Nintendo wants Wii U online functionality to be free

by Nathan Misa Featured 23 Comments 32 Votes 1062 Views 30/06/2012 Back to News

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata believes there should not be a fee or subscription-based model for Wii U consoles to connect to the Nintendo Network, and that keeping online functionality free would benefit the Wii U in the long-run.

According to a translation of Nintendo's annual shareholder meeting via Andriasang, Iwata said that enabling all Wii U users to access the Nintendo Network for free would help spread the online service's offerings through word of mouth, and subsequently facilitate greater sales for the console and its software.

Iwata also covered other business, and revealed that external developers were brought onboard with Wii U at about the same time as Nintendo's internal studios, which he hopes will counter lagging third-party performance. Iwata reportedly pointed to the upcoming Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS as the best example of involving external developers onboard. The two entries in Nintendo's iconic brawler franchise will see an interesting collaboration with Namco Bandai.

Source: Joystiq

By Nathan Misa- Writer Bio

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Kudos: 4,593

1wiierdguy

Great :D I pretty much expected it though.

30/06/2012

The basement in Luigi's mansion.

Kudos: 6,495

xxLCr0wxx

smart move by nintendo
i would be good if sony and Microsoft did the same thing

30/06/2012

Kudos: 1,485

Gaminggirl

Sony Is FREE!

30/06/2012

Adelaide Crows

Kudos: 88,523

Pilkingbod

Gaminggirl said: Sony Is FREE!

And it's INFERIOR!

30/06/2012

Melting pot of friendship

Kudos: 1,538

Jet

Pilkingbod said:
Gaminggirl said: Sony Is FREE!

And it's INFERIOR!

But its FREE!

woo $60 a year for cross game chat.

30/06/2012

Brisbane

Kudos: 26,659

OllyEbbz

Yay lets have a PSN v LIVE v Nintendo Network war! Everyone take their positions... :P -_-

Seriously whatever floats your boat really, i'm a LIVE man it feels better to use, features cross game chat, no ingame interface lag, achievements from launch of 360, better layout. All Sony have done is play catch up and still its inferior. A decent system requires money which they seem to be trying to make through PLUS.
Anyhow PSN fanboys turn... go!

EDIT

Just had to add the fee for both LIVE and PLUS is pennies i don't know why people kick up a fuss about it now if that annual amount was monthly...

01/07/2012

Lives in the United Kingdom.

Kudos: 14,291

Kiriplant

Oh, I want online to be free as well. Gosh Nintendo, we sure have a lot in common, we should be best friends.

This is nice to know. Though I wouldn't have thought that they'd make people pay anyway. Yay.

01/07/2012

Sydney, New South Wales

Kudos: 92,495

GreenThumb

Jet said:
Pilkingbod said:
Gaminggirl said: Sony Is FREE!

And it's INFERIOR!

But its FREE!
woo $60 a year for cross game chat.

And they even cater for hackers! [MOG] :P

trollface.jpg

01/07/2012

I have AIDS (Artifical Intelligence Defense System)

Kudos: 88,523

Pilkingbod

Jet said:
Pilkingbod said:
Gaminggirl said: Sony Is FREE!

And it's INFERIOR!

But its FREE!
woo $60 a year for cross game chat.

Yeah... Live's not great either.

I'm a fan of Steam. It's FREE and SUPERIOR. Where is your god now?

01/07/2012

Melting pot of friendship

Kudos: 1,538

Jet

OllyEbbz said: \
EDIT
Just had to add the fee for both LIVE and PLUS is pennies i don't know why people kick up a fuss about it now if that annual amount was monthly...

Mate its not the money that I have a problem with, If you can afford a tv, game console, games and an internet connection then an extra $60 a year probably isn't going to break the budget.

Its the principle that I have a problem with, I guess I'm like this with a lot of things, but I just grew up with buying a game and online was included in the purchase price, which is still is on PC, PS3 and wii.

Its just MS's greed, they saw an opportunity to milk a bit more cash and they took it and people with attitudes like yours are exactly why its worked out so well for them.

I'm not trying to start a fanboy war, I just usually step in to defend the quite capable PSN when people bag it out for no good reason...

01/07/2012

Brisbane

Kudos: 34,023

Blob

$60 a year.
6 year console generation.
$360.

