12th November 2007, 12:33 AM
So Nintendo has a new Wii channel they hope to be all the rage, which allows you to post your Miis for others to view and enter contests to make a Mii according to a theme.
I have to say I really think Nintendo needs to stop with all these stupid things and get back to making stuff that actually has to do with games. Don't get me wrong, I know Nintendo is still making awesome games, like Twilight Princess and the upcoming Mario Galaxy, but really when I think of all the things they need to catch up on with the other consoles and I see them wasting time adding "features" like this, well it frustrates me. Really whatever team is making this American Idol stuff needs to be refocused on improving the online gaming experience. That's what is supposed to make Nintendo better than everyone else right? That's the thing all the Nintendo fanboys always use to defend the lack of this or that feature right? Nintendo just cares about GAMES? Well, what the heck does a Mii model runway have to do with games? I can already share my Miis and there's that Mii parade. I really don't care about a monthly contest considering that the Mii system doesn't really allow enough variation to really make those contests that interesting.
Really what Nintendo should do is try to reach, as Penny Arcade calls it, feature parity with MS. Nintendo coming up with original stuff beyond what MS is doing? That's fine, but we've given them ample time and instead of doing that, they give us Everybody Votes. No, that's not an online feature nor an online revolution. It's an online poll. They had their chance, and they aren't above copying people, so copy MS already!
I know I know, it's old news here and I keep bringing it up, but seriously it's getting a bit annoying to see that Nintendo is spending so much money on non-features when they have so much to catch up on in other departments. Next update I want to see is something, anything really, from the long list of XBox Live features on the 360. Persistant friends lists (same friends list no matter what game so you don't need to make a new one every time), for example, would be a start. Inviting from one game to another, that's good. Seeing what others are playing from anywhere in the interface, also good. Full voice chat in any game, that's fine too. Being able to invite anyone you match against to your friends list, that's a plus. And, so Nintendo has no excuses, parental controls that extend to the online experience (IE, turning off voice chat). There's more. Downloadable content for games, and also online game patching and autodetection of patches for games (they could have fixed the Zelda cannon room glitch without sending out new disks, for example). Matchmaking is something Nintendo can do so far, but they should allow users to have control, to make custom matches they set the parameters on. Ranked ladders, that's good, and the ranking should be used in matchmaking so you get matched against someone of your skill level.
Every single feature I listed up there is in XBox Live, every last one, and I'm sure I'm still forgetting some.
They don't need to bother with adding a movie download service. That's something MS does but that's not game related of course. I really don't care about something like that. Further, I really don't care about "custom themes" or "gamer icons". MS also provides those, or to be more accurate, they SELL those, for money. Yes, icons and "themes" for cash money. Ugh... I must confess I did spend some points on an icon set. In my defense I was just "getting rid" of 50 points I couldn't spend on anything else, though I did kick myself right afterwards when I realized I fell for such an obvious money trap. I wasn't ever going to use those icons and I could have saved those points, and oh yes, that reminds me how much I hate those "point" systems, making me spend more money than what the item actually costs in points is beyond annoying, it's fairly close to robbery.
Anyway back on topic, Nintendo should focus their Wii channel team on adding the features I talked about above. Do that, then I won't care if you spend your time adding virtual polls or catwalks for avatars.
Listen I'm not all negative, and you know that. I have nothing but praise for their motion sensing control innovation (my only criticism is some button placement issues on the main controller), and Zelda Twilight Princess is one of the best games I've played in a long time. I also have been nothing short of amazed by the upcoming Mario Galaxy, which looks not just fun but pretty creative, unlike Sunshine before it. I'll criticize when I see something lacking but I will lavish praise when I see somethin awesome.
I'll keep bringing up this online issue until it's resolved, and if they don't, then just prepare to be annoyed for a whole console generation :D, but if they DO resolve these issues, I WILL be the first to praise Nintendo for it. You can count on that. I probably won't stop that either. I mean you've seen how much I keep complimenting MS's system.
