Nintendo Opens Doors For Steam and Other Networks on Wii U

[Balobo]

I don't have a PS3, so could someone clear up how this works with Sony? Is it just select games, or is steam's entire library available on the PS3 now? Don't want to get too excited before I know how these deals actually work

Lol Portal 2 is the only Steamworks game on PS3.

 

[starwarsgeek]

I don't have a PS3, so could someone clear up how this works with Sony? Is it just select games, or is steam's entire library available on the PS3 now? Don't want to get too excited before I know how these deals actually work

Lol Portal 2 is the only Steamworks game on PS3.

Okay, thanks. Hopes now up at an appropriate level. Don't want to expect too much, ya know?

 

[penguindude42]

Nintendo, my friend, you just made friends with everyone on the Escapist.

At least, those who weren't already fond of them

*points to self whilst wearing trollface*

~Tom<3

 

[Baresark]

Well played Nintendo. It's things like this that are going to make the WiiU a success. Simplifying third party support should be paramount on any system. Others could learn from this. This could make buying digital versions of games an easy reality on this console, more so than on the others. I look forward to more news every time I see an article about this system, I have pretty high hopes about it. The only thing it lacked from the current generation is the HD. That and proper third party support. I look forward to hearing what the price is going to be.

 

[Rednog]

I'm amazed that people somehow think this means that steam's games and characters are somehow going to cross over into Nintendo's universe because of this. This just sets up the potential that games released by steam might be playable on Nintendo's console like Portal 2 was playable on the PS3.

 

[RikuoAmero]

What does it mean exactly that the Wii-U would have Steam? Would it be capable of playing the Steam PC games? (not very likely) If not, then what's the point? Plus the great strength of online play on the Xbox and PS3, is its a standardized console service that you pay one price for. I don't want to have to shell out for online play for each Wii-U game I have, I'd rather stick to just paying for Xbox Live and/or PSN+.

 

[Little Duck]

My interest has gone from none to tickled...

If there is an option to remove the tablet and use say a gamecube controller or similar alternative, I may just buy the wiiu.

 

[GeorgW]

They've already said that they're gonna force all the devs to provide their own servers, regulations and so on. That's why this is possible. I like it because of things like this, but the less high profile games might suffer.

 

[Richardplex]

I'll start caring when I can have more than one controller attached to a WiiU. If that happens, I'll go back in time, put this into my calculator and it'll give me a smiley face.

 

[w00tage]

There are quite a few problems i can forsee with this and most of them stem from the PC space;

1. The PC is in a bit of a mess right now with the ammount of shite you have log into. Ea online, every single DD platform, GFWL, ubisoft online or any other company specific log-in system. All of thse things lead of a nightmare of accounts, passwords and lead to ease of use being left for dead in many cases.

Firefox, Remember Password, Use Master Password, Password Exporter add-on to save the specific passwords down to a readable file for backup. You're welcome

 

[w00tage]

What does it mean exactly that the Wii-U would have Steam? Would it be capable of playing the Steam PC games? (not very likely) If not, then what's the point? Plus the great strength of online play on the Xbox and PS3, is its a standardized console service that you pay one price for. I don't want to have to shell out for online play for each Wii-U game I have, I'd rather stick to just paying for Xbox Live and/or PSN+.

It's a way for the developers to sell their console games, thus indirectly chipping away at the PC market. That being said, I would buy a console for gaming if I could guarantee the use of a mouse and keyboard, and if I could guarantee getting a console version of every PC game.
Oh and if the games didn't suck because they were dumbed down for console controllers. That above all.

 

[Bassik]

This thing is being hyped by myself so very much, I wonder if I can keep myself from buying like, five machines when it's released.

What the...?

 

[Sean Strife]

Color me interested. Now, if they'd only show a picture of their ACTUAL GODDAMN CONSOLE.

They better not pull a Sony and price it at $900 at Christmas.

