GameCube Online

Okay, me and beamrider have very different views on this. We've been debating for quite awhile now on this subject in the 'Monkey Ball no longer exclusive' thread in this very forum. So much so, that I thought it would make a worthy thread of it's own.

I've pretty much said all I have to say on the subject, as I'm sure beamrider has also. But I'm interested to hear your views. Look at the Monkey Ball thread to see the beginning of this debate.

Basically, I'm all for online gaming on the 'Cube. I've been playing online on XBox LIVE for a year now, it's some of the best gaming I've done in years. I wish Nintendo got it's act together and made GC online, so that Mario Kart and the like could be played with the rest of the world.

Beamrider however, takes the stance that the world is not ready for online gaming. He is quite obviously mistaken, because the world have been playing their consoles online for over a year now. Just not Nintendo gamers.

It's my view that Nintendo gamers are harshly missing out on the best gaming, while others are getting the rewards. Beamrider's view (I think, please correct me if I'm wrong, beam ) is that it's not profitable because not many people play online. I happen to know for a fact that he is wrong in saying that. I love my GameCube, but I don't play it nearly as much as my XBox. While beam insists that he is not, I think it's plain to see for everyone that he is extremely biased.

Anyways, me and beamrider have discussed this enough. It's time to hear what you guys have to say on the matter.

DISCUSS

Oni-Ninja wrote: While beam insists that he is not, I think it's plain to see for everyone that he is extremely biased.

But that's what you learn to love about Beam; he argues blindly against facts, and lives in a different world to the rest of us (where Sonic is king, and Mario is queen).

In fairness, I can appreciate that lots of gamers - myself included - are not particularly interested in online gaming. However, I can also appreciate that having decent online support could well have made the Cube a contender in the current console "wars", rather than just the 'also-ran' that it is.
Whether or not Nintendo think the time is right, for the sake of competing, they need to ensure the N5 offers online gaming options, otherwise it could well be dead before it's born.

The N5/Revolutuin will be online. Nintendo has already made the DS Wi-Fi compatable, so they are starting to open up to online gameing. The GameCube wont, and its nothing to worry about. We still have awsome multyplayer games. The next generation will come soon.

You both have good points. But Rivix, this thread is not whether GC should get online, it's way too late for that now. But rather, that it should have done when the other consoles did, and whether you agree with that or not.

I'm quite confident that N5 will be online. If it is, it'll turn me back into the ardent Nintendo gamer that I used to be back in the N64 days. If it isn't. Well... goodbye Nintendo is all I can say.

What we have here is a case of the chicken and the egg. Nintendo claim the market isn't ready for online gaming yet, but are those claims really true?

Currently Oftel, the UK phone regulator is saying that broadband is used by just under 4 million UK homes, a small percentage of which is business.
Microsoft's Xbox currently resides in about 3.9million homes in the UK.

That means potentially every home that has an Xbox also has broadband. The UK market alone is potentially bigger than the current Xbox Live worldwide userbase. US home (not business) broadband ownership is 33million expecting to rise to 61.5million by 2008. Japan was just under 8 million users in 2002 (no recent figures).

So currently across the 3 major markets there's 45 million users of broadband, thats 3 times the size of the Xbox's installed base (15 million units).

As we can see there is defnitely a potential market there for online gaming, but at the moment there is still only about 1 million people worldwide using Xbox Live. So is this a sign that the gaming community isn't ready for online gaming? No it isn't.

Currently Microsoft offers the best service with Xbox Live, Sony offers a service and Nintendo offers none, but neither company is actively pushing their online facilities.

There is still a lot of technophobia and technigorance out there. Most parents ask how hard it is to set up a console when they buy one little realising its easier to set up than the VCR and TV they've had in their homes for over a decade. The same feelings are carried over to other technologies such as online gaming.

Is this a sign that the gaming community isn't ready for online gaming? No, its a new technology the same way DVDs, CDs, PCs, Consoles and Mobile Phones were a new technology. All of these other markets faced the same problems. Considering I'm the geek of the family I was one of the last ones to have a mobile phone. So why hasn't online gaming taken off the same way? That would be down to the console companies.

