Nintendo's Broadband Pullback

04/24/2003

Nintendo's Broadband Pullback

I'm still getting emails from EBay with new listings for "gamecube broadband." I've been hunting for a Game Cube broadband adapter for two months now; they're not widely available in stores. Even the Nintendo website has been backordered.

Since the Dreamcast in 1999, every new console has boasted some means of connectivity. PlayStation 2, Xbox, and then Game Cube - each offered at least a way for broadband users to connect.

But after a hesitant, experimental release, Nintendo has been backpedaling from the Game Cube broadband adapter (if you believe 17 April Magic Box). They've even go so far as to emphasize that the new Mario Kart game will support LAN play but not Internet play. Why even bother having a broadband adapter?

For Phantasy Star Online. One game. A Sega game on a Nintendo platform, requiring an under-supported net connection peripheral. It seems silly to buy, especially since the mark up in most auctions ends up being about 15$, bringing the total to $50 for an orphan device. It's a gesture of desire from hardcore RPG/Nintendo fans.

I finally found my Game Cube Broadband Adapter, I paid $32 with "buy it now." I think I was engaged in the hunt for the device. Maybe the short supply is a sign of Nintendo's commitment to online gaming, for the time being. Maybe the only way to win playing with the Game Cube Broadband Adapter is to turn around and sell it for more than I bought it on EBay.

Posted at 10:35 AM in WTF? | Permalink

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» That's news to me. from Lucky Number 13
I didn't even know that Nintendo had released a broadband adapter for the GameCube. And now they're apparently not going to do much to support the peripheral. While the idea of console gaming online is a good one, I haven't... [Read More]

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I still don't know what the hell Nintendo is thinking. I wrote about this on my zine.
Mario Can't use a Modem!

Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com | 04/24/2003 at 11:53 AM

This hasn't bothered me at all. I'm still on the fence with online console gaming. I like the idea but the reality is that I've yet to see any implementation that keeps me playing like Online PC gaming does.

I've personally given online console gaming a solid, first hand try across all 'next gen' consoles since the DC and it doesn't appeal to me yet. Until someone creates a unique online console experience that hasn't already been implemented better on PC I think online console gaming is going to continue to grow slowly.

I applaud Nintendo for holding their cards and watching the market develop.

Posted by: ZYirAH | 04/24/2003 at 12:30 PM

I completely agree that online gaming is overrated... years of PC gaming has proven that online gaming hubs are full of nothing but immature cheating trolls. But I don't want to play online against them; I want to play against my own friends that don't live nearby. That's why I would still like Nintendo to get online, and MKDD's lack of online play is a disappointment.

Plus, it would be nice to have Nintendo be able to promise us 10 Exclusive Online tracks for MKDD, or other such ongoing benefits. An Animal Crossing tied to a centralized server (to stop cheat codes and time travelling but simplify and expand player interaction) would be great.

I think Nintendo's biggest stumbling block is that they don't want to see their consoles turn into havens for the usual kind of online swearing gutter trash. They might intend to proceed similar to how Cartoon Network runs a completely "family friendly" website. If you haven't been there, your username is randomly generated (so you can't name yourself 69SEXXXLUVER) and chat is only done with preprogrammed phrases. And the site still has an extremely robust online trading component, plus a genuinely challenging and fun collectible online card game! Nintendo is probably just unsure how to do that and still appeal to everyone.

Posted by: Joe | 04/25/2003 at 07:25 AM

I think it pretty much comes down to one thing: integration.

Consoles supply an adapter because there aren't that many games and online console gaming doesn't have that much market acceptance. There aren't that many games because you have to buy an adapter and market acceptance isn't achieved because exposure is limited to the people who have adapters.

For any hope of fast progress in this area, the need for adapters need to be taken out of the picture and bundled with the system itself. Surely this will happen with the next generation consoles.

Posted by: Draigon | 04/25/2003 at 07:57 AM

I look forward to having fun with Mario Kart. Having some idiots driving the wrong way on the track is not my idea of fun.

I haven't been on Live in months. Solid single player games have kept me adequately occupied. I haven't been online with the PS2 since two days after I bought the adapter. There is little incentive for me to do so.

