Nintendo Says Online Multiplayer Is "Not A Focus This Time"

[Steven Bogos]

Nintendo Says Online Multiplayer Is "Not A Focus This Time"

It was a focus last time?

Speaking with because reasons [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/10/miyamoto-online-multiplayer-isnt-our-focus/], and it looks like he is standing firm on that stance with his latest Mario platformer.

"While online play is certainly technically possible for us, it simply wasn't the focus for us this time around," Miyamoto said. "What we really wanted to do was to create something that people could experience fully while playing comfortably with others who were nearby them, and this is something we decided would be best for Pikmin and the best case for Mario here as well."

"Now that is to say the answer to this question might change in 10 years time, if there's a future game where for example we don't think it's important to be able to see the face of the person you're playing with, then we might be able to focus more on some online function there. But for right now our focus is really on a comfortable play experience with people in the same room," he added.

This certainly does not help the theory that Nintendo doesn't understand the internet, as evidenced by its sub-par online system for the Nintendo Wii. With the rise of online voice chat, and some manufacturers even incorporating video chat services such as Skype, the decision to not add online multiplayer even as an option seems pretty shallow and backward.

Source: Kotaku [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/10/miyamoto-online-multiplayer-isnt-our-focus/]


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[Lunar Templar]

given how many games ram 'online multiplayer' down your throat like its the only mode that matters.

i'm ok with this.

 

[Bleidd Whitefalcon]

When was it EVER a focus?

given how many games ram 'online multiplayer' down your throat like its the only mode that matters.

i'm ok with this.

Also this

 

[Mr. Omega]

I'd accuse the dozens of AAA games shoehorning in multiplayer (almost always behind some sort of online pass) of being shallow before I'd accuse Nintendo of being shallow for not including it...

Pokemon X/Y has been handling online pretty well, so I don't think it's that they can't handle it. It's most likely a matter of costs and just refusal to actually implement it. That being said, most of the games wouldn't actually benefit from it. Would online multiplayer REALLY make Pikmin 3 any better, or would it quickly be forgotten a month later? Do you REALLY want to deal with lag in a Mario game?

No online for StarFox 64 3D is still bullshit, though...

 

[Yopaz]

Anyone who has played New Super Mario Bros multiplayer can tell you why online multiplayer is a bad idea.

Also who says I actually want video chat? I've had this option on my computers and laptops for years and I have used it once as a joke.

 

[SurrealFactory]

Being able to play with people in the same room is GREAT, Miyamoto, sure, we get it. But how often do most of us actually GET to have that experience? I have plenty of friends, but you know what? Many of my friends are college graduates who work, and getting together happens a great deal less often than it did. Not even giving us the option to play online is obnoxious and stubborn, and in 2013 is just kind of ridiculous.

 

[Negatempest]

Multiplayer can work...

MOBA community
FPS online community
Trollers
Hackers
People of all ages with potty mouths

Now I remember why i do not like online mutiplayer

Also have a thing about socializing with people I have never seen face to face. I have many 'friends' on my list I do not play sith.

 

[SurrealFactory]

Communities can be shitty, but they can also be awesome. And again, you always have the option to play with your real-life friends.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Why do people think just because we have the interwebz that we needz t3h multiplayer? I'd rather dev's just make a game and if it organically fits an online-multiplayer mode, by all means but don't dare think its required. Single player and couch-coop is as much fun and requires little extra. Especially with all the games out there with defunct multiplayer modes...

 

[Steven Bogos]

Communities can be shitty, but they can also be awesome. And again, you always have the option to play with your real-life friends.

Exactly this. I want to play multiplayer with my friends, but it's very difficult (or in some cases, impossible) to get us all in the same room together.

 

[kurokotetsu]

Well, because they want to focus on making a good Mario game. Yes, it has a multiplayer element, but Mario is and has always been a mostly single player game. And that Nintendo keeps it that way, knowing that single player is the basis of the game, is great for me. THe last Mario games have that multiplayer posibility and while fun, I still mostly play the game by myself jumping like an idiot and having great fun. I think that this is great. Not all games have to have multilpayer on-line. I love that Nintendo keeps the focus in either single player or local mulitplayer, because, even if harder to do those things are awesome and must stay with the gaming landscape. Online is fun and there are limitations to loal multiplayer, sure, but that doesn't mean that every game should have that option. Mario isn't a game for that. New Super Mario Bros. would've been a drag with online multiplayer, eveyrone running, doing their thing and lagging, everyone finishing at their pace. Screen trolling, control trolling, and every single feature that made that game a fun multilpayer (even if you wanted to kill all your friends after playing) would be annoying or undoable online. I know it is hard, but sitting and playing with firends, yelling at each other, is still a great activity that online can't mimic, no matter how muh video chat or chat you have. I applaud that they do it the way they think it benefits the game, not the way that the market trends. Bravo Nintendo. I ompeltely disagree with this being shallow, it was a great all. This is why I love Nintendo.

