Wii Online presents Pay & Play

Posted by Editor || 02/25/2008 - 11:38 || 16 comments

Nintendo Wii What happens when you stack Wii online against another popular online gaming service like Xbox Live? Despite recent technical problems with Xbox Live - it remains a premium service. Is Wii ready to jump into premium online gaming?

At the Games Developers Conference Nintendo said it was! The company has announced the Pay & Play system that'll charge to play Wii online. It's going to be aimed specifically at certain online multiplayer games and will launch in conjunction with sure upcoming hits like Mario Kart Wii.

Nintendo Network administrations group confirmed a system will be employed that collects fees for some services. As disappointing as it is that Wii online won't be completely free, the implied message is that there will be some free content.

Not much is known about how much or how exactly you'll be billed. All we know now is that the Wii Points system will be used to bill you for subscriptions to certain unspecified games on a game-by-game basis.

If Nintendo is charging premium perhaps it'll build an infrastructure that provides a quality online gaming experience. It's worth it in the long run to charge a small fee if it means quality gaming.

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Comments

Leigh M Stryker writes:

Aaaanndd CAN seems to be ... ???

mark writes:

That sucks! I expected it to be free. They made a lot of money selling the consoles, and they want even more!!!

Someone who isn't an idiot writes:

Whoever wrote this article is totally wrong. What this article is talking about, is "Wii Ware", Nintendo's DLC service, if you will. It's not compulsory, and it will allow developers to make little games and distribute them for a fee, or allow developers to make add-on content for their games. Get your story straight before writing false crap.

J writes:

To "Someone Who Isn't An Idiot"... Who's the idiot now your f*cking tool????

Wayde writes:

It's just an announcement from Wii at GDC that they're going to charge for some online play. That's all! Nothing else is even known about it. I'm not sure what you accuse as being false?

I just hope they can retain quality gaming experience as other online gaming services have.

SMBOWEN writes:

Its to bad really the Wii is so expensive all ready (1 free controller & nunchuck the $30 for classic controller x2 for two people plus another controller and nunchuck that’s $120 just so you can play with a friend) And the games are crap. I wish I had saved my money for a PS3 or 360 especially now that they want to start charging for (assumptions) online play and probably something else stupid (like taking out mp3 support?) I guess once you have made enough money you can just screw every one..

Snubbed writes:

Well that would certainly suck if they indeed did start charging for subscription games. I was going to buy a wii within the next couple months (if I could have found one), but after reading this I may not. Now Im poised to wait and see what happens. Not going to waste my money on something that starts sucking more of my hard earned dollars out of my pocket. Does the wii provide hi-def pictures yet? hi-def games? I have a large LCD TV (1080p) what will the Wii look like on that screen as opposed to a PS3 or an XBox? I want to own my games and not have to pay for them every time I want to play. If I wanted to pay continually for games, why wouldn't I just run down to the nearest arcade? They have a bigger selection and I dont have to house the equipment.

Jamesinator writes:

Wow, why must people pay perfectly good money on an online service? Even the PS3 has it, but for free.

NintendoFanBoy writes:

Wii and PS3 remain free and will always. Its the XBOX that will move to the free Online play. Since xbox is older and needs a new jumpstart with the newer consoles. Listen XBOX no LONGER has HD so most people are moving to PS3 instead of going and buying a xbox. Why pay for a ancient gaming machine XBOX 360 well it is considered ancient since well technology seems to grow so fast. We already pay for internet and there games. So Its only right they should offer free Online play its just like software you download updates for. You don't pay for these updates? Since you already bought the software its just another microsoft project to make lots of money off of us.

Jay B writes:

I think that people are idiot's if they think that these games should be provided for free. There is research and development cost's with everything. What are they .... a company or a charity. Come on, why should they be providing more and more services, when it will cost them money?

lol writes:

The problem is, you don't think. People will pay for games. But to pay even more to access multiplayer online gaming? Wow...

derek writes:

you mean like... wow?

Gizmo writes:

Providing online play costs companies a lot of money. They have to provide servers to host the games on, processing time and hardware to do matchmaking, storage to keep track of scores, etc. If they do it for free, it is because they are losing money on it to promote their console. Besides this, your arguments that people have already paid for the console is flawed also. Console makers almost always sell consoles cheaper than they can make them and try to make up thier losses on game sales. So, no, a consumer should not feel entitled to free online play. More than that, buying games online provides a way to distribute games cheaper - no cost for CD's, packaging, store overhead, etc. A subscription based model is especially good for those that like to play a gmae, beat it, and then never play it again. They will get off way cheaper than paying full price for the video game up front.

Gizzy10230 writes:

Who would do this, just wondering!

Mr.MikeL writes:

I think it should be noted that, hexus gaming got it wrong. The announcement said nothing about it being a subscription service. Just that certain games may have for pay content. Although it doesnt rule out a subscription service, it certainly doesnt indicate one either. What it seems to point out is that certain features, or certain content will be for pay, which sounds more like downloadable content as opposed to Xbox live gold.

Gizmo n00b writes:

One of the highlights that set the Wii apart from the rest was the free online play! Granted, there are barely any games to play online at this time, but Nintendo can forget about this player's loyalty if they're going to start dinging me left and right to play. I may just continue playing the games I have, and not purchase the 'online enhanced experience" games. What a rude blow to land on us!

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