Let's face it - Nintendo has planted a pretty large seed of doubt in it's fans when it comes to the company's ability to pull off an online system for Wii. With the lack of standardization and infamous Friend Codes found on the DS, many are skeptical that Nintendo will be able to compete against the mighty Xbox Live and the steadily improving PS3 Online. Those skeptics are forgetting one thing though - the games.
When people argue about which console is better overall, it usually boils down to the quality (and quantity) of each console's games. Graphics, motion control, and online capabilities are all great, but the savvy gamer will buy the console that offers the best games (or at least has the potential for the best games). Why is it that people soon forget this when the console war debate is narrowed down to the online systems offered? Obviously adequate matchmaking, persistent buddy lists, and many other online features are important, but again, the heart of an online gaming network is the quality (and, again, quantity) of its games.
Still doubt the importance of the games offered online? Well, let's take a closer look.
Would you rather play an update to the Atari "classic" E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial with all the best features of Xbox Live or would you rather play an online version of the newest GTA without most of those same features? Ok, I'm obviously stacking the deck here a bit, but hopefully you're starting to see that the biggest factor in determining the value of a system's online network should be the games offered on said network.
With that being said, how does that help Nintendo's online cause? Well, first let's think about some of the kinds of games the GameCube and now the Wii are known for. Party games, Mario sports titles, and other multiplayer franchises are probably close to the top of the list. Sure, many of those kinds of games are best played with friends all playing in the same room, but being able to play any party, sports, racing, or coop game any time you feel like it is an incredible draw.
Obviously sports, racing, party, and coop games have been released for the Xbox and PS3, but if you close your eyes and start thinking about being able to play Mario Kart online, you'll probably start grinning with excitement at the prospect of powersliding your way around your opponents while dodging all sorts of crazy obstacles and weapons. Throw in the possibility of an online Mario Kart battle mode and you'll probably start drooling on yourself. Now start thinking about being able to play Mario Party with a full load of humans any time you like. Move on to comparing a Mario sports game with just about any other sports game. Then start thinking about some of the coop possibilities for games like Crystal Chronicles, Zelda (ala Four Swords), and Metroid and you'll soon be ready to pass out.
I'm clearly a Nintendo fan and love the Nintendo franchises. The thing is, most agree that the multiplayer/party games are often strongest on the Nintendo consoles. Throw in the sports and racing games like Mario Tennis, Golf, Baseball, F-Zero, and Mario Kart and you'll soon start to realize that Nintendo is sitting on some of the best games for online play. Many point out the emphasis on multiplayer/party games on Nintendo consoles as a weakness, but that weakness sure seems like one heck of a strength once those games make it online. While I'm definitely a bit worried that Nintendo may rely on the quality of their games alone and ignore the extra features possible with an online network, I'd still take an online Nintendo game without all the bells and whistles over most other games jam packed with buddy lists, matchmaking, and more.
Ahh, but no games are online yet, so currently Nintendo is dropping the ball. Another big concern of mine is actually one of my favorite aspects of the Wii - the motion controls. When playing a multiplayer game with your friends on the same TV, it's easy to keep each other honest when it comes to Wii remote usage. There are definitely ways to semi-cheat during certain games and we all know that people love to cheat online. If it's easy to trick the motion controls during a Mario Party minigame, it's likely to be a kiss of death for that game online. I'm worried that I'll always be second guessing another online player's abilities without being able to see how he or she is swinging their remote around. As always, it's up to the developers to minimize the ability to exploit games online.
So, in the end it looks like Nintendo definitely has the capability of bringing us perhaps the best quality online games, but a big factor will be how quickly they can bring us the quantity.