Nintendo has announced Nintendo Network, a new online service for Wii U and 3DS.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said: "Whether it's our first-party titles or third parties' titles, for a number of games, we will actively attempt to achieve compatibility so that our consumers can enjoy our online services that we will deploy under the name of the Nintendo Network.
"Unlike Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which has been focused upon specific functionalities and concepts, we are aiming to establish a platform where various services available through the network for our consumers shall be connected via Nintendo Network service so that the company can make comprehensive proposals to consumers.
"For example, competitions and communication among users, as well as the sales of digital content, will be covered within the Nintendo Network."
Japanese 3DS title Tobidasu Pricla Kiradeco Revolution will be the first game for which consumers can purchase and download add-on content, followed by next month's Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.
"While we are on this subject," Iwata said, "when we discuss anything relating to add-on content, our remarks are very often reported by the media by their attaching such modifiers or notes as 'the ones used for social games.' Please note that Nintendo, as a software maker, does not plan to deploy businesses where our consumers cannot know in advance which item will appear as the result of their payment and they have to repeat the payments and, before they know it, they end up spending a huge amount of money in order to obtain the items they originally wanted to purchase.
"As a software maker, Nintendo believes that its packaged software should be sold to our consumers in a form so that the consumers will know in advance that they can enjoy playing the software they purchased just as it is. We believe that our consumers will be able to feel more secure if we offer our add-on content as an additional structure in which those who love the game will be able to enjoy it in a deeper way for a prolonged play time."
Iwata also said Nintendo is "considering the future possibility" of full digital game downloads. "This concept was built into the design of the Nintendo 3DS, and we already have the necessary infrastructure. We will prepare the same infrastructure for the Wii U. However, we have not decided the concrete timing of when we will start it.
"The decision must be made by taking into consideration such factors as the relationship with the wholesalers and retailers, and the best way to be embraced by consumers, as well as the environment surrounding the market and consumers, such as the required memory capacity on consumers' SD memory cards. However, as an option for the future, the significance of this business field will increase.
Nintendo will also introduce a personal Wii U account system compatible with Nintendo Network. Iwata said: "With this, for example, the ease of using a video game system when the hardware is shared by multiple family members, which has been a challenge we needed to tackle, shall be improved, and we will also be able to construct and offer the system by combining a variety of different services and content."
Comments
22 comments so far...
KippDynamite on 27 Jan '12 said:
WHOOOOOOOOO!!!! Do you think the network will make it through Y2K? Wait, what year is it?
theaface on 27 Jan '12 said:
If you're going to turn up this late to the party Nintendo, make sure you bring a hell of a lot of beer for everyone.
SpandexArmstrong on 27 Jan '12 said:
Nice! Say what you will, but Nintendo's really getting their s**t together lately!
KillerKing on 27 Jan '12 said:
they're right about dlc; games should be purchased in their most complete form. kinda feel sorry for nintendo, they've been the best video game developer for ages, and they're almost being bullied into changing their ethos.
fatherofthenoo on 27 Jan '12 said:
Good to hear that Ninty will finally be up to date regarding online. Plus their attitude to the abuses by companies regarding DLC is most welcome. Finally DLC will just be for extending games, not for content which SHOULD have been included in the finished game in the first place, but was held back to make us spend more.
Sentinator on 27 Jan '12 said:
Glad to see people finally getting in to it. Bring on the lineup, price and release date Nintendo.
benedictm on 27 Jan '12 said:
Cam i just say for the record i'm quite looking forward to the Wii U (they wont change the name btw. No company would ever change a product name after announcing it)
Nintendo have 2 modes - doing well and lazy and doing badly and innovating wildly
The Wii's dramatic fall has put them in the second position and usually they turn out gold when that happens.
