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Nintendo Wii U

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Clipper

Clipper

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Posted

Yeah the downloadable games marketplace on the Wii was a roaring success.

And in terms of retail disc sales history shows us it makes them about as attractive to 3rd parties as ball cancer.

So lets fix up that quote

Say what you like about their hardware, eshop etc but if there's one thing Nintendo know how to do then it's selling 1st party videogames. I don't really think they need to copy less successful companies.

I 100% agree shame it means poor 3rd party support for the consumer

Its cleansing to have Nintendo fans agree that their fluffy fun company is in fact as much of a corporate monster as the others if not more so... Wringing the pennies from the wallets of their consumers :)

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Barny

Barny

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I remember the GC age. MS were going full throttle building Live. SONY were experimenting with online, mostly in Japan. Nintendo actually released a broadband adapter but they were still very hesitant and the attitude towards online was 'wait and see'. Well... it's 2012 - soon 2013. And they fuck around no-end, not able to get the absolute basics right. Wii online seemed like an elaborate joke back in the day. And then they pull this shit with the 3DS and Wii U.

I have massive love for the idiots. And I buy quite a lot of their games. But the longer this absurd show goes on the more I sigh and slap my forehead and my admiration for them nosedives.

Oh and more from Arstechnica:

http://arstechnica.c...ling-throwback/

The new Nintendo Network ID system that debuted on the Wii U is a sign of progress for a company that has, historically, not shown a lot of savvy in setting up its online systems. The Wii U lets users connect up to 12 separate Nintendo Network IDs to a single system and use those IDs to easily connect with online friends and strangers. The new Wii U eShop includes many retail games for download on the same day they reach stores, and does away with the "Wii Points" virtual currency that characterized Nintendo's previous console. The company has even promised to roll out a cloud save feature sometime next year.

Given all of these improvements, it's a bit baffling that Nintendo is still caught in the past when it comes to the extremely limiting digital rights management system that ties downloaded game and content purchases to a single console.

As Nintendo's Wii U FAQ makes clear, "a Nintendo Network Account can only be used on the console where it was created." Thus, any games tied to that unique online ID will only work on the first system they're purchased and downloaded to. This is in essence the same setup that Nintendo used to protect downloaded Virtual Console and WiiWare games on the first Wii, a setup that not only utterly failed to stop piracy on the system but also caused headaches for many early Wii owners with faulty systems.

Tying downloaded games to a single system means there's no way for a user to access those games at a friend's house short of lugging the entire system along (yes, the Wii is a lot smaller and lighter than other contemporary systems, but still...). It also means a game downloaded to the Wii U in the living room won't be playable on a second system in the kids' room, even if the same password-protected Nintendo Network ID was used on both systems.

It also means that if your system breaks down, you can't just go buy a new one (or borrow one from a friend) and immediately recover your content using your account. Instead, you have to go through Nintendo's official repair process, waiting up to two weeks for the system to be returned just to maintain the system-locked license data—a caveat I learned about first hand recently. And in the extreme case your Wii U is stolen, it seems there's no way to recover your purchased games (Nintendo has refused numerous requests for comment on its DRM scheme). Sure, you can back up purchases to a USB hard drive, but thanks to this licensing scheme, those backups are no more portable than the actual bits stored on the Wii U's internal storage.

This DRM scheme was already retrograde when Nintendo was still getting its online feet wet with the Wii, but it's really backward in late 2012, when every other major game platform has figured out ways to protect downloaded content while also making it accessible across devices. Microsoft allows downloaded Xbox 360 games to be played on secondary systems as long as you're actively logged in with your Gamertag, and it allows users to transfer an entire library to a new system using a "Gamertag recovery" feature. Sony only lets you download purchased content onto two systems at a time (disappointingly down from a limit of five before last November) but at least the company lets you use an online deactivation tool to remove a broken or lost system from that count. Most games on Steam can be downloaded and installed on any number of machines using the same Steam account, and iOS and Android apps can be easily synced across multiple devices with an online account.

I understand that Nintendo is worried about piracy, but its not like Microsoft, Sony, Valve, Apple and Google aren't. Yet those companies have all found their own ways to balance protection for their online stores with the ability for users to access that content in their own way.

