not be mainstream.

  • Hmmm (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MC Negro ( 780194 ) on Friday November 26, 2004 @03:58PM (#10926885) Journal
    Honestly, I would expect this. I don't think Nintendo is really out to piss off their consumers. I think what they're after is quality. Think about it - Nintendo is frequently the last console company to implement something, but it's almost always a high-quality implementation. Remember the SNES' dying days where it was fighting off both SEGA's and Sony's CD-based 32-bit consoles? I remember frustration as my friends played games like Tomb Raider and Virtua Fighter in full 3D while I was left with Donkey Kong Country and its 2D, side-scrolling action. But then came the N64, and while it didn't even scratch the surface of the PSone's success, it definitely blew it away in quality. Games like Super Mario 64 and Legend of Zelda : OoT were rendered in full 3D without load times and pixelated graphics and still maintained the Nintendo quality of gameplay from the 16-bit days. It set a new standard for console 3D games and gameplay.

    When Nintendo finally moved to disc-based media with the GCN, they moved because load-times were far less of an issue with the current technology. They waited for it so they wouldn't rub their consumers the wrong way. While I loved the PSone, looking back, the load times were atrocious. Piracy of GCN games is near impossible and they're still able to keep up with the pack in most areas (with only the biggest games suffering from the proprietary media size limit).

    The DS is another fine example waiting to unfold. Nintendo is just now doing 3D pocket gaming. There have been plenty of technologically superior portable game consoles capable of 3D, yet Nintendo's gameboy series has always done better in the market. There's no question that the DS is less powerful than the PSP, but I think Nintendo is more concerned with the quality of the game rather than the graphical superiority.

    This is not to say that Nintendo made the right choice in waiting to advance their technologies, but I am saying that when Nintendo does enter the online arena, it will be a high-quality entrance, as history has proved. They might lose some sales because online console capabilities is a selling point for some people, but I think Nintendo has sent the message time and time again that they're not after the gamers who want bleeding edge technology; they're after the gamers who want high-quality, rich gaming experiences.

    (and yes, I'm aware of Nintendo's forays into the online [n-sider.com] and CD-based [wikipedia.org] markets)

    • Re:Hmmm (Score:5, Interesting)

      by AzraelKans ( 697974 ) on Friday November 26, 2004 @05:16PM (#10927274) Homepage
      "Hmmm...?" are more likely my thoughts. Sorry to dissapoint you, but I was one of the quite many N-followers that patiently waited for a N64 instead of buying a psx and then realized they had commited a huge mistake in doing so

      Nintendo 64 basically had basically the same graphics, the games were very small,simple and childish (with RARE and N exceptions!), quite expensive (zelda 64==$99!) and worst of all extremely scarce! worthwhile games came each 6 months to a full year!

      Meanwhile the neighbours (teens lime me btw) were playing FF VII,KOF,SF,TEKKEN3 and Resident evil 2 and watching demos of the coming MGS in their PSX. It took me just one (1) visit to the home next door to realize that the n64 had to go. YES the psx had load times but by my 20th consecutive hours playing FFVII (and no, not replaying the same levels 10 times which was the n64 case), I simply couldnt care less.

      Nintendo did many great things in their time (specially in the snes) and did great games for the n64 (not many but they did), however not placing a CD tray in the n64 because of "load times" thus giving birth to the psx, has to be one of the greatest mistakes in game history.

      IMO announcing they are going online now is the equivalent of a big: "OOOOOPS!"

      Why thank you! btw why didnt you thought that BEFORE everybody with a cube had to buy 4 fucking gameboys just to play zelda 4 swords? and crystal chronicles?!

      Are you feeling lucky? Go ahead MOD my day!

      • Re:Hmmm (Score:2, Interesting)

        by NanoGator ( 522640 )
        "Nintendo did many great things in their time (specially in the snes) and did great games for the n64 (not many but they did), however not placing a CD tray in the n64 because of "load times" thus giving birth to the psx, has to be one of the greatest mistakes in game history."

        Nintendo sold 30 million of those 'greatest mistakes in game history'. Frankly, if the N64 had been more like the Playstation, it really isn't all that clear they would have done better.

        a.) Sony flooded stores with 3rd party crap
        • Ok I was going to rebuttal on every point (although you are right in some), but I think this one really needs it.

          I doubt it. Going on-line isn't exactly causing Sony or MS to build a 3 cubic acre money bin to swim in. Er.. have you checked how many sales SOCOM, HALO 2 and how many people is buying live to play Halo 2 right about now?

          You can argue all you want, but I seriously doubt halo 2 and socom would had ranked that many sales if they werent online.
          • Halo 2 would have ranked very close if it didn't have online only due to the ravenous fanboys.
          • "You can argue all you want, but I seriously doubt halo 2 and socom would had ranked that many sales if they werent online."

            If 10 million copies of Halo2 end up sold, and there are only 2 million people using XBOX Live, then your statement would be false.

            Frankly, I do not know how many people are subscribed to that service. If you can tell me it's a pretty substantial number (preferably backed up with a source), I'll retract that comment.
            • Becuause you dont need to. You can play online using KAI or XBConnect for free ;) however if the game is not "online" aka "xbox live enabled" the lag is too much for the net to handle it. I doubt theres only 2 million live users in the entire world though and I also doubt those are halo 2 actual sells.
              • " You can play online using KAI or XBConnect for free ;) "

                Ah... Hadn't considered that. Boy I'm torn. On the one hand, I could see that making the game really popular. On the other, it's difficult to imagine millions of people headed that route. Big question mark over my head.

                " I also doubt those are halo 2 actual sells."

