Jump to content

User:Smuckola/History of Nintendo's online strategies: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 8: Line 8:


Though the communication techniques seen in the earliest [[Famicom]] era systems do not exhibit a bidirectional or realtime interactive nature, they were nevertheless designed for the manual relay of digital content. In this way, consumers interacted with content distribution devices at retail stores which Nintendo had provisioned via postal mail, floppy disks, and [[Famicom Disk System|fax machine kiosks]]. Nintendo's historical dynamic digital distribution methods — even when performed fully manually, as with the low cost Disk Writer Kiosks — are said to be experimental precursors to today's [[Digital distribution|online distribution]] methods, still offering some innovations to their modern counterparts.<ref name="Digital Distribution Could Learn">{{cite web|last=Eisenbeis|first=Richard|title=Digital Distribution Could Learn from Nintendo’s Disk Writer Kiosk|url=http://kotaku.com/digital-distribution-could-learn-from-nintendo-s-disk-w-1542718404|accessdate=June 11, 2014|publisher=[[Kotaku]]|date=March 14, 2014}}</ref> Nintendo's online distribution and connectivity methods have yielded historically new genre of games, such as the [[Satellaview]]'s [[Episodic video game|episodic game]] content of the 1990s — a format which Nintendo hadn't exhibited again until the announcement of 2015's ''[[Star Fox Zero]]'' on Wii U.<ref name="Metro reveal">{{cite web|author=GameCentral |url=http://metro.co.uk/2014/06/10/new-zelda-star-fox-splatoon-trailers-nintendo-e3-2014-4757163/ |title=New Zelda, Star Fox, Splatoon trailers |publisher=Metro News |date=2013-09-26 |accessdate=2014-06-11}}</ref>
Though the communication techniques seen in the earliest [[Famicom]] era systems do not exhibit a bidirectional or realtime interactive nature, they were nevertheless designed for the manual relay of digital content. In this way, consumers interacted with content distribution devices at retail stores which Nintendo had provisioned via postal mail, floppy disks, and [[Famicom Disk System|fax machine kiosks]]. Nintendo's historical dynamic digital distribution methods — even when performed fully manually, as with the low cost Disk Writer Kiosks — are said to be experimental precursors to today's [[Digital distribution|online distribution]] methods, still offering some innovations to their modern counterparts.<ref name="Digital Distribution Could Learn">{{cite web|last=Eisenbeis|first=Richard|title=Digital Distribution Could Learn from Nintendo’s Disk Writer Kiosk|url=http://kotaku.com/digital-distribution-could-learn-from-nintendo-s-disk-w-1542718404|accessdate=June 11, 2014|publisher=[[Kotaku]]|date=March 14, 2014}}</ref> Nintendo's online distribution and connectivity methods have yielded historically new genre of games, such as the [[Satellaview]]'s [[Episodic video game|episodic game]] content of the 1990s — a format which Nintendo hadn't exhibited again until the announcement of 2015's ''[[Star Fox Zero]]'' on Wii U.<ref name="Metro reveal">{{cite web|author=GameCentral |url=http://metro.co.uk/2014/06/10/new-zelda-star-fox-splatoon-trailers-nintendo-e3-2014-4757163/ |title=New Zelda, Star Fox, Splatoon trailers |publisher=Metro News |date=2013-09-26 |accessdate=2014-06-11}}</ref>

Online development has always existed at Nintendo, but its widespread deployment has been very limited. In 2015, former Nintendo executive Dan Adelman explained: "[T]he most senior executives at the company cut their teeth during NES and Super NES days and do not really understand modern gaming, so adopting things like online gaming, account systems, friends lists, as well as understanding the rise of PC gaming has been very slow. Ideas often get shut down prematurely just because some people with the power to veto an idea simply don’t understand it."<ref name="Dan Adelman at Dromble">{{cite interview | first=Dan | last=Adelman | interviewer=Emily Rogers | date=January 21, 2015 | publisher=Dromble | url=http://dromble.com/2015/01/21/former-nintendo-executive-dan-adelman-discusses-nintendos-culture-third-party-support-and-much-more/ | accessdate=December 14, 2015}}</ref>


