This is the first part in a series of articles I'd like to do discussing the Nintendo Wii and important developments it will need to make in order to maintain market dominance.Most are familiar with the history of Nintendo, but I'll reiterate a bit. Nintendo started off this hardware generation in last place. However with the innovation of motion controls along with very strong prepackaged software (Wii Sports) the Wii has become the high selling phenomenon we know today. However while many are speculating at were the top will be for Wii sales, many tech experts and market analysts question how stable the foundation really is for this hardware platform.
The first notable issue is that the Wii seems to have a low attachment rate when compared to other platforms (attachment rate = how many games are owned by someone on top of just the hardware). It has also done a poor job holding the interests of the early adopter, the strange techno centric person who buys early and is generally responsible for getting buzz started on the next hot product. If Nintendo cannot retain these groups they may face an uphill battle in sales the next time around.
To that end I present you now with Nintendo's first step towards regaining confidence:
Online
This is an issue that needs no introduction to the hardcore gamer but I believe the details of this are a bit more complicated then most people give it credit for. I often feel that a solution hasn't been implemented because Nintendo is a Japanese country, and when comparing Japan to America there are some large social differences. Japan is much more dense population wise. Japanese gamers don't face the trouble of finding people willing to game at a given moment and likely have friends and family at a close distance for gaming. The life of an American can be quite different with college and other situations forcing people apart or living in a rual area all taking away from opportunities to enjoy multiplayer games.
Nintendo created the Wii with the goal of being open to everyone, or perhaps more honestly the Wii was designed to be the household system that everyone in a given household could enjoy in their own way. This fits with Nintendo's traditional market stance of being the "clean" company or perhaps the Disney of the video game world. The problem with this stance is it's hard to create a clear online service around it.
The major issue with any sort of console were a child is included in the audience of users is that there is the underlining fear of pedophiles and other unwanted solicitors assaulting you in your own home. Because of these issues it is most likely impossible to create a open online system in the vein of Microsoft's much praise Xbox Live service. However I would argue that while such a system is enjoyable by it's own merits and a surprising way to meet people and make friends, open online communication isn't completely necessary for a successful online strategy.
It is my firm belief that Nintendo's entire online strategy should rest purely on facilitating the connections of friends and people we already know. If users decide to create their own online forums that are not officially affiliated with Nintendo that is their own business and Nintendo should have no say in how those users behave (indeed this is likely why Nintendo closed down their own official forums over a year ago). Beyond this all the elements of a successful online communication system have been demonstrated on an individual basis between many Nintendo Wii/DS games. If these elements were all combined one would get the most optimal situation for a PG rated online system.
The five elements already presented by Nintendo are:
- Friends Codes Fowarding (MarioKart Wii)- Friends codes are already overly secure, both players must have each others numbers making random friend connections impossible (imagine that you could only receive phone calls on your phone from people who's numbers you've only entered into your phone). There is no reason to have to have security beyond this and adding numbers multiple times is slow and inconvenient, if Nintendo consistently implements this feature it would facilitate more players communicating over their system and actually using their online game modes.
- Wii Speak (Animal Crossing)- Communication is a must in multiplayer games. Laughing and teasing each other performance is something people do in real life and something that should be included in online games as well. Beyond this some online games require teamwork only possible if you can plan out strategy's with your teammates. Honestly I expect this feature to be used more by third party's but it was on the DS and there was no reason it took so long for it to come out. Nintendo needs to make sure it is used frequently in their first party games moving forward (Metroid Prime Hunters was the first to use Mic on DS but was followed by a slew of games that didn't use Mic which severely damaged online gaming on the system, until the release of Pokemon).
- Rivals List (Metroid Prime Hunters)- This feature has surprisingly only been used in one game to my knowledge. It was a simple idea, allow random matchmaking without communication but say at the end of your match you decide you like the person you played a round with? They didn't cheat, or maybe their your competitive equal. You can't communicate with this person but the game allowed you to place them on a list so that when you hosted games on your DS they could link join in and play even though they couldn't talk with you. This kind of system would allow the online games to self screen and create a slight since of community while still keeping children from talking to strangers. It would reward good behavior and punish the bad. Truly the only flaw in Metroid Hunters implementation of this system was that you couldn't easily switch between searching for random matches and hosting friends matches (an error in the interface required users to sign out and then back in making the process to slow, if done on the fly Nintendo would have a winner here for decreasing many complaints about their online)
- Who's Online Channel (Mario Kart Wii)- Another innovation that Mario Kart Wii brought was the ability to install a Wii channel that let you check to see if your friends were playing Mario Kart online without having to place the disk into the system itself. This allows users to make a decision about weather or not it's worth booting up a game quickly when they start up their system. If a more cohesive channel were introduced it would allow you to check which specific game your friends are using online so that you could join them without having to use trial and error on your whole library. Nintendo has already done things like take the Metroid Prime 3 specific preview channel and transform it into the broadly based Nintendo preview channel (for all games), similar should be done for Wii online.
- Online Ranking System - This feature is present in most games already. However recently the creator of the popular Smash Brothers series decided to omit this feature. The rational was that oftentimes ranking systems are disheartening to new gamers, it feels pretty awful to start playing a game only to be constantly reminded how poorly you are fairing. However without a ranking system you often end up with the opposite problem, you don't know how tough your opponent will be and you have a certain feeling of pride developed as you move up the ranks (motivating continuous play). A ranking system is also necessary for the matchmaking system to make sure that players of equal skill are matched up (it's very demoralizing as a new player to go up against a slew of veterans because the computer doesn't know better). The way to solve both problems is to pull the ranking sytem into the background, it would always be present but a player could only view their rank by turning on the rank display on the options list. This allows skilled players to enjoy seeing their rank in progress while casual players can enjoy the game without being discriminated against.
There's also the one other element that Nintendo has been afraid of in their development of online games. When given the opportunity to name themselves, there are those who like to choose inappropriate names and offensive slogans to rebel against the system (in a manner of speaking). Most companies try to simply present slogans that experience can change online and they have no way of protecting themselves (which is true to some degree). But Nintendo as a company that likes to play it safe has done things such as completely removing names (ones again this was done in Smash Brothers).
I'd like to suggest a better option for this would be to allow names for people on your friends list to be uncensored completely (they're your friends and it's between you and them how they communicate with you). However for strangers rather then doing a harsh ban listing that confronts players with their actions being forbidden a more subtle system should be implemented. If you block people directly they will simply find more creative ways to slip sexual insults into their names. However if there is a ban list that exists such that when players go online it gives them a randomly generated clean name you will avoid bad press of rude people on your system and eliminate 90% of the drive people have to be jerks to each other.
I hope you've enjoyed reading my analasys of Wii's online service and how it can be improved. As I progress on with this series I will discuss things like proper execution of WiiWare, Games that would appeal to both casuals and hardcore and how third party's can better capitalize on Wii's market penetration.
