Will Wii ‘Pay and Play’ finally deliver online voice chat?
Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 4:39pm by Jack
4cr had a post up today that made a really interesting, if not foreboding point. Basically, the post was more fuel to the fire meant to burn Nintendo consoles in effigy over the company’s lack of what many call a serious commitment to online gaming. But then the author had this to say:
Let me guess, full-blown chat is one of the features that you are reserving for upcoming “Pay and Play” titles?
I can see Nintendo coming out and saying that everything they’ve offered free of charge so far was exactly what they promised from the beginning, and was exactly what everyone expected a company like them to provide as an online strategy (read: lacking).
So, out comes Pay and Play and Nintendo can offer “premium online services” to those gamers who have been requesting them ad nauseum for the past two years. They can excuse the fact that you have to pay for it because online chat or 32-player battles are things that require a commitment from Nintendo that was “above and beyond what they promised with their free online package” or something along those lines.
It’s cynical, yes, and it really sticks it to the smaller percentage of Wii owners that require voice chat or text messaging in games, but it would make perfect business sense. Nintendo, after all, is a business with a goal of making money.
Quick question: Would you pay extra for voice chat or some other online feature in a Wii title? Which ones? Why or why not?
February 28th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I would be willing to pay for Voice Chat, and other premium online services. However, Nintendo really better bring their A game. If they want to charge like XBox Live, they need to perform like XBox Live. That means voice chat, text chat, full-blown community features like friend lists (GO AWAY FRIEND CODES!), leaderboards, and more. Seeing as it is going to be nearly impossible to equate XBox Live right out of the gates, the price point needs to be right. It’s possible to get a year of XBox Live now for under 40 dollars. If Nintendo tries to charge the same amount or more than that, and they don’t bring any value, it is not going to be pretty.
And this opinion is coming from a die-hard Nintendo fan.
February 28th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
I’m not paying for anything on a “per game” or “per feature” basis. Either I pay for an entire service that covers everything or my wallet isn’t budging.
February 28th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Unless they’ve been working on it for a looooong time I wouldn’t have high expectations still. Microsoft has put a huge amount of resources into live and sony has had experience in online systems with everquest and the like. Although it’s not like they don’t have the cash to get the infrastructure set up so who knows.
February 28th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
About the only thing I might be willing to shell out a few bucks for would be some really good upgradeable content, like new Brawl characters, or a new Mario Kart track, etc… Otherwise I’ll pass.
Personally I hate to be bothered while I’m gaming, so for me, the whole voice / text chatting thing has no interest at all.
February 28th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I would not pay a per-match or per-hour fee. I’d either pay a one-time fee or maybe (MAYBE) a small monthly fee (no more than $5) for things like voice chat and larger online games. I would also pay small one-time fees for downloadable content like new Guitar Hero songs and new tracks and characters for Mario Kart Wii and new places and characters for Brawl.
February 28th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
doubt it
February 28th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
I wish MS would do this. I think online should be free. Don’t charge for that. Charge for the bullshit like voice chat and friend lists, advanced features that are basically unnecessary. I hat that LIVE has tied so many expensive features to online gaming. It sucks because even though I don’t want all the features, I still have to play just to get online. I promise you if they allowed basic online multiplayer in Silver, their gold subscriptions would plummet. People say they are willing to pay for the features, but I’m willing to bet, given the option, most aren’t. I think MS agrees, which is why they have structured it the way they have.
February 28th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
I’ve ridiculed the 360 for so long with its need for paid online but with this announcement, when I think about it, I think I would pay… Especially considering I’m not a very big online gamer. If it was a game by game based thing, I’d be one of the ones that saved money, if say I had to pay £5 after I bought the game to unlock the extra online features for the life of it’s online service then I would so do that. Especially since I’m not an avid online gamer. If I found a game that it would be cool on, I’d pay, if not, I wouldn’t, simple as. ^_^
February 28th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
If its true fuck-em. Online on PC is better then any of the console stuff Live included. Steam how i love thee
Still though some games you can only play on the Wii so if the price is reasonable there is a slight chance. Not very plausible though.
February 28th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Mmmmm, It depends, I haven’t enough experience in online games that reguires voice chat or text chat, indeed, I play games well without that features, but, if Nintendo or other companies make good games where implement that features in a smart way, well then, welcome.
I don’t think that the cost would be high.
February 28th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I would gladly pay for an XBOX Live-like service with downloadable content without friend codes, online multiplayer and coop (again, no codes), demos, achievements, etc. They should consider user-generated content, too. Charge for it and put parental permissions on it so we can be adults when we want to.