As Nintendo's first Internet-connected console, the [[64DD]] with its bundled Randnet dialup service were released in 1999. The system constitutes a robust multimedia [[Internet appliance]] and workstation, which was used for the [[User-generated content|creation]] and social sharing of [[rich media]] and game content directly between at least 15,000<ref name="64Dream Feb 2001">{{cite journal | title=The 64 Dream | magazine=The 64 Dream | date=February 2001}}</ref> users' homes and some educational sites.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}} Some of the GameCube-era systems do not connect to any wide-area remote resource at all, but rather between two different systems in the same room. Whether between two GameCube systems on a LAN, or between a GameCube interacting with a Game Boy (as a controller, camera, or mobile character development device), this serves the "online" subset as being "under the direct control of another device".
As Nintendo's first Internet-connected console, the [[64DD]] with its bundled Randnet dialup service were released in 1999. The system constitutes a robust multimedia [[Internet appliance]] and workstation, which was used for the [[User-generated content|creation]] and social sharing of [[rich media]] and game content directly between at least 15,000<ref name="64Dream Feb 2001">{{cite journal | title=The 64 Dream | magazine=The 64 Dream | date=February 2001}}</ref> users' homes and some educational sites.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}} Some of the GameCube-era systems do not connect to any wide-area remote resource at all, but rather between two different systems in the same room. Whether between two GameCube systems on a LAN, or between a GameCube interacting with a Game Boy (as a controller, camera, or mobile character development device), this serves the "online" subset as being "under the direct control of another device".

Revision as of 21:58, 14 December 2015

This is a history of Nintendo's online strategies.

Overview

Beginning in the early 1980s, the term "online" can be applied to Nintendo's various strategies in a variety of ways. These range from the simple narratological sense of cyberspace which is derived from the act of manually-propagated digital distribution along retail supply chain networks in the 1980s, to player-to-player networks in the same room in the 1990s, to modern global Internet networks of the late 1990s and beyond.

Taken in the scope of history, Nintendo has pushed the state of the art in many experimental methods of connectivity, and has also suffered protracted reactions to its high-risk failures.[citation needed] Until the advent of affordable broadband access to the global Internet, and 2012's deployment of the Nintendo Network, the only deployments outside of Japan were done via networks which were significantly under the company's own control. These include local area cabling, wireless, and optical technologies, which were often driven by handheld consoles.

Though the communication techniques seen in the earliest Famicom era systems do not exhibit a bidirectional or realtime interactive nature, they were nevertheless designed for the manual relay of digital content. In this way, consumers interacted with content distribution devices at retail stores which Nintendo had provisioned via postal mail, floppy disks, and fax machine kiosks. Nintendo's historical dynamic digital distribution methods — even when performed fully manually, as with the low cost Disk Writer Kiosks — are said to be experimental precursors to today's online distribution methods, still offering some innovations to their modern counterparts.[1] Nintendo's online distribution and connectivity methods have yielded historically new genre of games, such as the Satellaview's episodic game content of the 1990s — a format which Nintendo hadn't exhibited again until the announcement of 2015's Star Fox Zero on Wii U.[2]

Online development has always existed at Nintendo, but its widespread deployment has been very limited. In 2015, former Nintendo executive Dan Adelman explained: "[T]he most senior executives at the company cut their teeth during NES and Super NES days and do not really understand modern gaming, so adopting things like online gaming, account systems, friends lists, as well as understanding the rise of PC gaming has been very slow. Ideas often get shut down prematurely just because some people with the power to veto an idea simply don’t understand it."[3]

As Nintendo's first Internet-connected console, the 64DD with its bundled Randnet dialup service were released in 1999. The system constitutes a robust multimedia Internet appliance and workstation, which was used for the creation and social sharing of rich media and game content directly between at least 15,000[4] users' homes and some educational sites.[citation needed] Some of the GameCube-era systems do not connect to any wide-area remote resource at all, but rather between two different systems in the same room. Whether between two GameCube systems on a LAN, or between a GameCube interacting with a Game Boy (as a controller, camera, or mobile character development device), this serves the "online" subset as being "under the direct control of another device".

In contrast with Nintendo's former dependency upon since-discontinued third-party relations for access to their proprietary networks — as had been seen with the Famicom Modem's connectivity being provisioned by Nomura Securities, the now defunct St.GIGA's former provisioning of the Satellaview system, and Glu Mobile's former provisioning of the now defunct Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection — the advent of the Internet era has enabled the first online network wholly developed and owned by Nintendo, with November 2012's launch of the Nintendo Network.

