No Fee to Be Charged for Connecting to Wii U Network

[Guest]

Rest assured that you won't be paying $60 a year for access to the Nintendo Network...

No Fee to Be Charged for Connecting to Wii U Network : Read more

 

[Kami3k]

Well one redeeming thing about the Wii U.

Seems like the more you hear about it the more it becomes underwhelming.

 

[slabbo]

This is gonna be a day one purchase for me. I like what it has to offer so far. Why is not charging for their network underwhelming? with that controller it's gonna be an awesome for the living room, with netflix, web browsing, tv controlling...etc, much easier to use than the standard tv remotes.

 

[dicfeynman]

the title should have been...
"nintendo does not want to commit suicide"

 

[tilt360com]

Sounds like a great plan, I always admired the Nintendo wii. My magic motion remote control is so similar to the Nintendo wii controller. The introduction to smart tv is another great aspect. It is also network free. I love how technology is improving so rapidly. I hope the Wii U can be connected with my LG tv.

 

[halls]

I'm happy with that announcement, but hopefully their network will be worth connecting to for the games I'll be playing. I remember being incredibly excited about playing Brawl online, but the extreme limitations placed on multiplayer games made it impossible to make friends, communicate or even set your own parameters for a particular match. The friend code system is great for keeping children from being exposed to vulgarity, but it doesn't do much to help the longevity of online Wii gaming.

 

[back_by_demand]

Well done, big pat on the back - what do you want a cookie?
...
PC gamers have enjoyed no fee for online play since year dot and with Steam around it's not likely they ever will be

 

[Guest]

I find this awesome. I never understood why you had to pay to get on xboxs "network" when you had to supply your own fast internet connection + xbox + games, even then all xbox network does is provide the addresses for the games servers (even then I don't think it does)

I mean its not like xbox has to supply the game servers or internet so... what are they charging for?

 

[tburns1]

[citation][nom]Getting_off_topic[/nom]I find this awesome. I never understood why you had to pay to get on xboxs "network" when you had to supply your own fast internet connection + xbox + games, even then all xbox network does is provide the addresses for the games servers (even then I don't think it does)I mean its not like xbox has to supply the game servers or internet so... what are they charging for?[/citation]
My guess is that they are trying to recoupe thier losses. Don't (or, didn't) they lose money on every xbox because they are (were) too expensive to make?

 

[bigdragon]

Good for Nintendo. I never understood why Microsoft decided to charge for Live. They make money on every console, accessory, and game sold. That's way more than enough to cover the cost of operating their network. It just reeks of greed to me, and I'm really tired of corporate greed right now. I see it every single month on every single increasing bill I get.

 

[whiteodian]

I will say this about the Xbox Live network. It is way better than the Wii and arguably better than Sony's. The $35 a year (get it on sale - usually in January). Is a small price to pay for a much improved service.

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]halls[/nom]I'm happy with that announcement, but hopefully their network will be worth connecting to for the games I'll be playing. I remember being incredibly excited about playing Brawl online, but the extreme limitations placed on multiplayer games made it impossible to make friends, communicate or even set your own parameters for a particular match. The friend code system is great for keeping children from being exposed to vulgarity, but it doesn't do much to help the longevity of online Wii gaming.[/citation]

from my understanding all that crap is gone, and replaced with a more pc like multiplayer,

[citation][nom]tburns1[/nom]My guess is that they are trying to recoupe thier losses. Don't (or, didn't) they lose money on every xbox because they are (were) too expensive to make?[/citation]

yes and no.

most people who had to have a 360 day one, microsoft recouped costs on games sold alone.
you also have to look at the 360 and acceptable losses, they want to be number 1, they will take a hit to do it. like the ps3 with making damn sure blu ray won out over hd dvd. right now, im not sure if the console is sold at a loss or not

[citation][nom]whiteodian[/nom]I will say this about the Xbox Live network. It is way better than the Wii and arguably better than Sony's. The $35 a year (get it on sale - usually in January). Is a small price to pay for a much improved service.[/citation]

the network is only better than the ps3 innitialy with any games that matter because xbox is the lead platform.

if you take the eairly game life cycle out of it, the ps3 network is better than the 360, mostly because its free... if the 360 was free to play games and basic chat, it may win out over the ps3.

 

[headscratcher]

$1000 for a big screen TV? sure!
$300 for a gaming console? No problemo,dude.
$60 for latest must-have FPS on release day? Who cares, it's only $60.
$100/month for bundled cable/high-speed internet.etc.? No biggie.
$1200 two-year contract for an angry birds playing device? Coooooool.

What? $3 a month for an excellent, reliable network for gaming, movie streaming, and other apps? Pffffft, I'm not made of money, dude. Why can't it be free?

