Topic: Wii U "Chat" and Online

[Caterkiller]

Though we technically know about these things due to the Nintendo Direct before E3 it's nice to see this stuff on the side of the box!

http://sickr.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/wii_u_basic_set1.jpg

http://www.nintendo-nation.net/wii-u-chat-eshop-applications/


-Make and share new Mii characters

-Easily interact with friends, family and people around the world with Miiverse

-Download add-on content, full games, classic games and applications from Nintendo eShop (all contents sold separately).

-Communicate with other Wii U owners in real time with Wii U Chat


Didn't Nintendo say they aren't trying to make something comparable to X-Box Live and PSN? Looks like to me they are surpassing it with all the free social features. More than anything this has me most excited!


Still I know we are all waiting for that one thing to make us all collectively go "why!?!?!?" So far so good!

[MrPhishfood]

I do wonder if Nintendo will continue with the friend codes thing., because I think there's a good reason to continue like that. Now I know from the way they've done things so far is they don't want people to be limited to a single permanent username.

Like for example if you normally call your self MrBubbles online but someone has already chosen that username then you have to pick something else like MrBubbles1 or xXMrBubblesXx. What Nintendo does is assign you a single friend code and you share that with all your friends and you can change the name that is displayed to everyone as often as you like.

So what happens when more than one person who calls themselves MrBubbles are in the same game? I would imagine it would look like this MrBubbles, MrBubbles(1), MrBubbles(2)

[Caterkiller]

Frien Codes will be there but I'm guessing it will be a number behind the name as you suggested or just a new term for gamer tag. Ugh "gamer tag" I very much am a gamer and I let the world know it but good god am I embarrassed to be called a gamer. And I'm not embarrassed about my unhealthy obsession with Pokemon or farting in front of beautiful women I only met the same day. Just call me that guy who enjoys games.

[Caterkiller]

Destructoid put up an article and quoted Tekken Tag 2 's director as saying in regards to Nintendos online as "I don't understand it." Though still not really positive, he says he doesn't "fully understand it." Apparently this close to launch Nintendo is still being secretive. What ever the case the netcode will be just as good as the other versions. Personally I'm not worried how we will interact with each other at all.
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[/size]Link to destructiode and the somewhat inflammatory headline. But below is all there is to read as requested. [/size]http://www.destructoid.com/tekken-producer-on-wii-u-online-i-don-t-understand-it--235263.phtml

[/size]

One unanswered question has been lingering in the air since Nintendo’s big coming out party for the Wii U last week: How will the online infrastructure be an improvement over past Nintendo consoles (if at all)? Developers must know, right? Well, apparently not.
[/size]
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 director Katsuhiro Harada didn’t sound like he had confidence in Nintendo’s new online system, during a roundtable interview at Namco Bandai HQ. When asked about how the Wii U's online infrastructure will compare to that offered on 360/PS3, Harada responded:[/font]

[/size]Not quite sure at this point. I don't fully understand it. We’re still working with Nintendo to find out about their network.

[MrPhishfood]

To be honest I don't fully understand it either. As far as I can tell Nintendo are trying out some kind of social networking experience.

Whatever they are doing its brand new to console gaming so I get why its hard to understand. Xbox Live has been trying to slip some social networking in to its service but its really something that's just tagged on rather than being fully integrated. With the amount of hostility I get over Xbox Live I'm not sure if I even want a social experience on their platform.

I think Nintendo has the right idea where they moderate all public messages. I'm also hoping they have tighter reigns on communications between users, no one likes receiving a message that says 'your a f*g' for winning a game.

Its going to be interesting to see how Microsoft tops this because Nintendo will be offering everything Microsoft offers and more and for free. If the Wii U catches on then Microsoft will either have to remove the subscription fee for Xbox Live Gold or offer something even better to justify the fee. Don't forget to even use the those video streaming services you have to be on Xbox Live gold despite having already paid for the streaming. Also Nintendo doesn't make you look at advertisement.