History

1987

Disk Fax is a subtype of Disk Writer kiosk. Players could travel to select stores, bringing supported Famicom Disk System floppy disks, such as Golf Japan Course or F1 Race, and upload their scores to Nintendo for nationwide leaderboards and contests. Scores were synchronized centrally to Nintendo via fax transmission from each Disk Fax kiosk.[5]

Main article: Famicom Modem

Beginning in mid-1987, Hiroshi Yamauchi requested the exploration of a partnership with the Nomura Securities financial company, to create an information network service in Japan based on the Famicom. Nintendo developed the modem hardware, and Nomura Securities developed the client and server software and the information database. Masayuki Uemura of Nintendo Research & Development 2 cautioned that they "weren't confident that they would be able to make network games entertaining". The Famicom Modem (ファミコンネットシステム, lit. Family Computer Network System) began mass production in September 1988. The proprietary service was soon launched the same year alongside Nippon Telegraph & Telephone's new DDX-TP telephone gateway for its existing packet switched network. Even after the resolution of stability problems with the NTT's network launch, the Famicom Modem market presence was considered "weak" for its whole lifetime for various reasons: product usability; competition from personal computers and other appliances; and the difficult nature of early adoption by the technologically unsavvy financial customer. Nintendo shipped a lifetime total of 130,000 Famicom Modems. Uemura stated that the system's most popular application was ultimately home-based horse race betting, with a peak of 100,000 units used and capturing 35% of the online horse betting market even amongst diverse competition from PCs and from dedicated horse betting network terminal appliances.[6]

Five unreleased prototypes of network-enabled games were developed for the system, including Yamauchi's favorite classic, Go.[6]

Masayuki Uemura said that the experience borne from the Famicom Modem would eventually serve to inform the design of the Satellaview, launched in 1995.[6]

1989

In June 1989, Nintendo of America's vice president of marketing Peter Main, said that the Famicom was present in 37% of Japan's households and that its interactive game and stock network based upon the Famicom Modem had been running for two years.[7]

In mid-1989, Nintendo began a series of announcements to replicate and expand its existing Japan-based concepts, into America. Nintendo of America openly announced that it was in private talks with AT&T over the prospect of eventually launching an information network service in America. The deal's public progress was pending the federal government's deliberation over the lifting of its historical monopoly ban of 1982 against AT&T's ability to publish information over an electronic network. The deal was expected to add a keyboard and modem to the NES, which reportedly already held 80% of the American video game market and was thought to be present in 20% of all American homes. Reportedly, both companies were expecting to leverage each other's respective strength to accelerate their mutual entries into the young electronic publishing market; Nintendo wanted AT&T's network, and AT&T (cautious from previous disappointments with information service ventures) wanted Nintendo's name recognition and credibility in order to instantly compete with other networks like Prodigy.[7] In July 1989, the government did lift the ban for AT&T, effective in August, with limited criticism from the competition.[8] Nintendo of America initiated a business unit to develop the NES into a network terminal, for use with its planned information network in America. Targeted for launch in 1990, the Associated Press described the proposed system's applications as including "news, home banking, and long-distance video game playing". The business unit's vice president of network products was Jerry Ruttenbur, a senior vice president with Home Box Office's video division.[9]

The partnership between AT&T and Nintendo did not launch. However, AT&T partnered with PF Magic and Sega of America in July 1993, to develop the also unreleased Edge 16 Modem for Genesis and 3DO.[10][11]

On October 2, Nintendo Co. Ltd. of Japan and Fidelity Investments of Boston announced a partnership to develop, produce, and market a financial services trading system for home users, targeted for a 1990 launch.[12]

1991

Nintendo's sole final application of the Famicom Modem was the 1991 system called Super Mario Club. It was formed for toy shops, where the Famicom was deployed as a networked arcade kiosk, serving consumers with a member-store-created searchable online database of Famicom game reviews. Nintendo performed market research by analyzing users' search behaviors, and directly received user feedback messages.[6]