Massive waste of money tbh considering it's barely better than PSN.

01/07/2012

Your mums bed

Kudos: 63,846

Zekuromu

PSN sucks.

It always disconnects me.

01/07/2012

SSBB (NTSC) FC: 1850-3764-4050; QLD

Kudos: 207,675

M@ndyz

$50 a year for Xbox gold $45 on sale on ozgameshop.. Psn is pretty good too.. I liked both.. :S

01/07/2012

Add me on steam........... bootie [mmgn] Or raptr.......... bootie101 Or wiiu. actually don't add me on wiiu im never on it :p

Kudos: 22,024

winhhh

Pilkingbod said:
Jet said:
Pilkingbod said:
Gaminggirl said: Sony Is FREE!

And it's INFERIOR!

But its FREE!
woo $60 a year for cross game chat.

Yeah... Live's not great either.
I'm a fan of Steam. It's FREE and SUPERIOR. Where is your god now?

This man has won the internetz

01/07/2012

Brisbane, Queensland

Kudos: 1,485

Gaminggirl

I play on both systems and the only thing 360 has over ps3 is party chat.

Someone said it has no lag are you sure cause last time i played cod on 360 it was lag central. All the games i play on ps3 eg battlefield 3, resistence 3, killzone, max payne seem to have no lag and even cod on ps3 so u must not of played ps3 online very often.

When ps3 first come there online was shit but it is not anymore.

When the next Gen come out Sony will have cross party chat and it will be Freeeee.

01/07/2012

Adelaide Crows

Kudos: 197,688

sjt333

M@ndyz said: $50 a year for Xbox gold $45 on sale on ozgameshop.. Psn is pretty good too.. I liked both..

you like one or the other!

CONFORM!

01/07/2012

To get shot and not do much else, turn to page 58 "I've always liked cowabunga."

Kudos: 4,749

JJake

Like someone said above, I'll never understand why such a fuss is made about paying for XBL...a little research on the internet and you can find a year's subscription for $45-50. Crying about $4 a month is seriously trivial.

At the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference. You can argue all day about which is better, but personally, I prefer XBL's interface, overall smoothness and the ability to cross-game chat with my friends is the winner for me. If you're someone who doesn't have any friends or all your friends play the same game together (ie. CoD) then you'd probably prefer the PSN.

01/07/2012

Kudos: 70,507

Kerosanak

I was sold at no friend codes.

News keeps getting better [MOG]

01/07/2012

I'm still kind of a big deal in the Capital Wasteland.

Kudos: 1,485

Gaminggirl

Xbl interface is clunky and skattered with so much crap while ps interface is smooth and easy to follow. So not sure where your coming from there.

Why pay for xbox live just to have cross game chat? [WTF]

Who plays a single player game to chat all the way through it while someone else is playing another single player game makes no sense in playing the single player game.

Microsoft charge for every little thing and all they give you over a free service is cross chat. If you pay for ps plus you get free games, free offers all the time. Oh no i have no cross game chat if you really need to talk to someone you can chat over the ps or you can actually pick up a phone and call them and it still works out cheaper lol.

01/07/2012

Adelaide Crows

Kudos: 58,022

Atar

Kiriplant said: Oh, I want online to be free as well. Gosh Nintendo, we sure have a lot in common, we should be best friends.
This is nice to know. Though I wouldn't have thought that they'd make people pay anyway. Yay.

y would they get ppl to start paying for online play = wifi [Facepalm]

01/07/2012

~(*_*)~

Kudos: 88,523

Pilkingbod

Gaminggirl said: Oh no i have no cross game chat if you really need to talk to someone you can chat over the ps or you can actually pick up a phone and call them and it still works out cheaper lol.

You could argue your way out of a paper bag, couldn't you?

01/07/2012

Melting pot of friendship

Kudos: 92,495

GreenThumb

Pilkingbod said:
Gaminggirl said: Oh no i have no cross game chat if you really need to talk to someone you can chat over the ps or you can actually pick up a phone and call them and it still works out cheaper lol.

You could argue your way out of a paper bag, couldn't you?

Give this man a freaking medal! LOL

02/07/2012

I have AIDS (Artifical Intelligence Defense System)