Online or Wiimote — which is more important to gaming’s future?
Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 at 12:55pm by Jack
The installed base numbers don’t quite agree with Peter Molyneux on this point, but he’s out there saying it anyway. Maybe he’s one of those 3rd party chaps who just doesn’t “get” the Wii yet. There’s still time, Peter. Start thinking outside of that box. Start looking at the facts. If Live was the driver you say it is, then 3rd party developers would be clamoring and shifting resources to develop online games. Xbox 360 numbers would be steadily increasing as more people started to realize what they’re missing by not having Live. They aren’t.
In an interview with gaming site Canaljuegos, Molyneux commented, “All I can say is that Microsoft is an incredibly smart company and I never fail to be impressed by just how clever they are. Don’t forget this is the company which pioneered [Xbox] Live which I believe will ultimately be far more impactful on video games in the long term than something like the Wii controller.”
No middling your responses on this one. No “that question is unfair and divisive.” Because it is. Regardless, I want to know which feature you think is more important to gaming, and why.
September 5th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I agree with Peter on one front and that is that Live will be more impactful than the Wii Controller. But that will not be because of games (first or third party) or online play. Most industry analysts agree that the great digital convergence and the killer “set top box” that will revolutionize the way we view entertainment is not going to be a new product. Rather it is sneaking into the living room in the guise of consoles. Both MS and Sony are sneaking in and offering regular and HD downloads of shows and movies and video on demand of sorts. They are also adding Tivo like DVR functionality.
Live and Sony Marketplace are going to be huge in the entertainment industry and will have much more impact than the Wii controller. We can see right now that the Big N is ruling in providing products that satisfy how the world wants to play games.
September 5th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Can’t say I really like the legendary Xbox live. I bought a 360 when it first game out and was excited about the feature but once I actually experienced it I found it wasn’t really appealing or what I was looking for. If you want an online experience that consists of 12+ year olds screaming obscenities at you as you play them then Live is the way to go. For me I will stick with the online experience offered to me by Strikers and my little remote.
September 5th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
You know, Molyneux is a great designer (ok, not that great, but the guy has done some cool non-standard games in the past), but I really do not think Live will have that impact. While it is cool to be able to play online if you are far from home, whenever you can it is better to gather some friends and play all on the same room. There is nothing like that.
And regarding the wiimote, I bet that in the next gen all VG’s will have motion sensing technology on they controllers. Even other products will do so, just like the iPhone. Both technologies are great, but remember that online play and digital content was first available on PC other then VGs. And I still do not like to pay more just to be able to play online. Sony and Nintendo strategies are better in this point (you have to firstly buy the game anyway, why the hell do you have to pay more to take full advantage of it? And people says the quality is good and all, but if Sony succeeds, they will prove that MS is wrong).
Best!!
September 5th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
The most awesome feature of XBL IMO is the Downloadable demos and the Arcade content. Come on Big N, Where are the Demos? Maybe that is the september surprise? A Demo Channel?
September 5th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
cdondanville has a good point about Live being important to the entertainment center, but the question was how important Live is to gaming. In my opinion the Wii controller scheme will be the most influential in the long term, but that is not to say that Live isn’t important as well. I would love to get online to play games with people more often, to download demos of upcoming games, etc. but frankly the Wii controller is more of a innovation to gaming and now that I’ve played FPSs with the Wii controller scheme I don’t see how dual analog sticks even makes sense anymore. Basically I think that Live comes in a close second to the Wiimote.
September 5th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Its all about the social aspects of gaming MMORPG, Normal online play, Wiindigs (Just coined that im such a browncoat) I think the Wiimote will be remembered better. Not because its superior to X-box live its about the same thing bringing more people to gaming. But because Online play isn’t that innovative (Only on console) while the wiimote is something new (To the general household) The Wiimote will go into history as Legend while Live will go in as freaking awesome.
September 5th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Both are important. Online has a big impact right now on gaming, like it has done since 15 years ago on the pc. The wiimote shows what’s the NEXT big thing. Having the Xbox Live Service as your main feature really isn’t that big of a deal, why? because you are charged for the service. Another of Microsoft’s subscription “licensees” they have been doing with the corporate with the Windows and Office, pay us every year to use our stuff. For the price it should be free. The other guys do it for free but they really suck on it, the day Sony and Nintendo get a good team working on online setups, they will take Microsoft only feature.
Nintendo shown the world more people enjoy games when you move the complete body not just a couple fingers, just like Virtual Reality is building up to be what eventually will take overusing tvs.
What is more important of the 2? both are. Molyneux saying stuff like this, show how much he really cares for gaming, he got bought, has made no good games since the 90’s, he needs to kiss the boss’ ass, just to prove what a great investment he was.
September 5th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
I’ve been going back and forth on this one over the last few months, actually…
I used to think that definitely, in the long run that is, online play is more important to gaming than an innovative control scheme. But after playing Metroid Prime 3, my gauge went back to the innovative control of Wii.
However, after playing MP3 a little more, I confess a desire to play that way with other people online! The thing is, even the best artificial intelligence in a game is no match to playing with real people.
One of the major complaints about Xbox LIVE is its horde of teenagers verbally attacking you on every game. But that is not the essence of online gaming; you can simply mute the other players (I do that a lot on Halo 2), so it is not a fair issue to bring up, especially since eventually you will also get verbally abused on Nintendo online gaming platforms as soon as voice chatting is added as an option.
