Topic: Nintendo's Online Network [Armchair CEO Time]

[Chozo Ghost]

There's two things that need to be kept in mind about the 4gb Xbox 360

1) Its not the only model nor is it the default standard model.

2) Microsoft sells an official 250GB HDD add on for it, so it can be upgraded to 250GB through an official addon.

Nintendo could of course offer an official HDD add on, but I would prefer they just allow standard hdd support so we can add in our own. Even if the Wii U doesn't come with an internal HDD, the drive bay should be there and it should be easy to open the console up and slide a drive in. 2.5" drives are not huge, so allowing support for one wouldn't take up much space at all.

The thing about the 4gb 360 is its useless with certain 360 games, so even if you buy a 4gb xbox and think you're getting a better deal, you're not, because the additional storage space is necessary. 8gb is better than 4gb obviously, but its still not good enough.

[Morari]

The thing about the 4gb 360 is its useless with certain 360 games, so even if you buy a 4gb xbox and think you're getting a better deal, you're not, because the additional storage space is necessary. 8gb is better than 4gb obviously, but its still not good enough.

You're still getting a better deal though, because off brand hard drives for it can be had for around $40. That's still cheaper than having bought the 250GB model to begin with.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I guess that's an option, but it requires an additional $100 or more purchase (unless you already have one), and its something that will have to dangle around separately from the console which would look ugly and take up additional space.

An external HDD does not cost $100 or more unless you want to spend that much.
Here is 80GB - 1TB ranging from $30 - $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=external+HDD&x=0&y=0

But the main problem here is that developers are going to develop their stuff with that 8GB in mind, because they develop based on what the standard hardware configuration of consumers is. Some may have USB hard drives, but not everyone will, so they aren't likely to develop based on what a small segment may have. This means the Wii-U may miss out on a lot of stuff. Corners may be cut to keep the size down, so we may end up missing content that the other consoles have.

8GB has not been made official. It's still just a rumor. That internal Flash could easily become 16GB-32GB before everything is finalized.

And even still, it could do like the 3DS and come with an 8GB SD card already installed. So devs could be planning on more memory than you think.

[Shaymin]

Nintendo could of course offer an official HDD add on, but I would prefer they just allow standard hdd support so we can add in our own.

If I had to put money on it, I'd say Nintendo would probably offer their own branded hard drive at a slight premium (think $50 for 250GB, which would have the added bonus of forcing Microsoft to drop their prices or look like dicks again). Didn't they release Nintendo-branded SD cards for the Wii, plus the Rock Band-branded ones?

Also, the 4GB may as well be the default model now for the 360. The 4GB + Kinect bundle is the only one I see on display at several Gamestop/EB Games and other electronic stores (Best Buy, Shop of the Future) I checked a couple of weeks back.

[Kairon]

One thing that would be cool is if the Wii U could go into a power saving mode but then keep a feed going to the controller. On the controller would be your gaming friends list so you could be watching TV and look down at the controller and see that Kairon is online and he's playing We Cheer 3 and we have the option to join him.

Yes. This. JOIN ME.

[Razorkid]

Steam doesn't seem that great, actually. It may be free, but jesus, it's games are fraking expensive.

Surely you jest ! Steam offers daily sales on games and stupidly cheap prices mid-week and on the weekend! I would argue that if Nintendo offered a service analogous to Steam in every way, including the they advertise and promote sales for games, people would be throwing money at their WiiU all the time!


 

As long as there is cross-game chat and invite, instant messaging, a friendlist count of at least 200, and your downloads aren't tied to a single system, then it'll be good.

All things that Steam users currently enjoy and Nintendo needs to emulate.  I don't know, but why is it that gaming fans always come up with no brainer goals that our favorite companies seem totally oblivious to?  Who the hell over at Nintendo has not heard of Steam and it's dominance over the PC space as an online service?

[Ceric]

Steam doesn't seem that great, actually. It may be free, but jesus, it's games are fraking expensive.

Surely you jest ! Steam offers daily sales on games and stupidly cheap prices mid-week and on the weekend! I would argue that if Nintendo offered a service analogous to Steam in every way, including the they advertise and promote sales for games, people would be throwing money at their WiiU all the time!


