Wii Least Connected of U.S. Consoles

I'm guessing because most casual gamers most not think its worth it.

NetFlix will partially cure this.

Best picture and caption ever.
I am sad to be one of those not connected to the interwebs

Hmm... I'm not sure why this would happen. Maybe people just want to stay offline.

If only Nintendo of America started the Connection Ambassador program like the PAL region has been doing where if you help someone get connected online with their Wii, the user that helped out would get 500 Nintendo points as a reward.

One of my friends once said the Wii isn't hardcore because "there aren't any games worth playing online". He want on to say that the definition of a hardcore gamer is "someone who plays online". I wholeheartedly disagree. I said (sarcastically) "I guess there weren't any hardcore gamers in the 80's, then". That sure got him to be quiet.

Maybe because tons of family friendly Wii owners get minigame collections.

I'm with Superzeldaman. This is the best image and caption we have ever had on this site. More of this, Zach!

Friend codes + lack of killer online titles + crappy online play for many titles=this problem.

The friends system is the cause

Don't forget, there are still people who have capped internet. If you already have one console connected, you're not going to want another connected. Also, friends play a huge part. There isn't really much of a way to connect with friends on the Wii, you can send messages, but that's about it. The other systems have more online capabilities that friends can take advantage of.

I think it has to do with the wider demographic. I think if you only examined 20- to 30-year olds, the Wii would have about the same online presence.

It's easy really, Wiis online system is garbage compared to the others.

1. There is no user friendly interface, it's old, outdated and clunky compared to others. The Wii is about being user friendly so the online functions are totally foreign to many users.

2. NoA doesn't promote it. A little phamplet in some of their games. That's it. I imagine most people don't even know it's there.

3. No content. There are many good wiiware and vc games, but people who go online see barebones, ps3 and 360 have demos, videos, avatar areas, messaging, game dlc, movies and more. So these people go on a few times and gets bored. A shame for those good wiiware games.

4. Pricing. This issues is moe toward dsiware than wiiware but some games cost just too much.

5. Restrictions. This kind of recalls back to one, but a 40mb size restriction, limits to online play and friend codes and more, they all add up to an inferior online experience.

There are many more opinions that can be added, however I place no blame on the consumer or debs at all. For this part of the Wii I put all blame on Nintendo. They just flat out made a crap online system that people either don't know about or don't care to use.

54%? Higher than I expected. Still, Nintendo just needs to advertise the online functions more.

54% is actually good. Is more than the half. Besides is a survey of 2000 users and surveys rarely reflect reality.

Why people keep saying that the wii online is crappy? I never had issues playing Mario kart or TvC online and instead I have seen terrible lag with my friend's Gears of wars to a point that he stopped playing it.
I have yet to see an online in any console that is 99.95% perfect.

And I think that the only ones that are crying for the FCs are people that is stuck in 2005. Knock it off! is not as bad as you people point it. Stop being such crybabies.

And trophies? bleh. That's the biggest gimmick in this generation I have seen so far.

well their pathetic online is part to blame! and because nintendo doesnt advertise their games as "online compatible", where as ps3 and 360 do that more!

@buffalobob: your experience =/= everyone else's experience, man. just because you have no problems doesn't mean everyone else is just whining to hear themselves whine. :/

@Hardy83
That's actually a good point about the interface. The whole thing could easily be spiced up a bit with a few updates, but Nintendo has always been behind in the online realm. I don't need it to be as slick as the PS3 and Xbox 360 interfaces, but anything would help.

it is very much broken, and Nintendo doesn't seem inclined to fix things. Which bodes poorly for the wii 2 system. I can live with many of the faults, but one of the darkest clouds is that the vc and wiiware content I have purchased will not be able to travel with me if/when I purchase the wii2.

Also, the connect24 is idiotic, constantly going 3 or 4 menus deep just to turn on/turn off. And if I leave it on all the time, it sucks a good amount of power, plus gets pretty hot.

Hardy83 said it all.

Especially sad that developers still have that 40mb restriction size when we now have the SD Channel to play off the games from inside (in a way).

