The Wii may still be outselling the other consoles every month but one department it’s never had the upper hand in is online gaming. There is no good argument for why friend codes were a good idea at all… lets just be honest here. Exchanging 12 digit codes in order to play with people is no where near the ease of use that the Wii is supposed to encompass. With the NXE (New Xbox Experience) launching today I would be a bit worried if I was Nintendo, not only do the avatars look a lot better than Mii’s but Microsoft is introducing them to a solid online platform. If Nintendo doesn’t get in gear, Microsoft could really cash in on an aspect Nintendo has really almost ignored.
But fear not Wii owners, Nintendo seems to be planning something, and you can get a hint at that in the latest Game On column over at Forbes.com. In it, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime says this about their plans for online:
“Nintendo has always had a vision on community. The issue is that we define community differently than our competitors…Our consumers do want a sense of community, and we’re going to deliver that — but in a way that’s unique to Nintendo.”
As I said, it’s a hint, what exactly the Reggienator is on about we can only speculate, “a way that’s unique to Nintendo” could be very interesting, but then again looking at the track record on Wii, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Source: Game On
Last Updated: November 19, 2008
Fayyaad
November 19, 2008 at 15:45
Heh. Unique to Nintendo? Pfft…so are friend codes, and you don’t see anyone having a nerdgasm over them.
Fudzy
November 19, 2008 at 22:07
The fact that Microsoft copied Nintendo says something.
doobiwan
November 21, 2008 at 01:43
How do you figure that? Mii’s?
Read More, 360 Avatars were in development before the Wii was even announced. Even before that the concept is not new, there’s 3/4 different ones you can get just for Windows Live Messenger.