I don't see that happening, considering a lot of the decisions Nintendo's been making, like no DVD/BluRay playback and only one touchscreen controller, have been for the sake of keeping the price down.

I'm amazed that people somehow think this means that steam's games and characters are somehow going to cross over into Nintendo's universe because of this. This just sets up the potential that games released by steam might be playable on Nintendo's console like Portal 2 was playable on the PS3.

I can understand some of the hype, given the fact that this is going to improve relations with third party companies to lead to things like Valve character crossovers in the next Super Smash Brothers game.

It doesn't mean it WILL happen, but it makes it a little more likely.

 

[I forgot]

Big deal. I hate how Nintendo has to bend over to developer's needs just to get some fucking support. They had a mega-hit console and none of these idiots wanted to make any decent games on it. Just proof of how shitty the industry got and the lack of discipline they now have.

 

[pwnzerstick]

Nintendo: "You can put your steam service on our console!"
Valve: "Who are you?"

 

[pacati]

What's the appeal of Steam? It can't be the copy protection, since that has been successfully circumvented for every game that uses Steam...

 

[Silvianoshei]

I posted this on FB: thought I'd repost it here...

think that we're coming to the last couple of hardware-based console generation cycles. Cloud computing services like OnLive are doing very well, and I think that eventually we will all be gaming on the cloud. It will save us all a HELL of a lot of money, especially PC gamers like myself, since we won't have to keep retooling our machines.

The nature of the console market will also change as consoles become cloud based. Console publishers (like Nintendo or Microsoft) will have servers for their games, while third-party publishers (like Take-Two or Valve) will have their own servers. All that will be required from us is a decent internet connection.

This will, however, cause the retail games market to kick the bucket. With everyone gaming on the cloud, there is no longer any need for retail game sales; all transactions will take place online. This means the publisher doesn't have to print discs, and thus no retailer is neccesary. All the profit can go to developers. Hopefully these bigger budgets mean better games. They should pay their designers more too, poor lads.

Of course, my predictions could be completely wrong. But of one thing I'm sure: Storms-a comin'. Brace yourselves.

 

[Anticitizen_Two]

From my time posting on this site I have learned two things about the general mindset of the community:

1. They don't like Nintendo at all.
2. They think Valve is the best thing to happen to gaming ever.

I saw this coming from a ways off (the Wii U having the technology, Valve announcing their interest in the console) and so I was excited to see whether people's hatred for Ninty would defeat their obsessive love for Valve or vice versa. I'm glad to see that love conquered hate. It looks like I can mention my love for Nintendo here without getting flamed now! Excellent!

 

[]DustArma[]

I posted this on FB: thought I'd repost it here...

think that we're coming to the last couple of hardware-based console generation cycles. Cloud computing services like OnLive are doing very well, and I think that eventually we will all be gaming on the cloud. It will save us all a HELL of a lot of money, especially PC gamers like myself, since we won't have to keep retooling our machines.

The nature of the console market will also change as consoles become cloud based. Console publishers (like Nintendo or Microsoft) will have servers for their games, while third-party publishers (like Take-Two or Valve) will have their own servers. All that will be required from us is a decent internet connection.

This will, however, cause the retail games market to kick the bucket. With everyone gaming on the cloud, there is no longer any need for retail game sales; all transactions will take place online. This means the publisher doesn't have to print discs, and thus no retailer is neccesary. All the profit can go to developers. Hopefully these bigger budgets mean better games. They should pay their designers more too, poor lads.

Of course, my predictions could be completely wrong. But of one thing I'm sure: Storms-a comin'. Brace yourselves.

Your predictions will be wrong, a Cloud-only model would completely alienate any country with mediocre internet connections, where I live for example (Chile), or countries where most ISPs give ridiculously low bandwidth caps, like Australia, not to mention that they would need to populate every region with servers, and keep all those servers maintained.

Furthermore, Online-only game schemes are extremely unpopular with gamers, and with good reason, even with Ubisoft's always-on DRM you could circumvent the DRM, can't say the same about cloud-gaming.