I always keep saying that the Nintendo Channel and the Shop Channel should be combined just so the shopping experience at least is an improvement.

@buffalobob Have you played Brawl online? If you play with someone across the street from you you can see your foot on the other side of the stage while the rest of your body is running frame by frame.

This is not surprising, lack of adavertising and outdated online services are the reasons why the Wii has less owners who use it for Wi-fi. It's all NOA's fault, that's all there is to it.

Though, the physical number of Wii consoles connected, if these statistics are accurate, is still more than the number of 360's and PS3's combine. Also, do you really want all of the Wii owners out there online? shutters

@vherub: There's a simple solution for that problem: Turn WiiConnect24 on, but turn "standby connection" OFF. That way, it doesn't sap power and get hot when you're not using it.

I can't honestly put much faith in a survey of a mere 2,030 people. I didn't put much faith in the stats from the GameInformer survey of FIVE thousand because it was too few (and limited to GameInformer readers who bothered to respond or were offered the survey [which I wasn't], which is obviously a group of core gamers and therefore not representative of people as a whole)!

Even if 54% of Wii owners HAD connected at some point, how many actually DID anything with it? I have some friends who connected without ever intending to make use of the services provided (no idea why they bothered at all). Then there's the people who were disappointed with what's available and stopped using it. I care much more about the number of people who still use the Wii's online services ACTIVELY.

Anecdotal though it may be, my experience with customers at GameStop suggests that the number of people who actually USE the Wii's online features is at less than 10%. Most still have no clue that such features even EXIST, and it's difficult to tell them that they do when they're just snapping up the select few hyper-popular Nintendo titles, or worse, just going with Wii Sports (yes, that still happens).

Honestly, I think the war for the Wii's online has already been lost due to a combination of how it works and lack of knowledge/interest. We can still try to inform people, but the majority will never wise up. Our best hope for Nintendo's online community lies in them designing something new and better for the next console. I only wish I could be more optimistic that this will actually happen.

@buffalobob - I like trophies. Some people put too much emphasis on getting them for their own sake, but I do believe it adds another level of fun to the game. It's like getting new missions, but the system is standardized so that it shows up in the main console interface and thus all of your friends can see it too.

yeah but wii sells so much that it wold be double as much as the ps3 or 360.

Atlantis1982: Playing off the SD card is far from perfect though. The games still load up into the built in Wii memory before it plays them so you need to have as much space as the game takes free on the Wii as well.

"Blame it on complicated friend codes," full stop.

@zkaplan... your dead on my friend. Im sure in the next home console Nintendo will have some sort of achievment system as well. Microsoft has nailed it dead on with In Game Achievments granting Avatar Freebies. Just imagine if getting all the Trophies/Achievments netted you special Mii clothes/items, that you could in turn go and use in Mario Kart Online. Im willing to bet that would garner a good few peoples interest in getting the Wii Online.

Hardy pretty much nailed it all down with one exception that Ive had with my Wii experience and that was its so dang hard to get connected with some router types. I ended up having to go out and drop $60 USD on a new router and then still had to spend hours of time the customer help lines to get it connected even with my decent knowlege of internet/routers.

Then you have the fact that once I got it online and the one game I wanted to play more than anything online was Brawl only to find a completely unplayabe experience........ shortly sold the Wii and on to other consoles. Sad thing is even then the DS was running Mario Kart DS perfectly online and still does to this day. How can a console fail where a portable can get it right?

I think the real reason is the casual sales, all those people who bought it for Wii fit and Wii sports couldnt give a hoot about connecting it

sad news

Why is this bad? Look at how many Wii's are out there. Half of them is more than all of the 360's or PS3's.
Also, speaking from my experience and that of several friends, the Wii's connection is often better than the others. It rarely lags while many, if not all, 360 games do. I've had numerous matches in Halo and COD ruined because of the shoddy internet service they provide, and they charge for it. Not to mention that the 360 is built around internet-using games...
Another thing people need to consider when comparing the online services of this generation is the downloadable games. The Wii has by far the best online store even if it stopped at the VC. I mean, Mario, DK, Metroid, Zelda, etc all available at the press of a button is amazing. Neither of the competitors have the history to bring up that kind of library, even if they do show you shiny new movies every week.