Bring. It. On.
me4pd on 27 Jan '12 said:
They might consider expanding it to include 3DS. Start eshop downloads from WiiU etc.
ste hicky on 27 Jan '12 said:
Digital Downloads, Account based, Shared user content (!?), Communities like Steam... no raping of the consumer with DLC (at least not by Nintendo)
A very nice step in the right direction Nintendo.
billysastard on 27 Jan '12 said:
agreed, the lack of rape on dlc is something that is really attractive, if only i thought that the greedy scum who already rape us to within an inch of our lives would take any notice at all.
ste hicky on 27 Jan '12 said:
Shared user content is also very attractive: it opens the door for mods.
User generated content for Mario Kart, Bring back the course editor from the 64dd version of F-Zero X and the like.
Free Online play would be an instant win too.
I won't pay subs to MS on principle. It hurts me in the long run but i look at it like this: I've bought the console, I've bought the game, I've paid for my Internet connection.....Why the f**k should i have nearly 2/3rds of a games content locked out because i won't pay more?
Forget DLC: Paid Subs for online play is the biggest scam i've seen in gaming in a very long time and i expect Nintendo to rectify that and be a little more in line with PSN there.
KK-Headcharge78 on 27 Jan '12 said:
Sounds like a good proposition from Nintendo, perhaps it will take some of the whinging DLC pricks away from the other 2 consoles...
These companies are not charities, it's not ideal but it's here to stay for the hardcore consoles so suck it up, you're not forced to buy it.
Sentinator on 27 Jan '12 said:
You aren't the only one who has argued this. My brother has noticed people considering PS3 because, apparently, you have to pay XBL to be able to use something like Netflix whereas on PS3 you can get it for free.
On another note, I wonder what excuse people will use now. Its definitely an improved service (not sure about connection and server speeds or whatever) but the features are there. They are making a more core lineup for the otaku crowd like me but the third party support on the Western side remains to be seen. Still third party support definitely looks better I think. And they have the HD graphics covered. So pretty much everything the complainers asked for. They've taken feedback and tried to make it better for the users. I wonder what the excuses will be now
ste hicky on 27 Jan '12 said:
agreed, which is why i exercise my right not to be a total f**king mug and fall for scams like on disc DLC. (Soul Calibur V is the latest to pull that s**t)
I'd rather be a prick than a fool.
vladimirimp on 27 Jan '12 said:
Slightly unrelated point, but I'd prefer if 18 rated games were not advertised ahead of family-related video content. It's just another reason not to use the video player here.
Laughlyn on 27 Jan '12 said:
If Nintendo want to print money again, DLC track/character packs for Mario Kart 7. a full collection of old tracks and Karts and characters for £1 each or so and folk would probs crash system getting them. I love the retro cups but being able to pick and choose which tracks you want from all the old games (inc wii) and even forming your own Rainbow Road cup or Mario Circuit cup would be awesome. chuck in teh karts/chars from Double dash, MKDS (R.O.B needsto be back in it) and theyd' be onto a real winner
alan666 on 27 Jan '12 said:
still not enough to make me change my mind & re-activate my Wii U pre-order.
Balladeer on 27 Jan '12 said:
About bloody time that they got their online sorted! Although based on this alone, it seems like they've got it much more sorted than most. Laughlyn knows what he's talking about.
Legend Turtle on 28 Jan '12 said:
Is he also making a point about post-release patching?
Is that still a big issue for people?
tmulford on 28 Jan '12 said:
If you are going to turn up to the party late never bring beer, everyone is full of that. Better to bring fine Spirits. This analogy holds here I reckon, Nintendo have to get this off the ground with what they have different from XBL and PSN and to a large extent this is there exclusive back-catalogue.
ShadowAviation on 29 Jan '12 said:
Would rather have had them fix the bleddy VR problem but this is awesome. Next announcement please: Nintendo starts cloud computing.
03b2wgm on 1 Feb '12 said:
Yes, because any day now Nintendo will start manufacturing their own brand of PC's, extend into smartphone's, tablets, TV's, and other "services".
Wait, hasn't a company already done this?