Pay-to-play Mario Kart Wii online? Nintendo to introduce subs

[HEXUS]

Nintendo has announced that a new subscription scheme will soon be launched on Wi, that will charge consumers for using selected online services.

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[Steven W]

Apart from Super Mario Galaxy, this is the only Wii game I've ever wanted. I do hope I don't have to pay for the pleasure.

[Parm]

Seeing as it's Mario Kart, I'd be willing to pay to play. Just as long as it proves to be an enjoyable experience, it needs to be closer to Xbox Live if they want me paying for it. They'll definitely need to do away with the rather horrid friends codes system they currently use.

[directhex]

i won't pay

if nintendo expect people to pony up the cash, they need to offer a service worth paying for

and right now, even PSN is better than wii online

[Steve B]

i won't pay

if nintendo expect people to pony up the cash, they need to offer a service worth paying for

and right now, even PSN is better than wii online

QFT.
Also, why make people pay different prices for different games?

[Tobeman]

I'm a sucker for anything Mario Kart related... I can still see me paying for this

[Steven W]

QFT.
Also, why make people pay different prices for different games?

Cos everyone will want to play the likes of Mario Kart so I guess we'll pay top dollar, whereas something that is less appealing will probably cost less to play.

[SmileyUK]

agree with hex and parm, they really need to get a service worth selling before attempting to do so.

[finlay666]

I'll just play offline instead, they can get stuffed otherwise

[JimNastics]

I seriously hope they don't charge for this, I think it'd be a bad move. The Wii has built up a fantastic reputation as a "non-gamers" console, and "non-gamers" will see it as a step to far to start paying out for the privilage of playing a game they've already bought.

[SmileyUK]

at least they always charged us for live so we knew what to expect. I find it a bit harsh to be told its free online..and then its not...I suppose i may have missed the news about it as i tend to not follow the wii games scene very much as you pretty much already know what games are going to be worth having on the console (with a few suprises ofc).

[beanbandit]

This is such a bad move by Nintendo. It just seems like a half arsed idea to make more money. I for one won't be paying for online play, i probably won't even buy the game.

[Digerati]

I'm a sucker for anything Mario Kart related... I can still see me paying for this

Awesome... get the beers in bud, you'll be seeing alot of me over the summer

[Mr Pants]

Terrible idea just like not being able to play or run stuff off SD cards makes it pointless buying VC games

At least when you pay for Xbox Live you can access the online features of any game. Im guessing Nintendo will start to have subs for each game.

And the online interface is of a poor quality, Sonys is better and free

[Spud1]

Its incredibly unlikely that Nintendo will start charging us to play most of their games.

I imagine your source here is Aoyama's recent interview, and while I guess you could read it this way..it seems crazy. Unless i've missed a critical statement, he doesn't state that Mario Kart will be a pay to play game, and doesn't even hint at that?

This is actualy a very positive thing, as it allows subscription based games - allowing MMORPGS to come to the wii (think PSO), and more importantly, it opens up downloadable content to all publishers. This is not possible at the moment as Nintendo has no charging structure open to 3rd parties, hence we have no downloadable tracks for say, GH3. Once Nintendo has launched a pay-to-play system however 3rd party developers will be able to use it to give us this sort of content - so extra tracks for GH games, extra cars for racing games, extra maps and so on.

I would put money on Nintendo not charging us to play their biggest games - they might have "enhanced" offerings that will cost money, but it would be a stupid idea from a business POV to charge for simply playing the majority of their games..