Wow!

It's a shame too. The CoD: Reflex community is shrinking by the day.

@hardy
."Pricing. This issues is moe toward dsiware than wiiware but some games cost just too much."

360 games cost just as much. More XBLA titles are around $15 while WiiWare is mostly $10. The prices are quite similar so I don't see a problem there.

Seriously if Nintendo management had even a quarter of a brain between them on this subject they would be 10 times as rich. The last place as a developer I would put my games is on Wiiware/VC/DSiware. As brilliant as Nintendo is in some aspects of entertainment they are still clueless about the online world. Also it would not have hurt to have DVD playing capabilities and made the machine 720p capable. They could have still sold the system at under 300 dollars and had more 3rd party support and they could have cashed in on the online dollars that they currently miss out on.

I too think the whole Netflix option will help to get more people online. I hope this gets better. Who knows, the release of Monster Hunter Tri might bring over the fans of the PSP version who know the value of online play.

Also, Nintendo has to advertise that the system has built in Wi-Fi. You have to buy it extra for the Xbox 360. I bet if they slapped a sticker on front of the Wii box saying "Free Built In Wireless Adapter Included" I bet more people would be going online.

As much as Nintendo is doing online (VC, WiiWare, Nintendo Channel ect) it is amazing that online does not seem to be more of a focus with its ad campaigns.

If they really wanted to get people online they could give people 800 Nintendo points for just getting the system online and if they really, really wanted to get people online they would give away Super Mario All Stars FREE for anyone who gets their system online.

Not only that Wiis are the least connected of the 3 consoles in NA, but the NA region is the least connected of all of the reigons.

"Not only that Wiis are the least connected of the 3 consoles in NA, but the NA region is the least connected of all of the reigons."

Now that is just a crying shame seeing how the internet was invented here

This is a percentage... can we see hard numbers?

only time i use the internet is for downloading games thats about it really n most titles arent online so as far as i know anyways from my 44 wii games

Sad. And there's some really good original games, too.

I would be happy with these numbers, if I were Nintendo. As others have said, this means that there are more Wii's online in some form or another than the number of PS3/360's. Remember, the larger the install base, the smaller a percentage it takes to still have the actual number of systems beat out the others. Sure, I'd want even more systems online if I were Nintendo, but they still have more of their systems doing things online than the other companies, even with a more gimped online system. I think the biggest problem that Nintendo has with their online isn't the friend codes...its the lack of connectivity between friends even after exchanging codes. Instant messaging is the wave of communication now. You can do it on the 360...and on the PS3...but not on the Wii. THAT is what holds Nintendo's online back, if you ask me.

As far as Wii games and how they play online...I've never really had any problem with it. I've played Mario Kart, CoD:WaW, CoD:MWR, Conduit, Onslaught, and other games online, and they all work just fine! Sure, you are playing against strangers, but...so what? They still connect and play fine. No lag. Get in and out of games easily. And some games (those that don't run on Nintendo's servers) even have easily accessible friend add systems. So, what kind of problems have people had actually playing Wii games online, besides Brawl?

Most people I know who own Wii's don't know it can go online. They have been fine playing games offline since forever.

The only reason my Wii isn't connected to the internet is because I'm still stuck where broadband doesn't reach (except for really exorbitant prices)...

Perhaps if they offered free demos of all the games on the service more people would find a reason to try it.

Maybe it's just a sign that more "casuals" own a Wii and they are less likely to bother with all the extra features of a console.

Can't be helped to an extent, they've sold to a lot of people who aren't bothered about online.
Although, if they had made every one of their multiplayer games online then it might have been different, the Wii series for a start should all have online modes.

In a more positive light, the Wii's strength is local multiplayer. It's games are designed around that, and online, if added is an afterthought. Many PS360 games have short single player campaigns, no local multiplayer, but sweet online multiplayer. If you have a PS360 you pretty much HAVE to connect it online to enjoy a lot of games. With the Wii, you don't need to connect it to enjoy most of the games that offer good online (such as Mario Kart) as long as you have someone else to play it with.