 

As long as there is cross-game chat and invite, instant messaging, a friendlist count of at least 200, and your downloads aren't tied to a single system, then it'll be good.

All things that Steam users currently enjoy and Nintendo needs to emulate.  I don't know, but why is it that gaming fans always come up with no brainer goals that our favorite companies seem totally oblivious to?  Who the hell over at Nintendo has not heard of Steam and it's dominance over the PC space as an online service?

Miyamoto and Iwata.

One thing that would be cool is if the Wii U could go into a power saving mode but then keep a feed going to the controller. On the controller would be your gaming friends list so you could be watching TV and look down at the controller and see that Kairon is online and he's playing We Cheer 3 and we have the option to join him.

That be cool but I wouldn't want the stream to be actively using the uMote unless it was docked.  So when its docked the uMote would stay awake and become an RSS reader for all intents and purposes.  I actually imagine setting it up to allow for different options while docked such as:

1.  What's Happen'n in Your Nintendo World
2.  RSS, etc.  Reader.
3.  Digitial Picture Frame from locally stored pictures.
4.  Clock, (Especially if you could set it to the Cool GCN Clock)

When its not docked it would default to "What's Happen'n in Your Nintendo World" but, the controller would sleep so, you have to pick it up and he would wake up and show you.  The battery drain of constant display would make for some annoying useability.  Haven't played WiiU for a week and you want to have to charge the controller.  Where if it was sleeping he just wake up.  I also put some direct links in their so, he wake up, you click out of "Your Nintendo World" and it would show the WiiU menu hit what you want to play and the system will just need you to get the rest of your gear up, though if the Universal remote setup happen uMote would do that was well and you be fully into your game with a couple clicks.

[BlackNMild2k1]

If you were to put it in a dock, I would imagine that dock would also charge the controller which would be the only reason the uScreen would keep the screen on in the first place. If it wasn't docked, then the uScreen would go to sleep to conserve battery power just like the Wiimotes.

I imagine that there will be dock, and while the uScreen is docked, not only will it charge, but by default, the console will then be allowed to go into a minimal power mode (if you have set up online with WiiU Connect 24) where the console will continue to stream to the uSCreen but have most of the CPU cores shut down and the GPU clocked waaay down until they are needed.

While in docked (non-use mode), the uScreen will show a digital clock with a status bar at the top that will display if you have any messages sent to your system, and games or update downloads currently in progress, battery level, the date and a much smaller clock for when the main screen gets used for other stuff.
Below the status bar at the top, there would be your friends list on the left or right (put it where you want) that updates live as friends log on or off and it will also tell you if they are playing a game and what game they are playing (privacy setting dictate what will be shown and to who).
Just by tapping on a friend, an option screen will pop-up allowing you to chat, send a message, send a game invite (if you are currently in a game) or send a request for video chat. If you need to type a message, then an onscreen keyboard will pop up and you can type on a full touch QWERTY keyboard.

There will also be a few touch buttons/widgets at the bottom of the screen that will provide more information. Things you will be able to put as widgets at the bottom of the screen will be apps like Weather, Media Player & Picture Frame/Slide. You will also be able to put app shortcuts, such as Internet Browser, VC Games, Wii^UWare(games and apps), eShop, Netflix and an icon for whatever game/movie is in the Disc Drive.
(As one of your options, you could just make it look like the Wii main menu with a bunch of channels, your clock at the bottom and your status bar at the top)

*You will be able to message, chat, video chat, internet browse, play certain Wii^UWare games and watch Netflix without unDocking the Screen*
**Docked in-use mode obviously uses more power than docked non-use mode**

[Louieturkey]

...

Online gaming is very important to us, and we've heard the demands of the veteran gamers that want that. So, we're going to be more flexible with online this time when it comes to online, we're going to work with our 3rd party partners. We're not going to have a centralized one type fits all approach, it is going to be more the publishers trying to figure out what they want to do and we'll try to bring that to life and make sure our platform can support that vision.

...

Hey this approach sounds familiar... Oh wait ITS THE GAMECUBE Answer.  PSO being the only truly Online game confirmed.

Seriously terrible approach. As a developer I rather have something Deep I could tap into and build off of.

Agreed. That's pretty much like having nothing. The blanket approach lets me not have separate IDs for each 3rd party. The 3DS was a step in the right direction, that would be two steps back.