1993

In late 1993, LodgeNet launched as an on-demand entertainment service for the hospitality industry, including an exclusive strategic alliance with Nintendo.[13] This alliance yielded the worldwide delivery of Super NES games to hotel guests, via LodgeNet's proprietary building-wide "b-LAN" networks, based on custom servers and custom thin client Super NES game consoles.[14] LodgeNet eventually reported the system having been installed in 200,000 hotel guest rooms by April 1996, and 530,000 guest rooms by mid-1999.[15]

Exploring the possibility of interactive television for the greater home consumer market, Nintendo of America was one of many interested companies who were reticent to commit without the existence of proven open interoperability standards for cable TV networks and set top boxes. The company's director of network planning C. Peter Eck said, "we've got grooves in front of our building from people coming to talk to us" and "There's a very confused morass of information out there today."[16]

1994

"At this stage, the information superhighway is mainly hype. But even if it comes to pass, Nintendo only stands to gain. We are a content company and, presumably, there will still be lots of people out there in the years to come who will want to play games like Super Mario. As long as we keep making good games, we'll be OK — regardless of how those games are delivered to the consumer." — Howard Lincoln, chairman of Nintendo of America, June 25, 1994[17]: 80 

November 1994 saw the limited test release of XBAND in certain cities,[18] the only Nintendo-licensed dialup modem in America, with an accompanying network, all developed and operated by Catapult.[18][10][11]

1995

Main article: Satellaview

In April 1995, Nintendo launched in Japan the Satellaview satellite peripheral for Super Famicom, powered by partner St.GIGA's Japanese satellite broadcast network. Masayuki Uemura, lead designer of the Famicom Modem at Nintendo Research & Development 2, said: "Our experiences with the Famicom Modem triggered Nintendo’s entrance into the satellite data broadcasting market in April, 1995".[6]

In January 1995, Nintendo entered a partnership with GTE Interactive Media, a subsidiary of the now defunct telecom provider GTE Corporation, for the development of arcade games and of online networking.[19] In the same month, they previewed their first title, FX Fighter, at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.[20]

From 1995 to 2007, Nintendo operated Camp Hyrule, a web-based community, moderated and directed by the staff of Nintendo Power magazine.[citation needed]

The Nintendo-licensed XBAND is launched nationwide in America in May 1995.[10]

1996

By April 1996, LodgeNet reported that its partnership with Nintendo to deliver Super NES games had yielded 200,000 worldwide hotel guest room installations.[15]

In July 1996, Nintendo acted as the organizing hub and majority owner in announcing a 1997 launch of a joint partnership between itself, Microsoft, and Nomura Research Institute. Nintendo had originally hired the NRI as a consultant to optimize the use of its managing share in St.GIGA, which yielded the idea for this potentially revenue-generating partnership.[21] The partnership was intended to provide data and entertainment services to Japan, delivered via the simultaneous combination of St.GIGA's digital satellite network and the Microsoft Network (MSN) dialup system. The service was intended to utilize the satellite as a unidirectional broadband caching medium for offline browsing on personal computers, ancillary to MSN's slower bidirectional dialup. It was a diversification attempt for all involved, serving as Microsoft's introduction to broadband and Nintendo's step beyond video gaming—historically the first partnership between the two. This system was not intended for game consoles whatsoever, with Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi stating that "Entertainment includes many other aspects besides games".[21][22] Daniel Sloan, of the book Playing to Wiin, considered the effort to have been a failure by 1998.[23]: 125 

1998

On June 16, 1998, in the fifth year of their strategic alliance, Nintendo and LodgeNet entered a 10-year licensing agreement for an "aggressive" upgrade to add Nintendo 64 support to their existing deployment of 500,000 Super NES equipped guest rooms.[24] LodgeNet says that within the system's previous five years to date, the system had "caused Nintendo to become the most successful new product rollout in the history of the hotel pay-per-view industry".[25] LodgeNet reported that within the middle of 1998 alone, 35 million hotel guests encountered the Nintendo name as an integral amenity,[25] and it reported sales of more than 54 million minutes of Nintendo-based gameplay.[26]

1999

On June 10, 1999, LodgeNet and Nintendo began implementing 1998's agreement to expand and upgrade their existing Super NES buildout to include Nintendo 64 support. In mid-1999, LodgeNet reported that its 530,000 hotel room installations were increasing at a rate of 11,000 rooms per month.[15][26]