                I really should have clarified my line of thought. I was thinking "in the future...". The first Halo became a must-have title for the XBOX. I'm fairly certain it's enjoyed sal
        • No, but it made Square Enix to fill up again theirs.
          (see the report on square enix profits rising thanks to FFXI)

          I expect Nintendo to understand this, and bring on a Pokemon MMORPG.
          --
          Informacion sobre Robotech [uchile.cl]
          • Sorry to be OT here, but I was wondering if you could tell me what the page in your sig is about? My spanish interpretation isn't too good, but I am a Robotech fan. :)
            • I have a wiki about science fiction. It is in spanish, as it is my native language.

              The page talks about robotech, makes a little overview of the plot, and analyses its impact on japan, the west hemisphere and Chile (my country).

              The part about Chile maybe be interesting, as I point out how Robotech may have helped the perception of the militar dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet on the young generation which watched the awesome adventures of the space militars.

              I have many friends who tried (and some succeede
              • "The part about Chile maybe be interesting, as I point out how Robotech may have helped the perception of the militar dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet on the young generation which watched the awesome adventures of the space militars."

                Ah that sounds really cool! Think I'll needta fire up BabelFish and have a peek!

                Thanks. :)
        • You're reasoning is still a little cloudy, go check all the titles on the PS2 and compare them to the developers and Titles formerly on the SNES, almost every single developer FORMERLY developed for the Super Nintendo before jumping to PS1 which secured the exclusives for PS2's dominance. The reason was the developers jumped ship to PS1 due to superior storage capacity that enabled you to make superior games with more content, better textures, and graphics then you could on a cart, lets face it, Cartridge
          • "The reason N64 did ok was because of fanboyism and hopes and dreams left over from the SNES era"

            Actually, that had more to do with the quality games on the N64. There were quite a few must-haves including Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Goldeneye, etc.

            " I bet the president of Nintendo wanted to kill himself after he allowed the hardware team to botch N64 hardware design."

            I doubt it. It was not botched, nor was it unsuccessful. If anything, it gave Nintendo the ability to survive the battle against Son
          • Wow, where to start?

            The reason was the developers jumped ship to PS1 due to superior storage capacity that enabled you to make superior games with more content, better textures, and graphics then you could on a cart, lets face it, Cartridges were measured in mere megabits, a CD is 650Mbytes, there is no way you would want to develop for a cartridge.

            CDs are cheaper to manufacture than carts, thus Sony offered better royalty rates. It wasn't that developers suddenly could do amazing shit with their game

          • ...Metal gear (which btw, the original was originally released on Nintendo's NES way back in the day)...

            I just wanted to mention that the original Metal Gear [wikipedia.org] wasn't released for the NES. It was originally released on the MSX [wikipedia.org]. The NES version was a port from the original MSX title. A pretty bad port I should say considering you don't even see Metal Gear in the NES version. If you're a pretty big fan of the series, I'd reccommend downloading a MSX emulator and trying out the original and it's sequel Metal
    • Wow, if it wasnt for the acceptable grammar, I'd be sure of it: you're a stereotypical nintendo fanboy to your fingernails.

  • Does Miyamoto Have Some Ideas? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by blueZhift ( 652272 ) on Friday November 26, 2004 @05:01PM (#10927197) Homepage Journal
    If Miyamoto is starting to talk about online gaming, then I think that means that he may already have some game ideas in mind. Up until now, Nintendo has been famously against online gaming [proliphus.com]. But given the string of Miyamoto hits that have supported the company over the years, if he is talking about online play, then the wheels are finally starting to turn at Nintendo. But I don't really believe it will be 3 or 4 years. If they are serious, I'd guess we'll see some serious NDS online play within about 18 months, maybe something related to Pikmin or Pokemon. Maybe they'll have a bundle with a GameCube wireless router add-on or something. I think an online multiplayer Mario might be interesting, but a real challenge to design and keep the Mario flavor.

    Heck, if they're working with Square Enix, we might even see some kind of FFIX NDS connectivity as a proof of concept (wild speculation!). This might be followed by a version of Crystal Chronicles with online elements or full blown online multiplayer.

    • I'd much rather see a Zelda MMORPG. I'd be even more interested in it if it were a NDS game. The Wind Waker world is perfect for a MMORPG, with it's island based geography (easy to make a seperate content of several servers) and also the pretense that when a boy comes of age, he dresses as Link for a day (everone gets to be LIKE Link, but not actually be Link).

      Plus, it's cel-shaded graphics and low level of gore and realistic violence may help it appeal to a wider audience, tapping some demographics that cu

    • Mario or Zelda MMPOG is the "low hanging fruit" for online play. As would be MarioCart Online or a Metroid Deathmatch.

      I'm sure those games would (will?) sell well, but I hope Nintendo has something more exciting planned. I for one don't want another MMPOG "level treadmill" or have to deal with any more smack talking power gamers. I want I new drug that will make me want to string more Cat-5 to my entertainment center...

  • This morning a Nintendo PR spokesperson officially announced their new stand on their previous "that online thing wont work, trust me!" philosophy.

    Nintendo PR: "OOOOOOPS!"


    Wise words there in deed, now back to our regularly scheduled thread show

    Go ahead, MOD my day!
  • Perhaps it's because of the broken link in the submission, but it looks like the new Zelda game ditches the cel shaded look and delivers what we were promised in the original GC zelda: realism. See here [gamespot.com]
  • Was there a second one released only in Japan?
  • Is this the much heralded Mario 128 that we've been hearing so much (ok nothing) about???? Could it be???????

    What? Mario Baseball?! Come on, Nintendo... Mario Sunshine can't be your only Mario platformer to offer for the system!

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