 

[itsmeyouidiot]

Eh, I don't have a problem with this. Split-screen is a dying practice that desperately needs to stay relevant in whatever ways it can. Nintendo is the undisputed king of local multiplayer, and they should focus on their strengths rather than placing it elsewhere.

 

[Dark Knifer]

Too bad, I have many friends overseas with their consoles I could play multiplayer with but none in my local area.

Apparently nintendo doesn't acknowledge friends across borders. Ah well, least it looks fun, but I don't think I'd be able to share it with anyone.

 

[Caiphus]

Eh, I don't have a problem with this. Split-screen is a dying practice that desperately needs to stay relevant in whatever ways it can. Nintendo is the undisputed king of local multiplayer, and they should focus on their strengths rather than placing it elsewhere.

I'm torn between this response and "at least they should perhaps make it an option?". I dunno.

I certainly think that Nintendo shouldn't make online multiplayer a *focus* of any kind. That would seem both totally out of character and to be playing to their weaknesses.

But anyway. I don't even like online multiplayer so this kind of thing doesn't bother *me*.

 

[Oly J]

given how many games ram 'online multiplayer' down your throat like its the only mode that matters.

i'm ok with this.

I concur, also personally I play games mostly to relax, and I relax best on my own, and when it comes to multiplayer, I prefer local anyway,

 

[Vyress]

Nintendo Says Online Multiplayer Is "Not A Focus This Time"

It was a focus last time?

Speaking with because reasons [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/10/miyamoto-online-multiplayer-isnt-our-focus/], and it looks like he is standing firm on that stance with his latest Mario platformer.

[...]

This certainly does not help the theory that Nintendo doesn't understand the internet, as evidenced by its sub-par online system for the Nintendo Wii. With the rise of online voice chat, and some manufacturers even incorporating video chat services such as Skype, the decision to not add online multiplayer even as an option seems pretty shallow and backward.

Source: Kotaku [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/10/miyamoto-online-multiplayer-isnt-our-focus/]


Permalink

I think this article is quite misleading. Miyamoto was just talking about Pikmin 3 and Super Mario 3D World. It's a huge jump from miles away saying Nintendo doesn't want to go for online experiences period. Seeing the headline I imagined they would not implement online in Smash Brothers 4 lol.

Certainly, there are genres where online functionality is a must-have: beat'em ups, fps etc.
But there are also genres that don't need online stuff. What benefit would online modes give in Zelda? Hell, waaaay back Mario 64 didn't even have any local multiplayer options and it was perfect the way it is. Same can be said about Mario Galaxy. Not every single game released these days has to shove down social applications everybody's throat and try to 'connect' everybody. Fan communities existed before the advent of online voice chat as well: simply by making the game a good experience. It's good that Nintendo adds online to games where it makes sense (Pokemon, Mario Kart, Smash etc.) as opposed to adding it everywhere mindlessly.

 

[BrotherRool]

It sounds more and more like Nintendo are probably battening down the hatches for a Wii/Gamecube situation again, their promise of attracting the PS3/360 crowd this time is fading pretty fast.

In the end this is only a handful of games, and many games shouldn't have multiplayer, but Nintendo have already lost all the third party publishers, if they don't make games directed at the target audience of those publishers, they aren't going to regain them. And being able to play games with your friends online if you're too busy or too far away to visit their house is something a lot of P3/360 people value

 

[Psychobabble]

Good for Nintendo. I feel one of the biggest things that have fucked up gaming in the past several years is the obligatory addition of multiplayer features simply for the sake of having multiplayer.

 

[Yoshi4102]

Good. I can safely say that local multiplayer is always more fun than online. Nothing like talking shit to your friends and laughing your asses off!

Some of the most fun I've had was playing Battle Block Theater with a friend.