Nintendo has devulged quite a bit of information on its forthcoming Wii U console lately, but the company is still holding some cards close to its chest. The true extent of its online functionality is one of the things that remains a little fuzzy.
Don't feel upset, though - it's not just gamers that are being left in the dark here, but also developers. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 boss Katsuhiro Harada has admitted that he's equally clueless at this stage.
He was asked in a recent interview how the Wii U's online service compares to that of its rivals, and said:
Not quite sure at this point. I don't fully understand it. We’re still working with Nintendo to find out about their network.
Given the rapidly approaching launch of the system, that's a little worrying to say the least. Hopefully Nintendo will have everything sorted out by the time November comes around...and hopefully the company will also let Harada know what's going on, too.
[source destructoid.com]
Comments 51
Yeah, I was curious about this too.
I'm very curious about it. Miiverse is a great concept and I hope everything turns out great.
Man Nintendo, stop keeping some of the most important aspects of your system a secret, its just torture! DX
Yay you get steam.
This worries me. Nintendo needs to have good online to be successful with the hardcore gaming crowd. I didn't personally used to care about online, but then I started playing SSB on Kaillera, so I'm hoping the next SSB has good online.
I wonder if they've gone in a completely different direction in terms to online and don't want people copying their approach yet.
Or maybe they don't know what functionality will be up yet for launch and want to keep it under wraps until they do know.
Oh, so developers are worried too. That makes me feel so much better.
It's okay, I wasn't expecting good online anything from nintendo anyway.
Maybe he hasn't worked with the online enough to fully understand it. But yeah, this is kinda worrying. Nintendo, just don't screw this one up please!
steam on a nintendo console? BLASPHEMY.
JK, I wonder what Portal 2 will be like on the Wii U?
Best for last? I sure hope so.
No online for Tekken Tag Tournament 2?
I'm guessing that picture is fake, but if it was real. @_@
I wish Nintendo would try to compete in the online market, but I just don't see it happening. If they don't have an overarching account system with something like trophies it just ain't happening. I'd love to have something like a Nintendo trophy system to be proud of.
@zezhyrule
With the exception of the PC, internet gaming hasn't ever been a big thing since the Xbox 360 and PS3 anyway. It was always there on the previous generation and I think going back to the PS1 there was some online capabilities but it was so minimal that only a few had access to it. So with that in mind it's only a relatively new thing and where the original XBox and PS2 had some online, the Gamecube had even less and wii's, apparently, wasn't as good either.
Now this is where I show my ignorance... I thought the internet was the internet? You can only access the www with an 'internet browser' but anything else was it's own doorway to 'online play'? If that's the case isn't the full use of the online gaming down to the developers themselves? Someone answer that for me please?
Why should I be scared? I'm just happy that online you don't need to use a payed subscription every month like Microsoft and Sony mindlessly did. But there is one thing... If Nintendo allows chat during online play, I hope they block out any language if kids (like me) are playing.
I'm not a programmer, but wouldn't you need to know how the online system works to build it into your game? We're two months out and programmers are still waiting to hear about how to integrate online play?
I'm more upset that developers are left in the dark than me as a gamer.
Considering that Tekken 3DS has crappy connection to servers and lags like hell 90% of the time when other games don't, not sure if I can trust his word on things Online-related.
Less than two months until launch. Hey, no problem! We'll let the QA testers write the networking code while they aren't busy testing. There are 24 hours in a day, after all.
That makes me worry more.
Steam on the Wii U?
YES, PLEASE!
@Hyperstar96 It's a mock-up of the Wii U's UI, showing some 'fantasy' online features.
@Varia01 - If they do allow online chat during gameplay, there is no way they could block out bad language.
Isn't it down to the developers to make sure the online function works well?
On the note of voice chatting during online gameplay, I feel that it detracts from the enjoyment of it more than adds to it. It helps people team together but it gets ruined too often by people being abusive. I'd rather be left without it thank you!
Yup, I'll just get Tekken Tag 2 for 360.
Hopefully that picture is accurate and we can link our steam accounts to the WiiU. Portal 2 on my WiiU? Yes please!
@Retro_on_theGo But the only interesting thing about the game is the wtf Mario stuff so...?
This is worrying considering the machine launches in a few of months.
Does anyone else see that this is quite a big problem when the third party developers we are counting on to support the Wii U with their flagship games and provide us with top notch gaming experiences, both offline and online, don't even know how the online works fully yet?
