Wii & MMORPG: Could it work?

[bsoaieda]

An interesting topic I raised on another forum not long ago. Nintendo seem to have been doing a lot of research into online gaming for their new console, and have made huge leaps in Wi-Fi gaming with the DS, whilst trying to keep their image of being a family-friendly company who respects the privacy of its users.

There are now loads of online games on Consoles (bar the Gamecube, of course). At the moment though, there are no real breaking MMORPG's. This, at the moment, for Microsoft, could be the one flaw they have with Xbox Live, already a very reputable brand name of MS. Blizzard have gone out to say WoW would never appear on a console, and that the architecture of Xbox Live (them monitor the servers and control usernames) wouldn't suit the typical MMO.

Working from what was said there, using the Wii system (which has already been said to be just like the DS system as far as online play goes), surely it would be the best equipped to play online games? Also with ease of development as far as costs go, the Wii would be the perfect platform to develop for.

So, discuss here predictions of MMO's on the Wii, whether you think it could work or not, and whether you see it being able to topple Xbox Live.

[Administrator]

To be honest EnderMB, as much as I'd love to see it I just cant' see the Nintendo Wii's online or the PS3's Online beating Xbox Live, It is such a good network and is a huge advantage for Microsoft.

I think the Wii could do some cool things online however I aren't sure how MMORPG's will work well with the Wiimote.

[bsoaieda]

To be honest EnderMB, as much as I'd love to see it I just cant' see the Nintendo Wii's online or the PS3's Online beating Xbox Live, It is such a good network and is a huge advantage for Microsoft.

I think the Wii could do some cool things online however I aren't sure how MMORPG's will work well with the Wiimote.

Neither can I to be honest. Xbox Live has been around for too long and it's taken the console online market for a unified service. However, it is a service owned by Microsoft and is something that technically breaks freedom for developers. Many developers would want to run their own servers for the simple reason of being able to manage their games. There are three reasons I think Nintendo could make huge leaps in the MMO trade:


They've attrated attention from developers who are hot in making online games and MMO's. For example, Acclaim have shown interest.
Nintendo themselves have conducted a lot of research into it. I think it'd be foolish to believe it's just for the DS.
The architecture would be perfect. Users can register on developers servers by using their unique friend code, then choose their own name. Also, it'd differ from game-to-game.


Mario Kart DS shows how the architecture of Nintendo Wi-Fi works well. Sure it wouldn't be as big a 'community' as Xbox Live, but people would be gaming online in large numbers, possibly as large as Microsoft. That's just as good to me.