Microsoft is trying to spearhead the online wars with an excellent product, once you've played on Xbox Live you can't have any complaints about it, its user friendly, stable and well built (in spite of it being a MS product ). Payments are easy and simple, there's no worrying about who you pay, different charges, etc. You pay for your broadband, you pay for your Xbox Live and you might pay for certain downloads and thats it. But that doesn't matter when your customer doesn't know about it and the same thing applies to Sony and Nintendo.

The reason that CDs and mobile phones have become a part of normal society is that the companies behind them pushed them, they gave demonstrations, talks, pamphlets, etc. They did everything in their power to get away the customers fear of these new products. Can the same be said of the three console companies?

For all of Nintendo's posturing over the subject my main problem is their whole idea that the community isn't ready for online gaming. Was the community ready for the first home console? Was the community ready for the first portable console? Was the community ready for the DS? At the time each product was (will be) brought out there was no potential for a market but Nintendo perservered and created that market, so what makes online gaming any different. The fact of the matter is that there are more broadband users worldwide than there are Gamecube owners.

Is the gaming community ready for online gaming? Yes they are, all they require is a little education and help. Are the gaming companies ready for online gaming? No they aren't, and they are the ones holding back the online gaming revolution.

Gastrian wrote: Was the community ready for the first home console? Was the community ready for the first portable console? Was the community ready for the DS?

A perfect point well made, and I think you've found the very core of the debate here. Nintendo's excuses don't wash; you can't sit around waiting for an audience to appear, or to be ready. In the world of competitive business, you create the need, create the audience.

I just like the fact that we are being told the community isn't ready for online gaming.

So Nintendo, you are telling me, that I'm not ready for a product that I want? Well....

A little bit of education is required for the majority of users. If you have broadband, 4 million of you UK people do, you need to spend an extra

It would have been frickin huge!!!!! Mario Kart is well loved mainly for the multiplayer fun so Mario Kart online would have been a massive seller and masses of fun. Without a doubt the GC is the most Multiplayer friendly console out there with games like Smash Brothers, MKD, Monkey Ball etc so it's is just begging for online fun. Nintendo sadly and obviously missed the boat and masses of sales.

No matter what anyone says online gaming is here to stay and many people are and have been ready for it for ages, PGR2 is frickin' awsome online, massivly addictive and loads of scope to make your own custom games developers didn't even think of.

I agree almost 100% with you, Gastrian. Everthing except this:

Are the gaming companies ready for online gaming? No they aren't, and they are the ones holding back the online gaming revolution.

I think the only company holding back online console gaming is Nintendo, as Sony and Microsoft have been doing it for some time. And the sad thing is, they're not even holding it back. While Sony, and especially Microsoft push forwards and break new ground with online gaming, Nintendo just sits there doing nothing.

My argument is this: The online console gaming revolution has already begun, it's just Nintendo holding themselves back, and in a way, punishing loyal Nintendo gamers.

True that not all are interested in online gaming, but alot are. Myself included.

Maybe Nintendo believe it isn't profitable enough, or they just don't want to do it yet, somehow believing that we aren't ready for it.

But this is the bottom line, Nintendo: I am a consumer, and you will give me what I fucking well want or I won't give you my money. It's that simple.

See this is the point I don't get. Everyone says Nintendo cares about gamers more than other companies and doesn't mind so much about the money but Nintendo aren't giving the gamers an option many would like in online gaming because it's not profitable enough? Surely that's thinking about the bank manager before the consumers.

Many may say, 'no it's because were no ready for it,' but it's just Nintendo not willing to stump up a little extra cash to make the consumers happy even when they make money out of the broadband adapters too which certain other companies build into their machines.

Oni-Ninja, Xbox has provided a good service but aren't pushing it enough. Yes they've brought out a product which fixes the majority of issues consumers have about online gaming BUT they aren't telling people about it. It shouldn't be us here trying to educate people about online gaming, it should be Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo and they aren't doing that so all three of them are guilty for holding back the online revolution.

Sorry If I'm repeating anything that has already been said.

Nintendo saying that online gaming isn't profitable may or may not be true but look at how many risks they take just to have the Nintendo Difference . Some of the best Online games would have come from Nintendo if they would NOT be so ignorant.

So they introduce online gaming fully to the Revolution. But they are already a generation behind, developers will automatically choose PS3/Xenon over Revolution simply because they were there in the past for online gaming and Nintendo wern't. Instant Disadvantage....