Main article: Randnet

In December 1999, in Japan, the Randnet dialup Internet service was launched alongside the 64DD peripheral for the Nintendo 64 console. Only ever sold in Japan, the 64DD features a bundled software modem codeveloped by Nexus Telocation Systems, Ltd. and Surf Technology, which is the Nintendo 64's first (and only official) Internet hardware product. The cofounder and former CEO of Surf Technology, Dr. Amnon Gavish, reported that during the development of the Nintendo 64, the companies had considered deploying a software modem directly into the game console, as well as Nintendo having had "the concept of head-to-head games and an online game shop, way before any of their competition".[27][28] Coincidentally in late 1999, InterAct, the third party developer of the unlicensed GameShark accessory, announced its American alternative SharkWire Online system; this consisted of a GameShark-based "hacking" cartridge, the Mosaic web browser, and a child-friendly dialup Internet portal.

GameCube

Main article: GameCube § Online gaming

According to IGN in 1999, when discussing the next generation to succeed the Nintendo 64, an unnamed source at Nintendo of America stated that "Networkability is at the top of the list" for the "N2000" prototype console which would become "Project Dolphin" and then GameCube.[29]

August 28, 1999: There’s got to be something Dolphin has with the Internet, because from now on we can’t create entertainment without thinking about network communication. At the same time, we are an entertainment company so we have to take into consideration the cost associated with network games, and the ages of the users, who are actually going to make use of it. If we consider these two points right now, I have to tell you that there is not a big market right now for Dolphin to involve a significant Internet business. Nintendo, as an entertainment company has a responsibility to parents and children so that the parents can always feel secure to provide their children with Nintendo machines, hardware and software. So because of that I don’t think network capabilities will be the core of the Dolphin project.[30]

February 9, 2000: I’m very interested in online gaming, and I fully understand why people are so enthusiastic about it. But, you know what Nintendo is about, and has always been about, is NOT doing the same as every other company. So, if it ever came to the stage where we were talking about online gaming, it would be because we had a new way to approach the idea. It wouldn’t just be because everyone else is doing it.[31]

— Shigeru Miyamoto, about Dolphin's online strategy

2000

June 8, 2000: "We are planning to introduce an Internet business next March or April. The first step will be online sales of a brand new type of Pokemon cards." — Nintendo President, Hiroshi Yamauchi[32]

In September 2000, Nintendo and LodgeNet began delivering newly released Nintendo 64 games to hotel rooms at more than 1,000 hotel sites, concurrently with the games' retail releases, demonstrating "the capacity to update [LodgeNet's] interactive digital systems with fresh content virtually overnight".[33]

2001

In February 2001, the 64DD and its accompanying Randnet online service were discontinued. Also in 2001, Nintendo explored gaming on mobile phones, with Japan's number two mobile provider, KDDI.[23]: 125 

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said "Nintendo's not in a situation where it needs online gaming for it to become a viable company", adding that the company wanted to avoid online-only game releases which he believed would "immediately [cut] off about 75 percent" of its users. At the time of the GameCube's launch, Electronic Gaming Monthly said "Nintendo's online plans are too murky to fathom".[34][34]

2003

LodgeNet and Nintendo add GameCube support in the tenth year of their original 1993 strategic alliance, with LodgeNet reporting "more than a billion minutes of game time" sold across more than 875,000 installed hotel rooms at more than 5,000 installed hotels.[13]

2004

By 2004, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata was already known for having said that consumers do not want online games. In response to years of complaints of the lack of network-enabled GameCube games, Iwata reiterated that sentiment and cited Q4 2003's sub-par sales of unnamed network-enabled titles. He described networking as a difficult practice for some consumers, adding his belief that most consumers even see a home Internet subscription as an unwanted expense altogether. He said, "Online technology has its own interesting features, so I don’t rule out the possibility of making use of it for games. ... Game companies now find it difficult to make online game businesses successful, and their enthusiasm for them is cooling".[35]

2005

On November 14, 2005, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was deployed, having been developed under the direct supervision of company president Satoru Iwata. Nintendo's Takao Ohara lamented that Nintendo's long history of online strategies had each quit due to unexpectedly insufficient userbases, but that the Wi-Fi Connection had in four months garnered 2.9 million connections from over one million unique users. To achieve the goal of a truly sustainable online userbase with the most-used network service in the world, Ohara described a new strategy of identifying and relieving four main barriers. The proposed four barriers are difficult setup procedures, the psychological barrier preventing newcomers from joining in games, the unpleasantness of receiving abuse from other players, and the cost barrier. The company's proposed online strategy at this point was called "simple, safe, free". Nintendo believed that the online platform's success directly propelled the commercial success of the entire Nintendo DS platform. The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection then served as part of the basis of what would become the Wii.[36]

