Wii U's lack of Online presence...

Anyone else restless? I know they aren't going to show us EVERYTHING but... a few first party games online woulda been nice.
Does anyone know what games have online? I know for a fact its only 3rd party games.

Well there is online connectivity in alot of the games just not online play. Im getting more concerned about the online play myself. Activision mentioned yesterday that the Call of duty Season pass isnt "ready" for the WiiU. Arguably the biggest online game for the system and they dont have it worked out yet. That scares me.

I'm nervous, too. Zombie-U has online features, but it sounds like no online multiplayer. This could really kill the Wii-U. I know this was our earliest concern, and it sounds like it's still the biggest. This may be why Tank Tank Tank is not a launch title- they are waiting for online to get up and running.

I don't worry terribly much about first party lack of online- Nintendo has always focused on the living room, and none of their launch titles is the kind of game they'd do online on. Still, I'd hate to see this be a thing they don't get worked out until after the competition brings out their systems- kind of like how they did with making the Wii work they way we originally expected it to. (Wii Remote Plus being only one example.) They spent years on that. If they do that again I'm done.

I truly think this new generation of gamers has been raised ON ONLINE GAMING. It may not seem necessary to you or I but to the next gen not being able to have online drop in drop out co-op on a Mario game seems like, well, a dated way to do things. You can connect on a deeper online level on Facebook than with an entire Nintendo console.

In an age where internet is not only there but dominant Nintendo is missing the boat and though from a dev standpoint I salute them I have to question their encompassing vision a tad.

I think the big problem that a lot of devs are having is Nintendo's lack of sharing information on the online capabilities. It seems Nintendo is just now getting info to them which could mean it won't be ready when the games come out and will have to be patched in later. Not a big fan of that. I still hold hope that it will be a truly remarkable online experience but it is frustrating that they didn't have it ready sooner.

Of course this is Nintendo we're talking about so I'm a bit scared that the full reveal will be an experience still short on common sense. The fanboy in me wants to believe that they've held it close to vest until the last possible moment so other companies wouldn't be so quick to make it a part of their consoles before Wii U launches. That's why I think Nintendo didn't share news of Nintendo TVii until now, that is if they've had it in their sights for awhile now.

If you mean games- those can't really be patched to allow online. They have to be developed with the specific online system in mind. If you mean the system itself- that's a frighteningly real possibility, which historically speaking only spells disaster for Nintendo. How many times did they promise us something cool sounding that they never delivered? (I'm still waiting for my N64 DD and Gamecube internet...)

It's one thing to play close to the vest with things like the controller, which is the most innovative part of the system, but just how innovative could they even get with online? They're not saying anything with substance about the online, and that is spooking people. Most assume it's just not there, and many will have already written the Wii U off by this point, because there's no logical reason for Nintendo to keep it to themselves if they have a great online system set up for us already.

Antilles wrote:

Most assume it's just not there, and many will have already written the Wii U off by this point, because there's no logical reason for Nintendo to keep it to themselves if they have a great online system set up for us already.

qft

No first party launch titles having online doesn't matter to me because I know Nintendo still believes first and foremost the living room multiplayer experience is boss (to mirror Antilles earlier comment). But having a great online experience for the third parties is essential at launch.

One thing I've read is how awesome Nintendo's online features are from an indie developer standpoint. Quicker turnaround of games being made available, more profit in the developers pocket, no worries of fitting the game into a size requirement, etc. It all sounds quite dandy. Maybe from a consumer's standpoint we'll all be very pleased as well. Nintendo seems to be putting in a lot of work with online structure recently so maybe they just want to surprise us...or maybe there is one more Nintendo Direct lined up to answer these final burning questions.

Whats the line? Shit or get off the pot? Yeah, that one.