I can see what you're saying, Gastrian. But XBox LIVE is everywhere. There've ads on the TV, there's websites on it. Short of having people in your local town centre handing out LIVE leaflets to everyone, I can't see how they could do very much more.

But more could be done, yes.

But when people don't understand the service and are a little wary of it they require a bit more than an advert.

Pointing out that the service costs about

X-Box live is everywhere, most games are plastered with x-box live on the front, all x-box magazines advertise it and help it, shops show it off loads and its getting a heap load of attention and popularity.

Nintendo are being lazy bastards.

Sony are not helping at all to get there console as online as X-box, whilst still having games that work online, it is pretty pointless to be bothered as so little would even know about Sony being online to care and use the system.

The reason the PC has got SO fucking popular over the last few years is not word proccessing, movie-formating, art applications ... but the Internet, and people are shelling out too much money for a PC for the NET.

If consoles got there act together they could make a SHIT load of profit by taking away alot of the PC's market and giving another choice for customers to use the internet, without paying

One problem I heard about was that AOL broadband was not compatible with Live, is that true does anyone know? As that would scupper me being able to get online with console, if I owned one of course.

I also seem to remember Nintendo saying something about making some kind of deal with AOL, but I can't remember any actual details.

Also perhaps I'm being dense, but at the moment I have no interest in home console gaming as one I have a PC, and two the DS is going to have FREE online gaming compatibility, with games like Mario Kart.

Now am I missing something here? Or is Nintendo ALREADY going into the online market, and doing it for FREE, just on a handheld console? Surely there is something missing here, otherwise someone else would have mentioned it surely?

Fair enough it's not 'real' online its Wi-Fi, but so what? Its going to have the same use, and if Nintendo get it right, and set up hot-spots and the like around the world, we could well be battling each other on MKS by the end of the year if your importing!?

Live is only compatible with RJ45 (network) connections and not USB. AOL used only USB at one point, they may still do.

Issues with the DS "online". Because Nintendo is making the hotspots nothing has been said about general connectivity. Will you just be able to attach a Wi-Fi network point to your PC and connect to other handhelds? Will other service providers connect to Nintendo servers and will they charge you for doing so.

Currently places like Starbucks charge you for their Wi-Fi access, your PC would require an internet connection and a suitable Wi-Fi reciever which would cost you

X-Box live is everywhere, most games are plastered with x-box live on the front, all x-box magazines advertise it and help it

WOW thats pitiful the only time they really advertise it is at xmas. If there was a true online gameing scene every body would be talking about "hey ill play you over PS2 online tonight" or what ever no one does that lots of ppl just play at each others house. Xbox has made big steps but at the moment a lot of ppl get to play with strangers.

very true gastrian. I dont think the wi-fi is a brilliant idea. Most people will probably play it whilst at home or selse connection will keep getting lost. So why not just have an ethernet slot?

too big maby any way i think nintendo have confirmed that you will be able to play it in your house with wirless internet.

Yeah the Wi fi isnt a great idea, it may make impromptu wireless battles easier, it wont do anything much other than that.

Might I say, Pso Episode I and II and my god III online with the gamecube are amzing, breathtaking, enormous, HUGE, GIANT, long fantastic experiences.

I love every minute of all threee apisodes and still play them all online.

NIntendo made a big mistake choosing not to honor PSO with more modem support (i.e just making more of the goddamn things), and if PSO universes doesent get released online on gamecube I will be very very pissed of at Nintendo, and may (if it comes out on ps2) get a ps2 just to play it.

Yeah I so badly want online play! Havign to do with warppipe MKD ><'

I hope the revoloution will be online as that will give Nintendo that spark they need

Eugh I tried warppipe I still have it but the LAG omg the LAG is awful.

In any case if you have your gamecube online (i.e with gc modem) why dont you play PSo Ep I II and III .

If you do what is your username?

i have PSO but i jkust played offline as I play FFXI online and well PSO just wasnt THAT great of a game after I completed it over and over

and well PSO just wasnt THAT great of a game after I completed it over and over

Online it is amazing .

In any case. Episode III online is REALLY amazing, I recocomend it, it doesent get as old as fast as ep I and II did.
PLus the competition takes skill and strategy.