[Caterkiller]

EA outlines Origins Wii U support. I copy and pasted the Ps3 and XBox stuff for a comparison. As far as I can tell its exactly the same. Nintendo Network ID, that's perfectly acceptable. Gamertag makes me feel like a loser, it just does.

[font=.HelveticaNeueUI]http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=496654[/font]

1. Playstation 3
If you sign up to play EA games through a PlayStation®3 system, your Sony Entertainment Network account information will be provided to EA so that we can establish an Origin Account for you. You need an Origin Account to play EA's titles online. By signing up to play EA's titles, you agree that limited user account information can be transferred to EA. Information transferred to EA includes your name, email address, online ID, country, language and date of birth but does not include credit card number or other financial account information.

2. Xbox LIVE

If you sign up to play EA games through Microsoft's Xbox LIVE Service, Microsoft will provide your Xbox LIVE user account information to EA so that we can establish an Origin Account for you. You need an Origin Account to play EA's Xbox LIVE titles. By signing up to play EA's Xbox LIVE titles, you agree that Microsoft can transfer your user account information to EA. Information transferred from Microsoft to EA includes your Gamertag, email address, state or province, country, language and age but does not include credit card number or other financial account information.

3. Wii U

If you sign up to play EA games through a Nintendo Wii U console, your Nintendo account information will be provided to EA so that we can establish an Origin Account for you. You need an Origin Account to play EA’s titles online. By signing up to play EA’s titles, you agree that limited user account information can be transferred to EA. Information transferred to EA includes your Mii information, email address, Nintendo Network ID, friend list, country, language and date of birth but does not include credit card number or other financial account information.



Oh and Sonic Racing does not have online voice chat. Link coming soon.


[font=.HelveticaNeueUI]http://mynintendonews.com/2012/10/22/no-voice-chat-for-sonic-racing-transformed-wii-u/[/font]

[toddra]

I don't know if this has been discussed before, but I think doing away with Friend Codes could be done if they used age authentication combined with Parental Controls? That way a person who buys a WiiU enters their Age information, verifying they are not a minor for instance, and then set parental controls so they can only add other friends whose ages have been confirmed? That way parents can prevent their kids from associating with strangers online, and adults can just meet up with their friends without having to resort to that complicated code swapping mess? Just a thought.

[Ymeegod]

WII U Chat seems more like an "Skype App" while MIIverse is more or less interactive "facebook".  What I want to know if Chat can support mulitple parties or is it just 1 on 1?  Also can it be used while playing "games".  MIIverse is always active I belive so you can drop out of game while having it run in the background.

[Caterkiller]

As far as I know Wii U chat can't be used while playing a game. You can pause the game, talk to people then go back to gaming but not during gameplay. Developers choose if they want to add normal chat to the games during gameplay but it is not a system wide feature for all games.




Edit
Iwata Asks Wii U Chat. Maybe this will clear everything up. Have not read it yet.
[font=.HelveticaNeueUI]http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wiiu/wii-u-chat/0/0[/font]


It is said you have to end the game to accept a call, that is just lame. Iwata goes on to say I hope we can improve upon it in the future. Sounds like an update is already in the works.

[NWR_insanolord]

Just a thought: the Xbox 360 didn't have system wide voice chat when it launched; it was patched in later.

[Plugabugz]

Just patch in Skype, Facebook voice/video (which is essentially skype anyway!), and Google Talk and be done with it.

Existing platforms which everyone already has work fine. No need to create one from scratch.

[Adrock]

Doesn't Microsoft own Skype now? I don't see Nintendo licensing Skype from a direct competitor. Also, Miiverse seems like Nintendo's alternative to Facebook integration which is fine by me as I'd rather they stay separate. I didn't integrate my Facebook profile to PS3.

That leave Google though I see Nintendo taking the same stance as with Facebook. Nintendo is probably going at this alone (may even be better off because of it). It gives them autonomy; they won't have to rely on other companies' tech. I think system wide chat will be made available in the future (probably within a year) though I would expect some standard, weirdo Nintendo restrictions. For example, it may be system wide, feature rich chat for friends only and developers will have to enable more robust features for chatting with strangers on a per game basis. That would allow them to be "safe."