Topic: Iwata Talks About Online Games

[WindyMan]

Iwata says he has "proof customers do not want online games."  Don't throw your GameCube away just yet, though.

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata recently met with the Japan Economic Foundation, explaining his view of the current state of the game industry in Japan.  One of the major topics brought up during the talks was online gaming.

Nintendo has always been reluctant to make the jump into the field like Sony and Microsoft have, but Iwata insists that people don't want it yet.  Iwata gave the rather odd example that Minna no (Hot Shots) Golf for the PS2 sold better with the offline original compared to its online sequel, claiming it's "proof that customers do not want online games."

Remember that this is Japan Iwata is referring to, and not online gaming here in North America.  The majority of people in Japan access the internet through cell phones or internet cafes, because owning a home broadband connection is very expensive there.  This is one of the big reasons why online console gaming has not taken off in Japan lke it has in the U.S.

With Nintendo's "Revolution" system set to be revealed at E3 next year, it will be interesting to see if Nintendo integrates some kind of online component into the hardware, like Sony and Microsoft are surely planning for their next systems.

For some more details on what Iwata had to say, as well as a comment on that Bandai buyout rumor, click here.

[Bill Aurion]

I don't want online games...

But seriously, let's not get into the same argument here...

[Flames_of_chaos]

I think the mouseclicker vs. world thread is enough.

[Ian Sane]

"Remember that this is Japan Iwata is referring to, and not online gaming here in North America. The majority of people in Japan access the internet through cell phones or internet cafes, because owning a home broadband connection is very expensive there. This is one of the big reasons why online console gaming has not taken off in Japan lke it has in the U.S."

Ah good point.  And it also explains why Iwata is so off his rocker.  Basing the decisions of a worldwide company on the market of one country which isn't even the most lucrative market is idiotic.  Even if online gaming never takes off in Japan it's stupid to completely ignore it because in the US it WILL take off and the North American market is where the money is.

If Nintendo wants to focus on Japan that's okay I guess but they should stop stepping on NOA's dick and allow them to appeal to the American market.  NOA shouldn't be held back by the market trends of another country.  Let them develop an online gaming strategy for North America.

[ravishingdrolvarg]

Nintendo won't do online unless it's profitable and it is not profitable for any type of online game except Everquest/ffxi type of games. The only way online will work on revolution is if it  like the pc where publishers put up servers. That is the only way Nintendo won't lose money. Also nintendo is right when they say most ppl don't use online, don't only 10% of the  tiny(relativly speaking) x-box audience  use xbox live? The majority obviouslly don't care about online other than for email and research.
Of course Nintendo has the DS which is seemingly made for online gaming, perhaps it's Nintendos way of testing the water?    

[darknight06]

Doesn't faze me.  When someone can come up with a strategy that's completely free of lag, free of charge, and offer way more types of games online than the genre's already there, THEN I'll jump on it.  As for right now, no.  

[couchmonkey]

Interesting to finally see why Iwata is always saying people don't want online games.  I agree that Nintendo needs to think globally here, because I think online gaming is not only heading toward profitability, but it's also becoming a feature that will sell systems.  I don't care too much about online personally, but I think Nintendo should be prepared for it with Revolution.

That's all I'm going to say on the subject.  I hereby swear not to say anything else about online until Nintendo says something other than "people don't want it".

[rholder]

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Minna no (Hot Shots) Golf for the PS2 sold better with the offline original compared to its online sequel, claiming it's "proof that customers do not want online games."

So let me get this straight...Nintendo says that since a version sold better than another that nobody wants the lesser selling version? While my thoughts might bring up an extreme example, the basic rule applies:

Lets say Pokemon Fire Red sells 100,000 units more than Leaf Green....That must be proof that customers do not want Leaf Green...

All I am saying here is that just because something sells less that another doesn't mean its not desired, but that it just isn't desired as much.

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don't only 10% of the tiny(relativly speaking) x-box audience use xbox live? The majority obviouslly don't care about online other than for email and research.