Reading it again, he doesn't say that Nintendo hasn't figured it out; just that his company doesn't have all of the information. That doesn't necessarily mean the online system isn't complete.
@Burning_Spear
The issue is that third party developers, and this is a big third party developer here and not some indie dev, don't know how it works fully, a few months from launch.
This surely means that the launch window games certainly won't be taking full advantage of it, at the very least, and actually could be an indication that maybe even Nintendo hasn't quite figured it out fully yet.
Either way, it's not really very reassuring.
It does not instill confidence in the overall quality of platform and end product for this gamer.
I don't want another incomplete service again like we got on Wii and even the 3DS initially.
If we can download titles via steam, that would be amazing.
This coupled with the fact that none of nintendo's first party games have a P2P online componet worries me.
...And it's no wonder Pachter comes to the conclusions he does. Geez, Nintendo, help a Namco brotha out! I don't want my TTT2 online experience marred.
Is that the Wii U menu? It looks great.
If Nintendo was to remodel the E-shop I would pick that pic up there it looks awesome.
I just want to get the Mega Mushroom to do some serious mushroom damage!
Well that gets me worrying.
That's not good. Nintendo NEEDS to have good online or they won't be taken seriously. Why haven't they reveled it even to the developers yet?
Well this is worrying.
Hopefully they sort it out come release date.
That picture unintentionally brings up an issue, and I'm looking at you, Duck Hunt box art (laughing dog FTW!!!)! We need Light Gun and Super Scope games on Wii U VC! Not sure what we'd use for the gun, but I imagine Nintendo would come up with a solution to that, which would make them a few more rupees in the process. Me is a sad pony that the Light Gun & Super Scope don't work on modern TVs (I don't know if it's all of them or not).
I don't play online much but this is still worrying since we're so close to launch, hope this doesn't mean it'll basically be in its beta stage and delay the basic stuff that should be ready from the get go like account systems and system transfers.
@Fluttershyguy Not sure if its all non-tube tvs or just HDTVs, all I know is it has something to do with how the games register the guns' input. Its something to do with how the screen flashes to determine if its a hit or miss.
This worries me about their Network / Online Capabilities. I hope Nintendo will compete PS3/XBOX360 Online feature starting on Launch Day. If not, one of the big problem Nintendo face. But I have to have faith on Nintendo.
@LavaTwilight
I was just thinking the same thing. Online play comes from the developers NET coding and has little to do with the console and with that said, I'm lost as to why this guy even said something like this...
@Voodoo
Thanks... I'm glad I'm not THAT clueless then.
On the topic of the picture (now I know which one people are talking about), I'm not sure how reliable that can be, since we have 'Killer Freaks' in the top right and that has now been retitled 'ZombiU'
Wut? I though they shown in Japan the whole deal i have seen a 3 minute trailer with Internet Browsers and Miiverse in general.
I could understand an american developer, but can a japan one do know this by now?
He was talking the internet system on Wii U, well Harada next time be more specific.
I'm not worried because I know Nintendo will sort it out by launch,I mean it isn't like we've got to wait a few months before,we can use the Internet,and the E-Shop.
Because that hasn't happened before.
@LavaTwilight Of course it's not reliable it has Steam and Left 4 Dead 2. It's just some random mock-up.
Also, of course it is down to the Developers to make sure the Online component of the game works well but how can they do that when they aren't aware of the limitations of Nintendo's online service. Do they include menus and options for voice chat? Party chat (cross-game party chat?)?
Nintendo is just being stupid; in my opinion they're getting too cocky. Like a few of you have said it's fine that we don't know much about the console's online (even though we should by now, especially since pre-orders have started) but developers definitely should know. Good luck having a great online component at launch.
this is really sad. definitely wait for a while to see what happens before dumping money on it. 3DS all over again, I'm not paying launch price this time after that burn.
OK, you know what? Online play doesn't make a game fun. I find it stupid that game critics only take score off of most games because of online-play absence. So what if the online is not shown? Online play can bring problems:Choppy gameplay, glitches, freeze-ups, long loading screens, etc. I just wanna play them awesome Wii U games online or not!
Pretty sure online isn't gonna be fully working at launch. Same thing happened with the Gamecube, then the DS, then the Wii, then the 3DS...
Question is will Call of Duty have decent online, because if it doesn't Nintendo will have shot their new console in the foot massively.
Tap here to load 51 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...