Wii U’s online infrastructure will be “flexible”

More details surrounding the Wii U‘s online infrastructure are trickling in. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed in the latest Q&A Interview that he believes an online strategy where Nintendo creates the central infrastructure and allows developers to support it is “perhaps already out-of-date.” Instead, he wants to offer developers a more “flexible” Wii U online strategy. It sounds like Iwata is telling every game developer to manage its own servers and create its own backbone to support online play – no centralized friends list, voice chat or Achievement/Trophies.

This comes as no surprise, as Nintendo fans will know that the company has always provided a lackluster online service, from hardly supporting it on the Gamecube and then giving us the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection – a platform that can’t hold a candle to Microsoft’s Xbox Live or Sony’s PlayStation Network. To prove my point, it’s been nearly three years since Super Smash Bros. Brawl first allowed online matches, and I have yet to battle in one fair fight that isn’t ultra laggy. Nope, not once.

Those who were holding out on an Xbox Live or PSN equivalent with the Wii U should probably just give up now. It’s quite a shame that for all the acknowledgments that Nintendo has shown for its weak online offerings, it still doesn’t seem to want to build the robust infrastructure fans so desperately desire.

Raymond Wong
Categories: Gaming
Tags: Nintendo, nintendo wii u, Wii U