I also agree that if you looked at the 20-30 year old demographic, probably the connection rate would be closer to the PS360.

Yeah the online system sucks, but with the Wii it's really designed as more of an "extra" to core single and local multiplayer retail game options, whereas with PS360, those are extras to the online offerings. Hopefully the Wii2 will be able to offer both strong single/local and online options. I can never see Ninty doing what some companies have done on PS360 and eliminating local multiplayer for online. Local will always come first with Ninty, which, frankly, if I have to choose (hopefully, by next gen. I shouldn't have to), I'd go with local first too.

I agree with Token Girl. If someone ever says the Wii doesn't have enough online games, remind them that the other two consoles don't have enough local multiplayer games.

Honestly the "quality of experience" is likely irrelevant here. Nintendo clearly hasn't made online into an essential part of the experience and as others have stated given the percentage, it's obvious that the people who aren't connected either don't know about it or, more likely, don't care.

Something like Netflix is likely to boost usage as are free video streaming apps like BBC iPlayer. Nintendo isn't really interested as Wii-as-media-portal like the other two console makers and has a more conservative online approach.

I'm enjoying access to downloadable games, but I also recognise that online is irrelevant to the Wii experience - it can be fun, but it's not necessary and I almost never engage in any online gaming, though on rare occasions when I have it's been no worse than PC gaming in the past, i.e., you're limited by the audience for the game wanting to play online.

I expect that if Nintendo decides to pursue online connectivity more strongly we will see the appearance of some kind of online portal or gaming lounge, but clearly it's too late for that to be relevant for games with online connectivity that have already been released to-date. Games like Monster Hunter 3 indicate that if developers want to enable that kind of environment of code-free interaction and matchmaking they can do so - again just like PC gaming, so I don't see the big deal.

Well theres a significant amount of families that own a Wii, wouldn't be surprised if some don't have theirs connected because of, younger kids or because some owners are elderly couples?

I've been in the middle of wal-mart and my family would stumble upon a mom trying to figure out DS and DSi. The mom would say, "I would prefer to get DS for her younger and DSi for her older kid, because the younger doesn't need to be online". My mom and the other mom, both agreed with eachother.

Internet gaming isn't that bad on the Wii, sometimes it may be your own internet connection or bandwidth. I do admit, the browser can be worse than the DSi version, because it runs out of memory faster because of flash.

But Wii is the most connected console.

50% of Wiis is more than 70% of XBoxes. 50% of Wiis is more than even 100% of PS3s.

I honestly think playing online is overrated anyway. It just really isn't that necessary

My issue with pricing is with Wii compared to PS3 (excluding Home ingame purchases, man some of that stupid is stupid overpriced). I don't own a 360 so I can't comment on XBLA games, though I can imagine I would give XBLA game more credit due to their size/length and visual/audio quality compared to that ever so stupid 40MB limit that forces any decent game to look like a 64 game or a side scroller.

To those saying that 54% of Wiis may be bigger than all PS3s or 360s online, maybe, but it's still 54% penetration and that is flat out pathetic.

I don't see Netflix fixing this as it accesses the Internet on it's own more than going into Nintendo's online system, or at leats the issues I have with the system, showing numbers might make some people feel better.

hmm ... what if there was something like Playstation HOME on the wii ... that would have alot more people connecting ... Just imagine it ... Playing as your mii interacting with other peoples mii's around the world

I think the way nintendo launched the wii has effect the online side of things,but as of later it is improving and i hope E3 as big annoucements.