So yes, I’ll agree that the remote control play, when applied correctly, is more important to gaming than online play, but not by much!!
(Way to go Jack: you always know which story is going to push our gaming buttons!
September 5th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Peter Molyneux’s comment is so biased ! He’s working for a company bought by Microsoft after all…
Really, I couldn’t care less about online gaming ! I prefer playing with people that I can touch, or at least push down of the couch
I don’t really see the point of playing with strangers. Where is the fun of beating or being beaten by someone you don’t know and you can’t reach…
September 5th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
“However, after playing MP3 a little more, I confess a desire to play that way with other people online! The thing is, even the best artificial intelligence in a game is no match to playing with real people.”
Just wait, invis, just wait
September 5th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Just because the Wii mote is an amazing ,new and innovative way of playing games, it Does N O T even begin to justify Nintendo’s LACK LUSTRE online strategy.
News FLASH ! The Wii is perfectly able to have BOTH a great online service AND the cool Wi-mote. BOTH are important. It is not ” ONE or the OTHER ” here, it could be BOTH.
Lets not use the greatness of the Wii-mote as a way of hiding the Poorness of the Wii’s online services. The Wii mote is cool, but the poor online strategy is very much not cool. As cool as the Wii mote is, it does not delete, nor JUSTIFY a poor online stragety.
Not by a long shot.
September 5th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Wii Wii speaks the truth. I like the Wiimote but these “innovative play OR online gaming” discussion are getting quite old. I fail to see what one really has to do with the other or why it’s even a “us vs. them” attitude. Nintendo has no excuse not to have both.
September 5th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Online gaming will be very important, but it’s not the influence of the Xbox, it’s the influence of the PC that is working here.
September 6th, 2007 at 2:00 am
I personally don’t care much for online gaming; most of my experiences have been bad ones (particularly xbox live for the two years I had it), and not because of poor servers or infrastructure, but because I don’t like playing Halo 2 with a group of foul-mouthed insolent teenagers every night, just because no one on my friends list is available at the time!
I consider the Wiimote more influential, because folks can enjoy it with or without the internet. Admittedly, Nintendo needs to continue working on more robust online games and experiences, but those things are secondary to interface, in my opinion.
September 6th, 2007 at 9:30 am
Will people stop acting like Xbox Live is the pinacle of online gaming, Steam blows it away.
September 6th, 2007 at 11:27 am
that question is unfair and divisive.
September 6th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Roid, the reason Xbox LIVE is mentioned so much as a model for console online gaming is not because it is better than PC onlince gaming (it is not), but because it tore down the barriers in online gaming for console players.
Online gaming on a PC requires a costly rig, and regardless of the service, you have to admit that setting it up is nowhere near as simple as setting up an Xbox LIVE account on the Xbox and finding friends to play with. That’s what people mean when they refer to LIVE as a good model to follow!
September 6th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Jack says,
“Just wait, invis, just wait”
You mean, wait for artificial intelligence in games to get better than human intelligence, or wait for the online version of Metroid Prime 3 to come out where you will kick my butt the first chance you get?
September 6th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
No way man, I may love video games, but I don’t have the skill nor the time necessary to kick anyone’s butt. I readily admit that to anyone who asks.
(Mario Strikers online record of only one win, btw)
PS — I was talking about AI
September 6th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Well the reality of the matter is neither compete, there is zero excuse as to why one feature should be abandoned for another.
The Wii is capable of doing both incredibly well if Nintendo put the time and effort into them.
Right now they’re certainly not putting the effort into the online side, with games only capable of online play with people in the same country and only the most basic of functionality. It’s actually embarrassing.
The future isn’t online, Online is the present. A feature that is evolving and should be becoming more and more commonplace. Online is not voodoo magic, online gaming has been in use all over the world for over a decade now, so it’s just a question of whether Nintendo devotes the attention it deserves.
Why on earth Nintendo aren’t developing a Metroid Prime multiplayer game is beyond me, cause if the Wii ever had an opportunity for a Halo-killer, it’s with that baby, the controls are screaming out for some serious deathmatch action.
September 6th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
I’m late to this discussion, but I would have to say that recent history suggests that what XBL pioneered (simple console integration of online multiplayer gaming and community) is being copied by all of the competitors in one form or another. Nintendo’s motion sensing has also been somewhat copied (sixaxis).
When looking back in 10 years, which will be viewed as more impactful in gaming? If you say motion controls, that would be saying you believe that all consoles will embrace motion controls in their future iteration. I’m not sure MS will add it to xbox. But I am sure that all consoles will have XBL-like features that continue to evolve and will be very important to their respective platforms.
My guess is they both will be important, but online gaming/community will be more important.
September 7th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I’m late here too, but may I just say that regardless of which turns out to be “more important”, there are already almost twice as many Wiimote users as there are Xbox Live users: the Wiimote comes with every Wii whereas only half of Xbox 360 users so far have bothered to shell out the 50 bucks a year for Live.
Like I said, I don’t think that necessarily implies importance, but more people remember the Atari joystick than PlayCable for the Intellivision after all these years despite PlayCable being pretty damn awesome.
September 8th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
I totally agree with Wii Wii and I consider it’s a fact that the Wii’s controller will make a greater impact than the X-Box Live which is nothing special!