The Nintendo Global President also reiterates that a simplified way to add friends without friends codes will exist.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/30741
Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata admits the company lags behind its competitors in the field of online play and connectivity, and that it would take some time for the game company to catch up.
At an E3 analyst event last week, Iwata answered a question on the subject by saying, "I can't sit here and say to you that we can very quickly overcome or catch up to other companies." He explained that Nintendo's competitors had been working on these types of online networks for years and had systems already in place that used them. He also admitted that these sorts of online networks were "not particularly well suited to the approach Nintendo has taken."
Nintendo has, however, promised improvements in the online functionality of their online game systems, including the addition of individual user accounts. At the same event, Iwata also reiterated that the company would streamline, though not completely remove, the Friend Code system, which some users have criticized as unwieldy. "We're not completely getting rid of Friend Codes," Iwata said, "but a function of the 'Miiverse' [system] will simplify the process of making friends with another user in the platform by eliminating the need to input Friend Codes."
However, Iwata implied that in the end he was aiming for something different than simply matching feature sets with Sony and Microsoft. "I don’t think that would be a smart strategy," he ultimately stated on the issue. Interestingly, Nintendo's focus at E3 was not on talking about actual online gaming, but their new game-centric Miiverse social network that could integrate even with single-player games, support player messages, questions, images, and doodles about the games they were playing, and even subtly recommend unowned games a user's friend or fellow gamers were active with.
However, Iwata implied that in the end he was aiming for something different than simply matching feature sets with Sony and Microsoft. "I don’t think that would be a smart strategy," he ultimately stated on the issue.Fair enough. It would be nice he elaborated on why.
Nintendo has had 6+ years to basically watch what Microsoft and Sony are doing.
Because WATCHING is the exacting same as building your own version from the ground up, right?
Iwata needs to stop worrying about all this "being different" garbage.... NO ONE CARES ABOUT "innovation"! WE WANT GOOD GAMES... And it is NOT okay to have microsoft and sony fans laughing at how bad Nintendo is appealing the (real) gamers nowadays.... Seriously Nintendo, WTF have you been thinking about for the last six years?
Power means EVERYTHING when it comes to next gen consoles... It's what makes games more fun. Not crappy motion controls... What the hell do you think the difference between the Gamecube and the N64 was? POWER. No power= same quality games as last gen. The EXACT same hole Nintendo dug themselves into last time they are doing it again with the Wii U... Just now catching up with the PS3/360 and yet are nonchalant about Sony and Microsoft's NEXT iterations of their systems...
Quote from: PlugabugzNintendo has had 6+ years to basically watch what Microsoft and Sony are doing.
Because WATCHING is the exacting same as building your own version from the ground up, right?
You have no idea how this works, do you?
If it were as easy as watching a competitor do it and then getting right to that level by emulating it, PSN would be a lot better than it is. Sony still hasn't gotten their service to the level of Steam or Xbox Live, and they've been actively working on it for years. I don't expect Nintendo to get it perfect right away, but I want to see them making progress, and with what I've seen on the 3DS and the little bits we've seen about the Wii U I think it's clear they're learning.
If it were as easy as watching a competitor do it and then getting right to that level by emulating it, PSN would be a lot better than it is. Sony still hasn't gotten their service to the level of Steam or Xbox Live, and they've been actively working on it for years. I don't expect Nintendo to get it perfect right away, but I want to see them making progress, and with what I've seen on the 3DS and the little bits we've seen about the Wii U I think it's clear they're learning.