On the plus side, I'm sure Nintendo is learning for its next console. The Gamecube was was pretty much never online-active except for one or two games, so they're late to the party. The terrible friend code system, blah interface, poor online game quality and general lack of structure will (hopefully) be addressed in the Wii 2.

it's just a lack of awareness. They really don't advertise the service (WW and VC mostly), it's a shame, because the online features are great as far as downloads, channels and movies.
when it comes to gaming online, well I've never played with anyone I know before and I even tried once or twice but the only people I know with Wii's are older 'casuals' and got so confused by the friend code thing that we gave up before it ever worked. It sounds dopey but I don't think that's uncommon with people who have one but aren't really super into video games; but LIke Sean said I don't think the online play experience itself is what Wii is really about.
I'm loving the new netflix service, though, it's really awesome and should raise those numbers pretty fast. Still don't get why they don't just include like 500 free points with each console purchase to just get people in there, that would really fix the shop channel awareness pretty fast.

I remember back in the N64 days, Nintendo constantly talked about how great carts were. Everyone else had discs but Nintendo harped on how distracting the load times were. Even though blank carts were many times the price of blank discs, even though discs were bigger, Nintendo did not seem to see the logic. Then Gamecube came out and boom! Discs. I predict that the next system will have better online capabilities as a major function. Any nonbelievers should spend some time with the main Playstation 3 menu - even without going online to do anything specific, it feels like an open door to the Internet, to the rest of the world. I'm never one to play Console Wars, but this is certainly an area in which Nintendo could benefit by taking a note from its competitors.

I'm not surprised. Whenever Nintendo has a great idea where Wi-Fi can be involved they pass it up. In WarioWare D.I.Y Showcase you can't even share minigames with other people unless you have their friend codes, and with NSMBW you can't connect to play with other people. I don't understand the harm in it.

the wii needs so much updating, we need a user-friendly system that has a trophy-like system, and no friend codes. i though the other day that the trophy idea could be 'retro fitted' to existing games by making a channel that would scan your saves! simple!

another reason that nobody uses online because people are thick and normal famlies never do it!

nintendo ignores everyone and does what it likes, and badly. they can never take a hint!
somebody who designed the wii, should be SHOT and Siguro Mayamoto, should be a god!

Hmmm...so jakew161...what if it was Miyamoto who designed the Wii? Would you then shoot the god? hehe

Nintendo would have an instant fix in the future if a Nintendo Points Card was packaged in with every Wii. Nintendo could virtually start packing in all the NES Super Mario Bros games. Redesign the box with the NES SMB games on it, and more Wii's might be sold.

@Leschen: Warioware has to be policed by Nintendo to get rid of inappropriate games if anyone could access them

With Nintendo Wi-fi, playing a NSMBWii game would be sluggish online, and personally I'd rather play with people next to me rather than some random person I've never met before

How is the percentage of connected consoles more interesting figure, than the actual number of them? Wii is the most connected console. The activity of users is another interesting topic, but the percentage is nothing.

@Varoennauraa
"How is the percentage of connected consoles more interesting figure, than the actual number of them?"

Because it shows the lack of awareness of the service. Having more people online just due to the larger Wii base isn't a reason to celebrate. The video game market is constantly changing and highly competitive. Nintendo probably shouldn't be taking a minimalist approach to their online offerings.

Even if Nintendo raised the quality of their online experience, there's no guarantee that the percentage will go much higher. A good number of Wii owners are either elderly, young, or just don't care about being online.

nintendo of american yall need to get yall stuff together or were switching to sony and microsoft

Watch the language - mod team

@kam: We?

@SpoonyBard: It was brought up about three or four times

I love playing MarioKart Wii / MarioKart DS online. I have also played DrMario online as well as Exitebike. The morning that Pop came out at Wiiware launch, I played it and when my high score of over 3 million posted, I was number 17 in the world!!!

I've also played Brawl online as well, though I usually get smeared pretty quick. I actually enjoyed the feature where you could sit and watch other people's matches, or even bid coins on them, LOL!

Unfortunately, I've never had the opportunity to exchange friend codes with anyone, so no online friend matches most of the people I know, some of them have their Wiis online, but spend the majority of their time in local multiplayer. By the way, the DS friend code system is identical 12/16-digit codes to that of the Wii friend code system.

And FYI, yes, games that have online play options do indeed carry the WiFi logo on the box, and there is a ESRB disclaimer, "Experience may vary during online play" or something like that.

I blame it on a lot of things. Namely the fact that Nintendo doesn't advertise their online services - that's SORT OF A BIG ONE.

