Wii online gaming will be free of charge

[jajaja]

Wii's online play will be free of charge, no hidden fees.

Link (http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/16/wii-for-november-under-250-and-it-wont-have-hidden-fees-or-c/)

Did they steal this idea from Sony since they had free online play on PS2? Hehe sorry, i had to say it ;) Seriously, free online play is always welcome :)

[poloplayr]

I'm pitching a tent right now.

[exit]

Well the DS WiFi is free, so this really doesn't surprise me at all. This also could just be for their games tho, since they usually leave the fee's up to the developers.

[shadowkn55]

Finally. A business model where I don't have to keep paying for the game after I've paid for it. At least if they make you pay monthly for it, the game itself from the retail store should be substantially cheaper.

This is the reason why I avoided games like WoW and FFXI

[Lord_Magus]

Reggie kicks ass.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Looks like Nintendo is going to suck me right back into online gaming. Haven't been doing much of it for years (besides DS on WiFi recently). Here come the 20 + hour game marathons that I used to do on b.net with StarCraft and Diablo :D

Xbox Live... watch your ass :evil:

Wii Wuv Woo Wedgie!!!

[DigitalSpace]

Awesome news!

[gjb-sensei]

Nice.

[norkusa]

Free is good but will they use a nice interface like Live or will it be janky like Sony's? And if they make you use those damn Friends Codes with the Wii, I'll gag.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

As if there already weren't enough great reasons to buy a Wii, we've got another. I honestly don't see how Nintendo couldn't win back the gaming market with this system alone. And I'm oh-so-happy to say that.

[Chadt74]

Good stuff!

Since Nintendo has a large share with kids/elderly I am betting that they will make the online interface easy.

Good news all-in-all!

[rbudrick]

I can just hear the sound of millions of Nintendo fanboys peeing their pants while m$ and Sony fanboys crap theirs... LOL

(whiz plop bloop)
-Rob

[Niku-Sama]

thats is awsome!
yea the whole sex box live thing is a crock any way...and the price for under $250 is confirmed then?

whos taking pre orders

[Xizer]

THIS IS INCREDIBLY SHOCKING AND AMAZING.

Actually, no it's not. I don't think anyone expected the Wii's online service to cost anything.

That said, Xbox Live still kicks the shit out of Nintendo's pathetic online. Friend codes are bullshit. If Nintendo would launch an online service to the caliber of Xbox Live I would gladly pay for it.

[b0bby]

Although I'm not shocked at all.

I'm still excited.

This thread wins/

[snes_collector]

Sounds good, but what kind of internet connection(dial-up, high speed, etc.) will you need to go online?

[Doom Gaze]

I would happily pay a hundred bucks for a year if I could communicate and add friends easily and not have friend codes to worry about.

[jajaja]

Sounds good, but what kind of internet connection(dial-up, high speed, etc.) will you need to go online?

It will probly work with dial-up 56k, but thats not recommended for online gaming. It will most likely lag.

[JPeeples]

I'm not very surprised by this news, but I am glad to read it. I have to wonder if MS will eventually make Live Gold free for the 360 to compete with (and hopefully surpass) the free services offered by Sony and Nintendo.

[lordnikon]

I think at this point, Nintendo fans are just happy to be getting some of their favorite games online on the Wii, like Super Smash Brothers. Regardless of where Nintendo goes with their online service, I think Nintendo fans will be happy. Sure, the system on the DS with friends codes isn't the most intuitive, but from what I have heard DS owners are having fun.

You will probobly have a scenario where 360 / PS3 owners will be trashing Nintendo fans, and Nintendo fans will be off playing their games too busy to deal with ignorant comments. (like xizers)

[snes_collector]

Sounds good, but what kind of internet connection(dial-up, high speed, etc.) will you need to go online?

It will probly work with dial-up 56k, but thats not recommended for online gaming. It will most likely lag.

Crap. No online for me then.

[Drexel923]

Free is good but will they use a nice interface like Live or will it be janky like Sony's? And if they make you use those damn Friends Codes with the Wii, I'll gag.

Gag away then cause the last word I heard was that they are using Friend Codes again :(

[JJNova]

What the fuck!?!?! Don't you people have internet access? This is old, old, old news.




.... seriously, Digitpress isn't a news site. Are most of you using DP to get all your gaming information? You should try surfing on you digital boards to

http://gamasutra.com

http://gamesindustry.biz

or maybe any og the VGamin sites.

[Sothy]

ummm you will still pay for downloadable content and mmorpg stuff.


Yes thats cool I wont have to pay 50$ a year like for 360... and whatever the hell PS3 does.

But you will still have a credit card on fire and be paying for things... dont kid yourself. It is too good a thing for next gen companies not to be into it.


If they are seriously going to let me download all those retro Nintendo games and extra levels/maps stuff for free Ill toss my 360 in buying selling as soon as I get one... not gonna happen though.