Like it or not, the Xbox is as -- or more-- popular here in America  than the cube, so I will ignore your tiny audience comment. While the figure is a relatively small (more than 10% though) number, all those users of Live did purchase the service as well as every game they play on it. As everyone knows that MSoft has lost money on the service as a whole, (a) some sources say its not as much as you'd like to believe and (b) they will be prepared to launch a solid money-making service come time for its new system.

/rant

[Bill Aurion]

"Nintendo says that since a version sold better than another that nobody wants the lesser selling version?"

No, that fewer people do...Which means that online games are not as profitable as non-online games...

[theRPGFreak]

Im a little confused about this "Wireless Lan" thing. Is it just like wavebird where you can play someone from 50 feet away from eachother or is it online so that i could be in California and playing someone in France at the same time?

[Bill Aurion]

You mean Wi-fi?  Choice number 2...

[theRPGFreak]

...............................................................................awsome..................screw PSP................................................................

[ravishingdrolvarg]

Quote
Originally posted by: rholder

Quote
Minna no (Hot Shots) Golf for the PS2 sold better with the offline original compared to its online sequel, claiming it's "proof that customers do not want online games."

So let me get this straight...Nintendo says that since a version sold better than another that nobody wants the lesser selling version? While my thoughts might bring up an extreme example, the basic rule applies:

Lets say Pokemon Fire Red sells 100,000 units more than Leaf Green....That must be proof that customers do not want Leaf Green...

All I am saying here is that just because something sells less that another doesn't mean its not desired, but that it just isn't desired as much.

Quote
don't only 10% of the tiny(relativly speaking) x-box audience use xbox live? The majority obviouslly don't care about online other than for email and research.

Like it or not, the Xbox is as -- or more-- popular here in America  than the cube, so I will ignore your tiny audience comment. While the figure is a relatively small (more than 10% though) number, all those users of Live did purchase the service as well as every game they play on it. As everyone knows that MSoft has lost money on the service as a whole, (a) some sources say its not as much as you'd like to believe and (b) they will be prepared to launch a solid money-making service come time for its new system.

/rant

The cube isn't the be all and end all of gaming for me, and yes the cube does have  an even smaller audience, it doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of the people with a xbox don't go online. It also doesn't change the fact that a large percent of such a tiny audience doesn't mean jack. It also doesn't change the fact that over a two year span Microsoft has bled over two billion dollars(of course Live wasn't totally responisble for the entire loss). Microsoft could lose that much every year for the conceivble future and still be profitble, Nintendo can't. Also  MS has been flogging live forever it still hasn't reached the majority of gamers and with the ho hum online games they have it never will. It will take a major app which justmakes gamers just jump up and want to go online. I just don't see MS being able to ever get more than 15 or 20% on live, I mean it's just the poor mans pc. Nintendo proably hope to be more than just the poor man's pc when they go online.

[Perfect Cell]

What does Iwata think about Socom and Socom 2? Or compare sales of Ubi Soft games like Rainbow Six and splinter cell on the Xbox and the GC....

Saying People dont want online because an online golf game sold less than the non online game is beyond silly....

I bet if Nintendo has a poll on Nintendo Power/Website the vas majority would want online...

[Caillan]

Nintendo could be gaining a decent reputation as a slightly quirky, but contending company right now. On the back of an awsome E3 and ahighly publicised change in leadership, it would be a struggle, but not an impossibility. Instead, we have Iwata making comments that are obviously going to be covered by the western gaming-media about how nobody wants online gaming. This may be well true in Japan, and sales figures may be backing it up in the west, but it's the topic every other major developer is exploring. It's like a mini zeigeist cult, and Nintendo looks confoundedly out of touch not just doing nothing about it, but claiming it's a stupid thing to do. Worse, the crappy translation regarding regarding Iwata's 'proof' makes him seem a complete fool.  

[mouse_clicker]

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I bet if Nintendo has a poll on Nintendo Power/Website the vas majority would want online...

GameFAQs has polls about online gaming all the time, and without fail they have shown most people don't care about it. I had links to a bunch of the polls in another thread. Regardless, what you "bet" is no more a basis of evidence to support your case than you claim the poor sales of a golf game are to Iwata's statement.  

[Jensen]

Although Nintendo is the last to care about online gaming, they've supported multiplayer more than the other consoles... They had the first console with four built-in controller ports.