With that, I'm fairly indifferent to Nintendo going online. Having some online component, for trading or whatever, in Animal Crossing would be great; but for most anything else, it just isn't a selling feature to me. And I know I'm not the only one. Online play is still just the realm of the "hard-core", and as such it's still just a niche feature. Nintendo has always maintained that their games should be accessible to everyone. And, quite simply, everyone has not adopted to going online with consoles.

Posted by: nowak | 04/25/2003 at 05:25 PM

*Cough* *cough*.

It's incredibly easy to be indifferent towards online console gaming because there's so little of it to begin with. Indifference at such an early point in the development of OCG is really to express a profound cynicism about the ability of videogame developers to come up with a variety of compelling online experiences.

There are various problems with online videogames that need to be addressed, cheating being a large one. The more general problem is the establishment of reputation systems and trustworthy communities.

Posted by: Walter | 04/26/2003 at 12:05 AM

I agree there are potential advantages to OCG. Xbox Live is making the move towards a closed system that helps reduce cheating compared to online PC gaming (OPCG?, PCOG?). However no system is perfect. Both Ghost Recon and, especially, Unreal Championship were released with many exploitable bugs that lead to rampant cheating. Xbox Live also, because it is a subscription service, allows for player feedback and reputation tracking, although its stats are also easily exploitable. Unfortunately MS's closed approach caters to developers. On the surface this approach seems great but developers have to answer to their publishers and not every publisher wants to work with MS in this model. The sad reality is that publishers control this industry and they don't like handing that control over to MS (hence EA's avoidance).

Like a couple of people have suggested, there are some potentially unique console experiences that could be taken online and become successful. I believe that developers are able to focus on aspects of console gaming that aren't present in PC gaming and turn them into compelling online products. I worry that, because these will be unique and unprecedented, publishers will shy away from them. That's why I think Nintendo is doing the right thing by waiting and watching. I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually became responsible for a breakthrough. They do have a history of successfully creating new gameplay experiences that are accessible to mass markets and, in turn, invigorate the entire industry.

Posted by: ZYirAH | 04/26/2003 at 09:55 AM

I, too, have been neglecting my PS2 adapter and my XBox Live, and haven't bothered getting online with GCN. The biggest problem is that the game designers aren't using the online component to it's full potential. All anybody can seem to do for the XBox and PS2 is make deathmatch or capture-the-flag style games, with the added bonus on XBox of being able to download new content for some of the deathmatch-style games. What they NEED to do is use the online features as replacement second, third, and forth (or more) players in regular old gaming. They're getting into that a little more- We're seeing fighting games with online competition- But something like MKDD would have been a blast with online 8-person play! How about online wrestling games where you use the CAW mode to make a unique wrestler and enter a world wide wrestling network? How about game shows that allow you to play against live opponents? How about a Castlevania that has two-player simultaneous play with the two people able to wander in different parts of the castle and even requiring them to work together to solve puzzles and defeat traps? Even the sports titles are done with a lame approach, using a few live players to control a whole team- Why not have a spors game where each player controls one member of the sports team? How about some simple games like a "playground games" that includes tag online, dodgeball online, and others like that? Where's the online Caesar's Palace, where I can gamble virtual money with a whole room full of desperate gamblers? Where's the Star Wars Starfighter Online? Why hasn't anybody looked at some of the great videogames of the past and brought them online? If you have a long memory, there's stuff from EA like Archon I & II which would be GREAT online games! There's Mail Order Monsters which would benefit greatly from online play and a graphics update. Star Control Online would be an amazing galaxy to explore. Wing Commander Privateer Online would rock! Old games like Castles Of Doctor Creep and the old C=64 Bruce Lee would be amazing if updated and put online. I could go on and on. There's really NO EXCUSE for not having a great online library. The games are there- and it wouldn't be difficult to market a lot of them to the gaming audience. The real problem is that the designers are too busy trying to top DOOM and GTA, and not using their resources to deliver the goods when they're probably right in their company's archives waiting to be harvested.

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04/24/2003