Comments on: How Nintendo got online wrong

By: Phantasy Star Zero for DS announced! @ The Collected Writings of James Newton

Phantasy Star Zero for DS announced! @ The Collected Writings of James Newton — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:58:49 +0000

[...] new challenges. Even better is that Sega have clearly taken notice of my previous article “How Nintendo Got Online Wrong“, by making full online communication an integral part of Phantasy Star Zero, with the most [...]

By: Sega’s DS Surprise: Best-Case Scenario @ The Collected Writings of James Newton

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 23:20:44 +0000

[...] This is the real crux of online play, and why I wrote my earlier post “How Nintendo got online wrong“. The whole idea of playing a game with other people is to interact with them – give them items, watch their back, share a joke and so on. Without any communication, online gaming is simply offline gaming with better intelligence. [...]

By: James

James — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 16:14:50 +0000

I agree that fully open voice chat could certainly cause problems, and Metroid Prime: Hunters only allows voice chat between registered friends. However, why not let the players choose their own communication settings? I’d be more than happy to use some quick phrases or a simple keyboard in Metroid or Mario, and with a “block player” option you’d be fine.

If Nintendo are worried about the kids, perhaps there could be an overall “parental control” for the system, so you could set communication settings for all games with a password. I realise it’s not perfect, but neither is throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

By: Phil Newton

Phil Newton — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:16:36 +0000

Communication in online games is one of the most important aspects to get right if they want it to be as popular as a group playing games in the same room. Everyone knows half the fun comes from the friendly banter between friends, and nothing has beaten the immortal cry of “They’re here, they’re here, they’ve landed on the pier!”

I’m still not sure if I like the idea of voice chat in games. I think it works really well if you’re all friends, and it can make a lot of things much easier. I imagine running a quest in PSO/PSU would be much simpler if you could say what you needed instead of having to type it out.

The main problem is when you’re playing with strangers who have a habit of shouting and swearing. One solution would be only allowing people on your “buddy” list to contact you with voice chat.