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Nintendo explains the complexities of Wii’s online ‘barriers’ May 1, 2008

Filed under: Fanboy, Rants/Opinions — hey_suburbia @ 9:52 pm

nintendo wfc

Nintendo’s Wi-Fi Connection has always had various problems in terms of convenience and user-friendliness – lag, cumbersome Friend Codes that change with every game. They all make you think twice before going online for a round of Nintendo WFC gaming.

This was slightly improved with the recent release of Mario Kart Wii, when both connection quality and the need to constantly exchange baffling Friend Codes were vastly improved. However, Nintendo mentioned that this particular setup was made to safeguard its players and create a more enjoyable online experience.

Eric Walters, manager of public relations for Nintendo of America explained how these different “barriers” were important with the company’s goals in terms of online gaming. In a reply to a question posted by 1UP.com, he was quoted having said this:

Different services do things differently. Nintendo’s three goals for Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection are to make the service free, easy and safe. These goals are there not just for young players, but also older ones and new players. Nintendo is bringing a lot of new people into the world of video games, and we want to reduce barriers while making the online experience as enjoyable as possible.

It was also mentioned that the July issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly will feature a more extensive discussion of Nintendo’s handling of online gaming. Hopefully, the company will continue to make other small improvements in terms of its online gaming experience.

qj



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  • Gameking102
    How about the option of just enabling or diablng the voice feature??Or just making that feature only friend code..
  • PaulT
    Sadly, if Nintendo are going to keep concentrating on the "safe" aspect then this will always be their Achilles heel...

    The first step should be to get rid of friend codes completely unless you want to play against a specific person on a regular basis. No paedophile is going to be able to lure a kid while playing something like Mario Kart without voice/text chat anyway. This makes gaming convenient and easy for everyone without any "dangers" to children.

    After that, start working on systems that allow communication in-game between players. This will be more complicated, both technically and politically. Put work into this aspect, perhaps for Wii 2 but they must accept that no system is ever going to be completely safe. it's like old saying - the only computer that's completely secure from online attack is the one that never goes online. If the Wii is to have online play, there is a small amount of risk, but this risk is negligible.

    Finally, allow worldwide connection between players. Nintendo have got to stop this idiotic region-coding thing for both selling the games and playing them online. It is incredibly frustrating to have friends and family on different continents but never being able to play against them because Nintendo have decided that Europe and North America are different planets.

    /rant over