Meh
In all seriousness.
Meh.
Nintendo has spilled the beans on its next-gen Wii U console's connectivity capabilities to be built around an online service called the Nintendo Network. Company frontman Satoru Iwata said the Network will offer competitions and communication between users, as well as access to digital content, add-ons and full downloadable …
Good luck to them.
Personally, I've played Mario Kart, Smash Brothers Brawl, Tatsunoko Vs Capcom, Black Ops and a few others online on the Wii and, while there were limitations and the experience on XBox live was always going to be better, it always worked for me and was perfectly enjoyable.
The challenge of Nintendo, because it's something I think they have a pretty bad track record with, is going to be keeping the content up to date over the life of the console.
It happened in June 2011.
And It's very rare for Sony to comment about anything Nintendo or Microsoft.
Both Japanese companies (Sony and Nintendo) and the culture are very different to the constant shit stirring and viral marketing stunts of Microsoft and other American corporates.
Collectible shite you buy and rub against your console to unlock game content that should have been included with the asking price?
Yep, sounds like a Nintendo gimmick. Well, if Skylanders, Eye of Judgement and Kinectimals hadn't tried this already. Still, the Zelda fanboys are terrifying. Make a collectible ocarina that unlocks different stuff according to which song you play. They'll stab each other with replica fairy swords to get one.
I am more interested in whether they will actually put an ethernet socket in the thing this time.
The requirement to link the Wii wirelessly has caused me a lot of hassle with thick walls etc. There is a good chance I will pass on the new console if I cannot plug a bit of CAT5A into it (and I have bought each of their consoles since the 64).
Probably a way of setting it up so people in unprivileged countries cannot download games by lying about their locations.
For example, the XBox 360 is rubbish over here in Malaysia because XBox Live is not available in the country- if you own a XBox 360, you're limited to only offline play.
Ditto for Win7 phones (is there any wonder they're flops over here?)- simply because Windows Phone Marketplace (and again, XBox Live) isn't available here and thus those phones are useless.
The Wii Shop is also not available in Malaysia.
Now, on a current Wii, you could get around any blockades simply by telling it you're in South America. The Wii's current payment system for Brazil simply asks for your Credit Card number, CVV and Postcode, and will blindly accept the card because Malaysia uses a similar postal code system to Brazil, and what do you know? The postcode on the card account matches the one given!
If they were to switch to the NN system, you'd be required to register yourself before you can buy any games,. If you're located in a country that the Big N refuses to sell games online to or offer online service to at all, you're screwed.
Of course, you can do what people do and set up an account using a collaborators' address, but that's just dishonest...
I hope that this means for e.g 4 children in a family everything doesn't need to be bought 4 times for the same console.
(Don't see why keeping the content with the account is a good idea on Nintendo - Convenient for an adult without kid's but not for families that I think are Nintendo's prime market).