Though, their support for the Virtual Console sucks these days. Wiiware's even worse. There's often long, long stretches - weeks and weeks - where there's nothing worth a download. And even when there is, money becomes an issue. Since you can't sign in with a persistent account, must input credit card info manually everytime, and purchase "chunks" of virtual money - it's easy to feel ripped off, or shy away from it because of the clunkiness. Like when you paid 20 bucks to buy Cave Story, a 12 dollar game. (Even though Cave Story is awesome).

But who can blame them for not advertising? The Wii's online stuff is designed sooooo horribly. For example, the lack of media for games? In-excusable. Sure, there are game trailers on the Nintendo Channel, but then why the hell are the Nintendo Channel and Wii Shop Channels seperate things? Or the fact that you can download DS demos...but only from the Wii, even though the DS can go online. It's just horribly, lazily designed - and riddled with baffling decisions - all around.

And don't even get me started on the poor online performance in many wii games. Though I personally like playing wii games online; it's just simpler. Hop on, find a game, play some fun (quiet, grief free - thank you lack of voice headsets!) matches and get off. That's how online should be - serious multiplayer gaming is way better locally. But still, tons of games are unnecessarily difficult to connect to. I don't understand why more games don't have simple lobby systems - the DREAMCAST library figured that part out. Wii games usually just offer to find games for you, behind-the-scenes - that's TOO simplistic. And there are some big games - like Super Smash Bros. Brawl - that just perform terribly once you manage to connect:(

The thing that's really surprising is that over half of all Wiis are connected to the 'net. Half of 50 million + is still MORE than the 70% of the Xbox user base. That's shocking. That is REALLY shocking, especially when you consider how many wii owners only play crap like Just Dance and Wii Sports on the thing. Even though they'd probably eat up stuff like Pac Man if someone told them they could download it.

I wouldn't be surprised if things improved a lot on Wii2 as well. Look at MH Tri - no friendcodes! There's DLC for GH. I think Ninty has allowed 3rd parties making games geared at an older audience more options. It'll probably be harder to relax the limits on things like Mario Kart that lots of little kids might play.

I would love to see friendcodes limited to one per system and possibly a parental control option. For example, if your parental controls are set on the high level, you have to get your friendcodes before you can connect with people and speak with them. If you're not using parental controls, you can meet up with randoms online and exchange friendcodes in the match to meet up later, like in MH Tri.

I, as well as anyone else, meant that the Wii has more online customers. Thats the interesting figure, for future support. The "awarenes" means nothing.

There are millions of Wii owners who got their Wii so they could play Wii Sports forever. Still, more than one half is not bad at all, I think.

The Wii just doesn't cater to that gaming community. The only games Nintendo has released with extensive online capabilities are Animal Crossing: City Folk and Mario Kart Wii (I'm not counting Super Smash Bros Brawl considering the online features are so broken that I've never even been able to use them). Both of the games I mentioned have been less than excellently received by critics also, sadly, so that leaves basically nothing in the way of online play for the Wii. It sucks because they have missed so many opportunities to incorporate it too (IE: New Super Mario Bros Wii would have been GREAT as an online title, even if only to friends on your Wii list). We have to look at the fact that Nintendo is new to the online gaming trend as well. The Gamecube had almost no online capabilities at all in an age where Playstation and Xbox were coming into it head on and realizing the potential. I have a feeling that the successor to the Wii will be much more attuned to these demands... or at least I hope so.

In future consoles, when Nintendo updates their online capabilities to slightly tone down the whiners, I hope the main point will still be gaming with friends. I almost never play anything, with any console (or PC) with random people.

I skipped Smash Brosses online gaming, because I believed forum-complaining and never really bothered to even try it. Now I play it all day long because of the online multiplayer. I have zero lag with friends. Its online experience is bare bones, but there ain't no better game.

@9 @55
agree

Not surprised. Most people I know that own a wii don't even play it let alone access it's lame online service. Personally I love online play (Tetris Party, Conduit, Call of Duty + more) and feel that Nintendo's service works fine for my needs.