[lordnikon]

What the fuck!?!?! Don't you people have internet access? This is old, old, old news.

.... seriously, Digitpress isn't a news site. Are most of you using DP to get all your gaming information? You should try surfing on you digital boards to

http://gamasutra.com

http://gamesindustry.biz

or maybe any og the VGamin sites.
ALERT! ALERT! Nobody discuss anything anymore, because someone else might have heard about it before we did, and thus it would be considered old news.

JJNova, you are on the bleeding edge of game industry news coverage. I am sure there are some other topics in this forum you heard about before someone else. Quickly inform them with a "This is OLD news guys..." reply to warn them of how behind the times they are.

On a serious note, yes Nintendo had announced a while back their online strategy for future consoles. They did say before the DS even went online that their online services would be free of charge.

However this doesn't mean people can't bring the topic up for discussion again, especially if it was suddenly thrusted to the forefront of game news coverage a second time. Some people may not have the ability to read every single news article that gets posted on the internet.

I don't see what is accomplished by informing people that the topic they are discussing is old information. Sillyness...

[smork]

If they are seriously going to let me download all those retro Nintendo games and extra levels/maps stuff for free Ill toss my 360 in buying selling as soon as I get one... not gonna happen though.

No shit, that would be the best to ever happen to gaming. Hell, if Sony pulled the same thing on the PS3 (free retro games) they'd probably get more takers, even at $600! Alot more, i'd say.

I'm still hoping the downloadable games are pretty cheap, though. Especially looking forward to the Hudson libraries, as I really want to legally play many of the old PC Engine games but getting all the old HuCards is really expensive.

It will be great if all the 1st party Nintendo games for the Wii are free online, though. I'll take that anyday!

[JJNova]

I apologize for my previouse comment if it offended anyone. So let's go for a more classic approach to such topics.


USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION YOU LOSER NOOBS OMG THE BOARDS NEED MORE TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED FOR HTE HUNDREDTH TIME CONTINUE THERE HA HA HAA TROLL THIS THREAD TIL IT GETS LOCKED BECUAS EIT'S ALREADY BEEN DONE!!!!!!11111!!1!


http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=60908

OMG MARCH OF 2005!!! I KNEW 17 MONTH OLD NEWS ALREADY BECAUSE I'M ON THE BLEEDING EDGE OF GAMING NEWS!!!!

[Sothy]

shut up JJ

[Nature Boy]

I honestly don't see how Nintendo couldn't win back the gaming market with this system alone.

That's easy to counter - they still have an uphill battle trying to market to adults.

(Yes, I'm still bitter I never got to see a Eternal Darkness 2)

I'm happy to hear the announcement, though I can't say I'm suprised. XBL is widely regarded as *the* online service to get, so if you're going to try to entice customers away from that making your service free is definitely going to get you a lot of looks!

[Icarus Moonsight]

Sounds good, but what kind of internet connection(dial-up, high speed, etc.) will you need to go online?

Can you even use a WiFi router to connect to dial-up? And even IF you could who the hell would want to? O_O

[jajaja]

I dont think its the case of "want to", its more like "have to". Not everyone are able to get boardband, can afford it or need it.

[Nature Boy]

Not everyone are able to get boardband, can afford it or need it.

Thee people in that category also surely understand that allowances won't be made for them *forever* - you either bit the bullet or resign yourself to never playing online.

(I've only recently gotten broadband at home, and I've understood the whole time that online gaming was pretty much out of the question - and I was more than okay with that too)

[kainemaxwell]

Nice! Good to see someone taking Sony's ideas and running with them for a change.

[GrandAmChandler]

THIS IS INCREDIBLY SHOCKING AND AMAZING.

Actually, no it's not. I don't think anyone expected the Wii's online service to cost anything.

That said, Xbox Live still kicks the shit out of Nintendo's pathetic online. Friend codes are bullshit. If Nintendo would launch an online service to the caliber of Xbox Live I would gladly pay for it.

http://www.beerdrinker.org/images/scared_kitty.jpg

[Lord_Magus]

(Yes, I'm still bitter I never got to see a Eternal Darkness 2)

I don't want to go off topic here, but I just had to comment on this.

I'm a huge fan of Eternal Darkness (I consider it to have one of the best storylines I've ever experienced in a game), and for that exact reason I'm actually happy they didn't release a "cash-in" Part 2. Some games are meant to just be a unique experience, and shouldn't be "cheapened" by unnecessary sequels (Deus Ex comes to mind here)...

/end threadjack

[Beefy Hits]

If sony and Nintendo can pull of an online gaming community that's slick and easy to access, M$ might have to make live free.

Somehow I doubt Nintendo will do away with the friend codes as they're so paranoid and worried about little kids.

I'd gladly pay $60 for a game as long as it makes good use of online play (not some half-assed leaderboard or downloadable map, but full co-op or head to head play), has a good intuitive interface, and is free.