Nintendo can still follow their lead—it would be trivial to push out an online system update that removed the one-system-per-download limit for the Wii U eShop (while we're at it, they could do the same thing for the 3DS). I doubt letting the same Nintendo Network ID play games on a handful of systems is going to lead to Wii U account sharing rings to split purchase costs. Opening legitimate purchases up for more than one console will also have absolutely no effect on the determined hackers that are already trying to open the system up to homebrew and pirated software.

What it would do is make the process of downloading games more attractive and easier to use to the benefit of both users and sales for Nintendo's newly expanded eShop. It's well past time for Nintendo to catch up to the competition in this regard.

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SMD

SMD

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I meant the fact that the virtual console service is separate on each console thus far. Say what you like about Microsoft and Sony but at least my digital purchases work on any region console and hopefully across machines. Sony with the PS3/Vita sharing have it spot on.

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iris

iris

Posted
Posted

Yeah the downloadable games marketplace on the Wii was a roaring success.

Funnily i bought a few games. Perhaps 20. I played one more than 10 times. The others i certainly wouldn't have purchased had there been a demo available. Actually two games i played more than 10 times (toki tori and World of Goo). The problem with the wii shop wasn't the lack of demos or them only being usable 10 times, the problem was the games weren't very good.

We don't know how the eshop will turn out but i don't think limited use demos will harm it, lack of great games will.

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SMD

SMD

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Why not?

NTSC Wii and even if it was the same region, it's not going to be supported properly by the Wii U, we all know they currently play through the Wii Channel, so you're not going to be able to use the Gamepad.

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Rain Birds

Rain Birds

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It's absolutely mental. I wonder how the game publishers feel about Nintendo restricting sales for 20 hours per day?

It's almost as though it's part of an overall effort to ensure that western third parties never become overly successful on Nintendo platforms. Unfortunately, that's actually about the most logical (and reasonable) explanation. It's not because they fear being inundated with lawsuits every other device manufacturer has managed to avoid.

Having seen this, I find it very odd that they have parental controls on the system. Utterly pointless and unnecessary.

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mackemansj1

mackemansj1

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At least they're thinking of the children. Now I am free to neglect my parental responsibilities.

Theoretically, when Netflix arrives, you won't be able to watch 18 cert films til after 11pm?

Its already live and ive watched alot of 18 stuff. Surely you can still buy the games?.

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JPickford

JPickford

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Its already live and ive watched alot of 18 stuff. Surely you can still buy the games?.

You can play the games any time. This the shop only selling the games for 4 hours per day.

The parental controls on the console are pretty good and you can alter them for each child. This is a different thing.

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mdn2

mdn2

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Oh, for fucks sake. On the day I decide the Wii U is worth a purchase and spent £360 on one, Nintendo again prove how fucking stupid they are at anything other than games. It ridiculous. So I can only watch certain Netflix content on my Wii U when Nintendo say I can?

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Rain Birds

Rain Birds

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As I haven't yet set up parental controls, my son could, ostensibly (he won't, because I hide the GamePad ;)), turn on the Wii U and start playing the Zombi U disc I've left in there. IF, however, the five year-old kleptomaniac first pilfered my debit card and had the wherewithal to enter the e-Store and identify Assassin's Creed 3 as something he'd like to play, HAH! THWARTED!

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hub2

hub2

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Looks like it's just a German legal requirement so maybe they can set up some kind of geo-targetting by IP address on the eShop and let other countries access the store.

That, or move the sales to another European subsidiary like the UK. OR, set up shop in Ireland for the tax breaks like everyone else. ;)

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Rain Birds

Rain Birds

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No, it's purely content on the eShop. Looks like it's because they're based in Germany or something according to teh GAF thread?

http://www.neogaf.co...t=503130&page=3

Being based in Germany isn't a good excuse though. There are a lot of wacky laws there, but there's no reason to subject the rest of Europe to them. Even if there were, it still wouldn't be a valid reason. Register elsewhere and slowly migrate.

Edit: As you said!

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