Online console gaming is mostly impersonal right now, which can take out a lot of the novelty factor of it.  It also leads to things like disconnects and cheating.  The only good reason I see to play online is for games that aren't playable offline.

In the PC world, people can have more interaction... They all have keyboards.  There are forums and channels were people can meet outside of a game.

[UniversalJuan]

I must ask again that Nintendo is like freaking Satan when it comes to online direct their attenion here. Once again, a highly recommended read.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Iwata-san:  "ROR!"

[Nephilim]

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GameFAQs has polls about online gaming all the time, and without fail they have shown most people don't care about it.

wow ppl on gamefaqs dont support online gaming, they also dont support finishing a game using your own iq

In reality Online gaming does work, all you need in big games and lots of advertising(this is why xbox live is still alive and well, and ps2 online is dead)
I really dont care if people dont wanna play online games in japan, if they wanna be backwoulds then fine....they can go hang out in those arcade photo booths instead
but really I want a game which will last me more then 10hours, and playing multiplayer is a good way of this, either with a mate or with a stranger online

[quobobo]

"Remember that this is Japan Iwata is referring to, and not online gaming here in North America. The majority of people in Japan access the internet through cell phones or internet cafes, because owning a home broadband connection is very expensive there. This is one of the big reasons why online console gaming has not taken off in Japan lke it has in the U.S."

No offense, but I'm living in Japan and this statement is, well... totally wrong? Yes, people mostly use their cell phones for email and internet here, but ADSL is anything but expensive. For about the same price as it is in North America, you get absolutely huge speeds; anywhere from 8mbit downstream to 45mbit downstream (with YahooBB, at least). It's definitely not much more expensive, and it's much, much faster. I really don't know where you're pulling the 'expensive' bit from. If you don't believe me, take a look at Yahoo BB's prices.

[KDR_11k]

(DeadlyD: The PS2 online userbase is larger than the XBox !eviL userbase)

If you want online, get an online system. You won't even make a dent into their sales figures. The rest who doesn't give a damn about online will still not care. Goddamnit, that's the whole idea behind capitalism: If people want a product they'll buy it, if they don't want it they won't buy it. Currently the majority of owners for any system don't buy online. The little difference it makes isn't worth the R&D and maintenance costs as Microsoft's figures show. Sure, the Box sold more than the Cube, but is the difference really the online gaming or rather the whole "We have the most powerful and mature system" hype?

Besides, if MS needs free market reseach on why !eviL hasn't taken off in Europe: People in Europe don't have credit cards, they're only good for american services that weren't properly adjusted to the european market. We use EC cards and transmissions via bank here.

[odifiend]

Iwata's pointing to Hot Shots is ridiculous.  It is only one example.  I suppose since WW sold less than OoT, cel-shading should be completely abandoned.  Extremes aside, wouldn't it make much more sense to look at cross platform games such as Rainbow Six that have an online mode in the original model of the game and the cube port with has no online option?  
Also Sequel can be naturally worse than their original *coughthe adventures of linkcough*There are way too many variables in the performance of a game to use one example.  
Also I'm pretty damn sure EA's lineup hasn't faltered due to their online modes.

[Ian Sane]

"We use EC cards and transmissions via bank here."

Same here in Canada but we also have credit cards.  Best of both worlds.

I think my biggest problem with Nintendo's online stance is that it doesn't fit within my view of Nintendo.  Like many fans I've always viewed Nintendo as a hardcore gamer's company.  They're very progressive and are always pushing the envelope.  So when a new way to play console games in introduced I would assume Nintendo would jump on it, create an amazingly original title, and influence online console gaming like they influenced 2D and 3D console gaming.  But instead they're being very conservative and have seemingly no desire to move forward.  That's NOT the Nintendo I became a fan off.  I'm not interested in some old fuddy duddy company clinging to the past.  I want an innovative company that leads the industry through example regardless of their position in the market.

[Bill Aurion]

Whoa, hold on there...What Ninty likes to do when pushing forward is INNOVATE...Just what innovation can you add to an online game?  Nothing, so Ninty is going to hold back until they can find out a way how to...