No online support for 3rd-party Wii devs until 2007

***wraggster*** · August 25th, 2006, 15:42

Buried at the bottom of an IGN preview for the Wii's Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam is the news that not only is this game not going to feature any online component, but every 3rd-party game that comes out for the Wii won't support anything online either. Not until 2007 will publishers be able to offer up Wi-Fi gaming to eager players who picked up a Wii.

Gamers hoping for an online component, however, are in for bad news, because one isn't planned. Activision would not say why, but IGN has separately learned from multiple development sources that Nintendo will not release Wii Wi-Fi Connection libraries to third parties until early 2007, which means that no third party launch title will have an online mode.

Well, that's pretty awful. Seems like a pretty dumb move not to allow your third-party developers to offer online play with your launch titles. Online gaming has arguably become essential for most players and considering your system isn't in high-def or truly next-gen graphics wise, what other incentive besides a different control scheme would a gamer have in picking up your product?

Possible launch titles that could be majorly affected by not having online play:

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
Blitz: The League
Call of Duty 3
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Far Cry
Madden NFL 07
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Need for Speed: Carbon
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Red Steel
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam

**chemical** · August 25th, 2006, 19:07

This is a HUGE blow for Wii and seriously makes me re-question whether I will buy one on its release. Online is a big selling point for me, When i think of games I often play theres the absolute classics and the online games, I dont play much else.
As you said, Wii doesn't have the graphics of its future rivals, but with online it had everything else there, without that its almost like taking a step back a to past-gen, not next-gen.

The portable systems have online, yet there future main console wont for half a year?, lame lame and lame.

**CrimsonWater** · August 25th, 2006, 20:45

I agree Wii had everything going for it up until now but not giving out the support for 3rd party developers to include online just about kills a lot of what little early 3rd party support they had going for them and with it alot of their momentum and "wow" factor from fans like me who thought this could be the sleeper console hit.

**Video_freak** · August 25th, 2006, 20:46

The best games are coming from Nintendo anyways!

I can wait untill 2007 for the rest.

**muffinman** · August 26th, 2006, 05:59

is the wii's online going to be free?

anyways this is a bit of a blow cod3 is goig on my ps3 or my pc.

**CampaKaze** · August 27th, 2006, 20:41

I really dont care, cause by the time i actually get the console is prolly around christmas time, and that isnt half a year, doesnt the wii come out in like october or november or sumthin?

**stotheamuel** · August 27th, 2006, 22:18

yeah but it wont be the beginning of 2007 when they have it implimented.. thats when they start working with it

LAME

Wii=Origional Xbox power, with cool controller

-xbox live for many months

the controller wont sell it