Nintendo Online May Only Be Free for Casual Gamers

[Xanadu84]

And I thought EA failed in public relations.

Nintendo...watch.

"We will continue to offer online services free of charge to the best of our ability. However, it is unfeasible to offer all the services we would like to provide useing this model, so certain premium features may become availible through a subscription based service to ensure the highest quality User experience "

See? It sounds good and its completely honest. Its not even spin. The way you put it is the way a Wii hater would put it. If you wanted to spin it you could say that new and exciting features are availible in a subscription model while maintaining a completely unchanged and free service. Why on earth would you frame "you may need to pay for stuff " as "we are going to bleed our most loyal customers "?

 

[Clearing the Eye]

A Pokemon MMO isn't "very possible." You just pulled that out of the air. At no point has Nintendo ever said they want to make an MMO and it's never been said, anywhere, that the WiiU could see a Pokemon game.

Pokemon Crater, anyone?

What does that have to do with Nintendo?

 

[n00beffect]

Uh, hate to break it to you guys, but this is not something new. It's quite a popular business model, that's been used in online rpg's and, hell, even facebook games. I.e: 'You wanna play some more, buddy? Well then pay up. Otherwise, you'll have to wait *x amount of time* for your next free session.' A lot of companies use a simillar model, but instead of granting play time, they offer advanced services, such as better items, currency,etc. which is required for a better quality gaming experience.

 

[Twilight_guy]

So they are charging for the more extensive features or for bonus features? You mean like every other premium service in games ever? Stop the presses!

 

[Zaik]

Unless they're planning to make a multiplayer versions of N64 games next(lol), I dunno how this is even going to be an issue.

 

[MammothBlade]

It seems reasonable considering people will shit out a fair amount for Xbox Live Gold. The costs can't all be recouped from game and console sales. Better than ingame adverts, that's for sure.