Nintendo Okie

There is a lot of talk about the online systems for all three platforms.  Since the advent of Xbox Live everyone is saying how great the model for that system is and I would tend to agree.  For the most part it’s a very user friendly experience, but there are some things I really like about what Wii has been doing.

The first thing I wouldn’t change is the menu system.  I really like the Wii Menu and the Channel idea.  It puts everything right there in front of you in a very easy to see, easy to use system.  It even gives you the ability to customize the layout to how you want it to be by simply rearranging the channels.  There haven’t been many new channels added to the Wii system menu over the life of the console and that needs to change.  The first big addition I would make would be the Netflix Channel.  The Xbox already has Netflix on the system’s menu and the Playstation 3 will soon have it.  It’s only a matter of time before the Wii gets it as well, but it needs to happen soon.  It would make that a very convenient and accessible place to watch movies on the Wii.

Another thing I would do would be to combine the Nintendo Channel and the Shop Channel into one feature and call it the Nintendo Channel.  I think that works very well.  The Nintendo Channel is a very convenient place to go and get information and videos on a number of games.  The problem is that you have to perform too many steps to be able to purchase any of those games that you might be interested in.  You have to first back out of the video to the Nintendo Channel hub.  Then you have to back out of the Nintendo Channel to the System Menu and then open up the Shop Channel.  The Nintendo Channel needs to be the central location for all the information on downloadable and retail games and you need to have the ability to purchase the game straight from the game’s information page.

I would also change the layout of the channel a little bit and have the games listed in a cover flow style.  You could search by the most popular downloads, alphabetically or search through all the games at once.  Whatever search you would choose would show the “box art” for all the games and you could simply pick one of those to find out information about the game.  The whole system needs to be more visuals.  Menus are boring to look at and having the box art for these games might get people interested in them more than just seeing a title on a menu.

Unify gaming profiles on all platforms with Club Nintendo.  Club Nintendo already lists any purchases you’ve made if you have your Wii linked to the service.  Why not have that be the one uniform profile for everyone across all of Nintendo’s platforms.  Any purchases made would be linked to that account and could be downloaded from any system as long as you’re logged on.  Nintendo already uses Wii Connect 24 to keep you logged onto the internet so it makes sense.  Have Nintendo Points also linked to this single account and have them be usable on the Wii and the DS.  This would also remove the need for Friend Codes, which are universally hated.  Developers are even working on ways to get around them, some of them even using the systems friend list to create in game friend’s lists.  The problem is this is a game by game basis and every game needs to use the same information.

You could then also link this in with Club Nintendo’s coins.  You could use coins as your version of achievements.  I’m not a big fan of achievements, but people seem to want some way to compare their gaming accomplishments to that of their friends.  This would be something very similar to achievements on the Xbox or Trophies on the PS3.  Create different levels of coins that are worth more or less.  Using the Mario system you could have gold coins, purple coins, red coins and so on.  This would have to be a mandatory system that was required on every game released for each system.  All of this tied to your Club Nintendo account.  You could take that a step further and make them worth something to your Club Nintendo account. Say for every thousand coins you achieved you’d be rewarded with Club Nintendo coins that could be used to purchase real items and be good towards your Gold or Platinum status on Club Nintendo.  That would instantly give them more value over either Achievements or Trophies.

Also, unify chat across the system.  It’s got to be here.  People like talking with their friends over the internet while they’re playing games.  There are two games coming out later this year that will have headsets available and you already have the under utilized Wii Speak peripheral.  You’ve got the goods; now make it so that people can talk to each other.

One last thing I would do would be to make Mii’s mean something.  Right now they’re a very generic representation of us that are used mainly to note with save file belongs to which person.  Give people the ability to customize them.  Let people earn in game rewards that give Mii’s new stuff.  People like customizing these virtual representations of themselves.  Make the Mii Plaza a persistent online world where people can get together to talk to people online.  Nintendo has said that they wanted Wuhu Island to be a character on its own.  The resort is being included in a couple upcoming 3DS games (Mario Kart 3D, Pilotwings Resort) and it would be the perfect backdrop for a persistent Mii World.  Who wouldn’t want to visit a gift store to buy new clothes for their Mii, or head to the Dueling Ring to battle it out with big wooden swords?  It would be a great way to incorporate Mii’s and make people want to play around with them. 

These are just a few of the ways Nintendo could reinvent their online presence for the better.  Would any of these things come to pass on the Wii?  Perhaps not, but they would be good ideas to keep in mind for whatever comes after the Wii.  Do you have any ideas about how Nintendo could improve their online functionality?  Do you like it the way it is?  Let us know what you think.