February 28th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Gee, thanks for noticing… >_
February 28th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Used cisco — I’m inclined to agree. Once again I’m going to use my own experiences as an example, so grain of salt time, but when my former roommates and I played Star Wars Battlefront or Ghost Recon on the original Xbox, or whatever, voice chat was something we used sparingly to mock the racists, 12-year olds and other knuckledraggers that currently pollute online console gaming. However, when playing one v. one with people I did know, the occasional voice chat comment or two added a little bit to the experience.
That said, game play was king. Ghost Recon happens to be a great series (on the Xbox), and that was the draw. Online voice chat was like cruise control in my car — I’d occasionally use it if I remembered it, but for the most part it was just a novelty.
I personally think you’re right about Live. If MS changed its structuring, which it won’t, the tune being sung by a lot of “online advocates” would change overnight.
In the end, this online debate is, as usual, a case of the Internet echo chamber emboldening a small minority into thinking they control the fate of console gaming once. That said, I’d enjoy the ability to voice chat with friends in Mario Kart or Brawl, but I’m not going to cry about it if it doesn’t happen.
Of course, no one ever puts themselves in Nintendo’s place, do they? They have billions invested in a long term strategy, and they’re not going to jeopardize it because a small % of people demand risky online gaming features in the short term. I say risky because even with Frend Codes, all it would take is one kid getting a Friend Code from a stranger online to put Nintendo’s success in the tank. One kid, who put his Friend Code online because he wanted more people to voice chat with on his Wii, and whatever capital they had in the bank is spent, not to mention Mario Kart as a brand is ruined and future releases, al la Grand Theft Auto, will forever be acompanied by biased media comverage about pedophiles voice chatting with little kart racing kids online.
But we must have our chat, because online gaming just isn’t fun without it.
February 28th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
YES YES YES YES YES! I would pay Nintendo for the same features Xbox 360 offers. I hope they do it.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
I’m fine with all the free stuff.
February 29th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Honestly, this seems like such a non-issue to me. So what that we don’t have voice chat. Games were fun before voice chat, even when played online, and they will continue to be fun without it. I wouldn’t pay money just to talk to the collective retardation of the online gaming “community.”
February 29th, 2008 at 3:35 am
I wouldnt want any extra bonus features.
What Nintendo have planned already for WiiFit, Mario Kart and Smash Brawl (which won’t be pay to play) is more then enough for me.
If all games came with the kind of online features in these games I’d be more then happy.
I dont want voice chat. I dont care for voice chat. Especially during gameplay.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:06 am
“And this opinion is coming from a die-hard Nintendo fan.”
Would a die-hard Nintendo fan own an XBox 360?
xaviorq8, Rob:
Amen.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:09 am
No, I wouldn’t pay. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to play Brawl or Mario Kart online just fine without voice chat. It’d be nice to have it, but it’s definitely not a necessity. In fact, those perks would have to be pretty darn good for me to pull out the ol’ credit card.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Being able to play brawl against my friends round the country and being to hear their screams of anger and frustration as my captain falcon knees them of the stage? You can’t put a price on that, but if they do, I’ll pay whatever they want.
BTW Live is frickin awesome, they have made such a good job of it, it is easily worth the $40 (or $60 in my case living in the UK) and halo3/ cod4 are easily better than all the wii games out there cept galaxy, tp and mp3.
I really think Nintendo have f*cked up again, they’ve taken a console with all the potential in the world and just not planned their strategy. This new pay per play thing reminds me of a certain dualshock to six axis fiasco when we all condemned sony.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:50 am
If they are your friends you would probably have som kind of contackt with them. So why not put ut a skype call with them all?
February 29th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I think Pay & Play basically comes as a way to possibly support things like MMOs and downloadable content like Rockband songs (quite probably a reason why things weren’t confirmed until recently because of talks to get that rolling as that’s where the game gets its big money from.)
I actually think nintendo won’t get online voice chat out there even if you had to pay for it and don’t see this affecting most of the Wii’s wi-fi enabled games except for the aforementioned examples.
February 29th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I think there’s a lot of confusion about this issue.
My understanding is that the Pay to Play just means that the marked games will have some sort of DLC, like new songs for GH and so on, not that you will have to pay to play online.
just my 2 cents
February 29th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
“Would a die-hard Nintendo fan own an XBox 360?”
Sure, why not? Are you saying die-hard Nintendo fans can’t enjoy another console’s games too?
March 1st, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I think this means Phantasy Star is coming to the Wii soon.