Wii U Online Is In The Hands of Third Parties
In an interview with forbes, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime revealed that third-parties will provide their own networks for their games on the Wii U, meaning the online functionality of the console is really in their hands:
We’ve seen what our competitors have done, and we’ve acknowledged that we need to do more online. For Wii U… what we’re doing is creating a much more flexible system that will allow the best approaches by independent publishers to come to bear.
So instead of a situation where a publisher has their own network and wants that to be the predominant platform, and having arguments with platform holders, we’re going to welcome that. We’re going to welcome that from the best and the brightest of the third party publishers.
This open set up has its good and bad points. On the plus side, it gives third-parties much more freedom than they currently have on the Wii, enabling them to create the online service their game needs with little interference from Nintendo. On the negative side, Wii U’s online set up will not be unified. Hypothetically, this means that Call of Duty could have a robust online experience with voice chat and leaderboards, while Madden could have very limited online functionality.
While it’s good that Nintendo are putting much more thought into Wii U’s online than they did with the Wii, the open setup could hurt them in the long run. Are Nintendo once again being short-sighted when it comes to online? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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“On the negative side, Wii U’s online set up will not be unified. Hypothetically, this means that Call of Duty could have a robust online experience with voice chat and leaderboards, while Madden could have very limited online functionality”
Why would that have anything to do with nintendo? That would be EA’s fault if their online stunk – likewise with all developers.
It’s to do with Nintendo because it was their decision to make the Wii U’s online environment open. Madden wouldn’t have poor online on Microsoft’s or Sony’s console because they use a unified online structure, and developers have to follow strict guidelines. That’s the difference here. Third parties could get away with having poor online on the Wii U. They can’t on the PS3 and 360.
OK, they *can*, but the question is why the hell would they? Again, they want sales, and if they aren’t providing good material, they won’t find them.
Well, the problem is that third party titles often suffer from poor sales on Nintendo consoles, because Nintendo fans tend to only buy Nintendo software. So, it’s a possibility that they may not bother with decent online because of this.