I have to say I really think Nintendo needs to stop with all these stupid things and get back to making stuff that actually has to do with games. Don't get me wrong, I know Nintendo is still making awesome games, like Twilight Princess and the upcoming Mario Galaxy, but really when I think of all the things they need to catch up on with the other consoles and I see them wasting time adding "features" like this, well it frustrates me. Really whatever team is making this American Idol stuff needs to be refocused on improving the online gaming experience. That's what is supposed to make Nintendo better than everyone else right? That's the thing all the Nintendo fanboys always use to defend the lack of this or that feature right? Nintendo just cares about GAMES? Well, what the heck does a Mii model runway have to do with games? I can already share my Miis and there's that Mii parade. I really don't care about a monthly contest considering that the Mii system doesn't really allow enough variation to really make those contests that interesting.
Really what Nintendo should do is try to reach, as Penny Arcade calls it, feature parity with MS. Nintendo coming up with original stuff beyond what MS is doing? That's fine, but we've given them ample time and instead of doing that, they give us Everybody Votes. No, that's not an online feature nor an online revolution. It's an online poll. They had their chance, and they aren't above copying people, so copy MS already!
I know I know, it's old news here and I keep bringing it up, but seriously it's getting a bit annoying to see that Nintendo is spending so much money on non-features when they have so much to catch up on in other departments. Next update I want to see is something, anything really, from the long list of XBox Live features on the 360. Persistant friends lists (same friends list no matter what game so you don't need to make a new one every time), for example, would be a start. Inviting from one game to another, that's good. Seeing what others are playing from anywhere in the interface, also good. Full voice chat in any game, that's fine too. Being able to invite anyone you match against to your friends list, that's a plus. And, so Nintendo has no excuses, parental controls that extend to the online experience (IE, turning off voice chat). There's more. Downloadable content for games, and also online game patching and autodetection of patches for games (they could have fixed the Zelda cannon room glitch without sending out new disks, for example). Matchmaking is something Nintendo can do so far, but they should allow users to have control, to make custom matches they set the parameters on. Ranked ladders, that's good, and the ranking should be used in matchmaking so you get matched against someone of your skill level.
Every single feature I listed up there is in XBox Live, every last one, and I'm sure I'm still forgetting some.
They don't need to bother with adding a movie download service. That's something MS does but that's not game related of course. I really don't care about something like that. Further, I really don't care about "custom themes" or "gamer icons". MS also provides those, or to be more accurate, they SELL those, for money. Yes, icons and "themes" for cash money. Ugh... I must confess I did spend some points on an icon set. In my defense I was just "getting rid" of 50 points I couldn't spend on anything else, though I did kick myself right afterwards when I realized I fell for such an obvious money trap. I wasn't ever going to use those icons and I could have saved those points, and oh yes, that reminds me how much I hate those "point" systems, making me spend more money than what the item actually costs in points is beyond annoying, it's fairly close to robbery.
Anyway back on topic, Nintendo should focus their Wii channel team on adding the features I talked about above. Do that, then I won't care if you spend your time adding virtual polls or catwalks for avatars.
Listen I'm not all negative, and you know that. I have nothing but praise for their motion sensing control innovation (my only criticism is some button placement issues on the main controller), and Zelda Twilight Princess is one of the best games I've played in a long time. I also have been nothing short of amazed by the upcoming Mario Galaxy, which looks not just fun but pretty creative, unlike Sunshine before it. I'll criticize when I see something lacking but I will lavish praise when I see somethin awesome.
I'll keep bringing up this online issue until it's resolved, and if they don't, then just prepare to be annoyed for a whole console generation :D, but if they DO resolve these issues, I WILL be the first to praise Nintendo for it. You can count on that. I probably won't stop that either. I mean you've seen how much I keep complimenting MS's system.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)