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]headscratcher[/nom]$1000 for a big screen TV? sure! $300 for a gaming console? No problemo,dude.$60 for latest must-have FPS on release day? Who cares, it's only $60.$100/month for bundled cable/high-speed internet.etc.? No biggie.$1200 two-year contract for an angry birds playing device? Coooooool.What? $3 a month for an excellent, reliable network for gaming, movie streaming, and other apps? Pffffft, I'm not made of money, dude. Why can't it be free?[/citation]

$1000 for a TV, they last 5-20 years (old crt, dont know the max life of current lcd) so that is an investment
$300 for a gaming console, this current one is going on 7 years, and i don't have to put a single cent more than the initial cost unless it breaks (on my 7th 360, and my last one, will wait on emulators if this one craps out)
$60 for latest must-have FPS on release day, only a moron buys on release day unless its going to be a gift, or literally all the community form your game is moving over to the new one that day
$100/month for bundled cable/high-speed internet.etc, its annoying to have to pay 100$ for internet of decent speed, but its worth it.
$1200 two-year contract for an angry birds playing device, only a complete moron does this, and its closer to 3 grand than 1200$

but here, lets tell you about the xbox live service, you pay money for p2p multiplayer, or to access servers that microsoft doesn't own or maintain. the recent 10$ increase on live was for espn, so tell me, while the other 5 things you listed were justifiable, how is xbox live justifiable, especially when you pay for a service and still get ads?

 

[headscratcher]

Whatever, I see people spend stupid money on nothing and then bitch endlessly about the price of an app or service like XBOX Live that is really cheap. Cheaper than a Venti at Starbuck's once a month. It's a service, it has value, if you want it, pay for it. Or else go write all your own software, music, movies, and TV shows.

Crap! I spend 10x more on just random crap each month than on XBOX Live. Why all the whining?

A TV is not an investment. You aren't going to sell it at a profit in 10 years.
I had my XBOX for 4 and a half years. No problems. Guess I'm lucky.
When it is a game that I have been waiting for, I will buy it for $60, but usually wait until it is around $30.
I know lots of people who have to have the latest phone and 4G contract.... so they can play games and post where they ate lunch. And I don't care, but it dwarfs and XBOX Live subscription.

 

[jkflipflop98]

Yeah, I'm sick of Microsoft's greedy ways. It seems like you have to spend 10 of their stupid "points" every time you press the A button.

The whole idea of "points" makes me feel like I'm buying carnival tickets. It feels like I'm buying into a sham. I don't like that.

 

[jkflipflop98]

[citation][nom]Getting_off_topic[/nom]I find this awesome. I never understood why you had to pay to get on xboxs "network" when you had to supply your own fast internet connection + xbox + games, even then all xbox network does is provide the addresses for the games servers (even then I don't think it does)I mean its not like xbox has to supply the game servers or internet so... what are they charging for?[/citation]

Yeah, that's really the rub, isn't it? The entire system is P2P. I'm providing my own internet connection so that other people can play games that I'm hosting for them on my xbox. It kind of sounds like M$ should be paying me. Basically, we're paying them for a friends list. A friends list they refuse to expand above 100 friends because it would cost them too much. What?

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]headscratcher[/nom]Whatever, I see people spend stupid money on nothing and then bitch endlessly about the price of an app or service like XBOX Live that is really cheap. Cheaper than a Venti at Starbuck's once a month. It's a service, it has value, if you want it, pay for it. Or else go write all your own software, music, movies, and TV shows. Crap! I spend 10x more on just random crap each month than on XBOX Live. Why all the whining?A TV is not an investment. You aren't going to sell it at a profit in 10 years. I had my XBOX for 4 and a half years. No problems. Guess I'm lucky.When it is a game that I have been waiting for, I will buy it for $60, but usually wait until it is around $30.I know lots of people who have to have the latest phone and 4G contract.... so they can play games and post where they ate lunch. And I don't care, but it dwarfs and XBOX Live subscription.[/citation]

do you enjoy movies?
good tv shows?
do you want one as a monitor?
or are you just useing it to game?

point being you are investing in something for you, unless you never want ANY kind of video entertainment, which is possible, but not likely.

3 red rigns, 2 dvd drive failing, and 1 video output fail... me and my friends actually have a betting pool going on how this one dies, or will the next gen come first.

there have been no must play games for a really long time for me, games i want to play sure... but i get dicked around with dlc so often that i would rather wait for a game of the year edition, at the very least, even with games i want to play. the last impules game that i bought was resident evil 5, and that was coming off 4... after that... never again.

and like i said, only morons pay for those retardedly high phones and contracts. get a cheap real phone if you need it, and get a pay as you go either data with a skype component, or just minutes.

[citation][nom]jkflipflop98[/nom]Yeah, I'm sick of Microsoft's greedy ways. It seems like you have to spend 10 of their stupid "points" every time you press the A button. The whole idea of "points" makes me feel like I'm buying carnival tickets. It feels like I'm buying into a sham. I don't like that.[/citation]

the reasoning behind it is because of the way credit card transactions work, at least thats what i heard as an excuse... they dont like sub 1$ transactions, so they want a wallet like thing, so they dont have do deal with the credit cards more often than they have to...

[citation][nom]jkflipflop98[/nom]Yeah, that's really the rub, isn't it? The entire system is P2P. I'm providing my own internet connection so that other people can play games that I'm hosting for them on my xbox. It kind of sounds like M$ should be paying me. Basically, we're paying them for a friends list. A friends list they refuse to expand above 100 friends because it would cost them too much. What?[/citation]

they have a qusai email service for it too, and i heard that as an excuse for why they charge, but seriously... i have a gmail account that lets me do more than a live account and that was free.