Actually, that is the PS3 approach.  Sony has their PSN, but only Sony games run on Sony servers unlike Xbox Live where all games run on M$ servers.  It's why EA shuts down year old games with a new updated game available, because they don't want to keep supporting a game they aren't making money with.  It's why they went with the $10 EA online pass, so they could make a little money off used games that have online features.

[mr_lakitu]

This is 50% of the Wii U that they can't afford to mess up if they really are trying to reach every gamer. It's maddening really. All the answers are a google search away Nintendo. Please, SHOW US THE MONEY!

[Kairon]

Hmm... I definitely have trouble envisioning Nintendo managing their own server farms for all online games on the system... definitely see them use more of a PSN model than an XBoxLive model due to the fact that they just don't have much expertise in that area

[Mop it up]

Doesn't Nintendo run the servers for all online Wii and DS games with the exception of Monster Hunter Tri? I thought they did since all those games are branded with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection logo, though I'm still unclear on how all this works.

All I want is free online play, however it can be achieved. Even if that meant keeping friend codes, which I never saw as a big deal. A bit clunky, yes, but nothing worth getting into fits over.

[Adrock]

Isn't the inability to add strangers because you have to know and add their friend code before being on their friends list one of the most annoying things about Friend Codes? So, you and I don't know each other and say we're paired on some multiplayer game and we're kicking ass and taking names more than any other random pairing. Once that match is over, our reign of awesome ends forever. We have no idea who each other is and no way of finding out. People talk about all the annoying 12 year olds on Xbox Live who have all apparently slept with my mother, but meeting new, awesome people to play with and against is also part of it. I think that's a good enough reason to say sayonara to Friend Codes. I'd probably play online more often if the platform was more accommodating.

[Mop it up]

I guess friend codes don't bother me since I never add random players, only people I know to some extent such as on a forum like this one. In that case, I can see the trouble with them. There have been a few recent games like Call of Duty Black Ops which allow you to add random players, but that's an exception to the norm.

If they allowed you to add random players, would you still hate friend codes so much?

[Adrock]

Probably less so, but that wouldn't change the fact that there's already a much better way of doing things. That's like putting duct tape on something that you know needs to be replaced.

[Mop it up]

The better ways cost money, though. I guess it is worth it to some to pay for a better service, but I'll take a lessor free version meself.

[NWR_insanolord]

It wouldn't cost any more to have a system with usernames that allows you to send friend requests through the system instead of exchanging codes outside the system like you do now.

[Oblivion]

This is Nintendo we're talking about.

[NWR_insanolord]

I understand that there are other reasons Nintendo might choose not to implement such a system. I was merely refuting Mop it up's point that it would cost more money to do it. On the subject of this being Nintendo, though, I could definitely see them not including a friend request feature even if they do switch to usernames as current rumors are suggesting.

[Mop it up]

I didn't say it would cost more money for Nintendo to run, I meant that it would cost customers money like it does now (referring to XBox Live for example).

[NWR_insanolord]

Both PSN and Steam offer that functionality in a free service. As we've said before in this thread, Steam does pretty much everything Xbox Live does and is free. Microsoft only charges money for Live because they can get away with it.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Both PSN and Steam offer that functionality in a free service. As we've said before in this thread, Steam does pretty much everything Xbox Live does and is free. Microsoft only charges money for Live because they can get away with it.

MS charges money for LIVE because it's been the only thing making them a profit in their gaming division for years.

[Mop it up]

Well I hope Nintendo doesn't get away with it. That's all I was saying.

[Kairon]

But, to point out the difference, LIVE has Microsoft providing the full backend support for online gameplay.

Steam relies heavily on PC gamers spending their own money to set up/rent their own servers and buy their own bandwidth for other players to play on. And like Louieturkey said, third parties have to set up and run their own online servers for PSN.

[BlackNMild2k1]

So if we ran with a Nintendo Steamworks-like setup where the 3rd parties provide their own servers for their own games and Nintendo covers some servers for the smaller Devs that can't afford their own, yet it's all a seamless experience with a single unified log-in attached to your MyNintendo Account that also had cross game chat and an always live friendslist, then we would all be pretty satisfied right?