2008

Of the two-year old Wii platform, Reggie Fils-Aimé said “Nintendo has always had a vision on [online] community. The issue is that we define community differently than our competitors. … Our consumers do want a sense of community, and we’re going to deliver that–but in a way that is unique to Nintendo.” President Iwata's address statement to the company's investors was amended sometime in 2008 to acknowledge the Internet.[37] Forbes assumed that in the face of all the competition's increasingly sophisticated online community platforms, and without even a timetable for the eventual announcement of the Nintendo's reintroduction of a coherent or competitive online strategy, the Wii's high level of sales was nevertheless unlikely to suffer in the foreseeable future.[38]

2014

On June 10, 2014, Nintendo of America filed a patent for a "car area network" (CAN) "to enable communications between various devices in the car", potentially along with a game server.[39]

Title Platform Peak users Exclusive content Notes
Disk Writer
and Disk Fax 		Famicom and Disk System JPQuestion? Green tickY Retail kiosks where a player can use rewritable floppy disks to purchase (akin to downloading) copies of entire new retail games, and utilize Disk Fax to upload their scores to a national leaderboard with contests.[5]
Famicom Modem Famicom JP100,000+ Green tickY Developed beginning in summer 1987. Over 100,000 peak individual users for years in Japan, then in 1991 commonly used for Japan Racing Association horse gambling and as a kiosk for the Super Mario Club.[6]
Nintendo Power (cartridge) Super Famicom, Gameboy JPQuestion? Question? Kiosk-rewritable Game Pak (akin to downloading), for Super Famicom and Game Boy.
Satellaview Super Famicom JP 116,378[40] Green tickY Based on partner St.GIGA's digital satellite network, it includes these features: live broadcast games with voice actors, playable prerelease game demos, digital magazines, new Satellaview-exclusive games, game-specific expansion cartridges akin to Nintendo Power (cartridge), and Super Famicom remakes and remixes of Famicom classics. Inspired and informed by Famicom Modem experience.
Randnet Nintendo 64 and 64DD JP 15,000+[4] Green tickY
GameCube broadband and modem GameCube WWQuestion? Question?
GameCube - GBA cable GameCube, GBA WWQuestion? Green tickY
Game Link Cable Game Boy line WWQuestion? Green tickY
DS Download Play, DSi Shop, DSiWare, DS Download Station Nintendo DS Question? Green tickY
WiiConnect24 Wii WWQuestion? Question?
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection DSi, 3DS, and Wii WWQuestion? Green tickY
Nintendo Zone DSi, 3DS WWQuestion?
USQuestion?
CAQuestion? 		Green tickY
SpotPass, StreetPass 3DS WWQuestion? Question?
Nintendo Network, Miiverse, and eShop 3DS, Wii U, Web WWQuestion? Green tickY
Amiibo Wii U, 3DS WWNovember 2014 Green tickY

Reception

Video game historian Daniel Sloan assessed Nintendo's online position as of the early 2000s in his book Playing to Wiin, saying that "online gaming for Nintendo and the industry remained largely an untapped mine, full of potential synergies but onerous to implement and uncertain to yield much."[23]: 125  GameSpot said in 2004 that the GameCube's lack of network-enabled games had been a major source of complaints for years.[35] In 2007, Joystiq said that the GameCube's limited selection of online titles hurt the console's market share in the long run.[41]

With 2012's launch of the Nintendo Network, Nintendo has received general criticism for its lack of comprehensive and standardized platform support for all games with regard to leaderboards, online multiplayer matching, video recording, online purchase history, and other features that have been present on competing console platforms for many years.[42][verification needed] With a summary statement that "Nintendo is hurting itself", Polygon described the company's network account usability issues as being "baffling", "negligent", and "embarassing", whereby the company is "struggling with something that has long been a solved problem" which is "no longer forgivable", and about which there is "little evidence anything is being done". Polygon states that "a good account system and online infrastructure isn't easy or cheap, but it's attainable and damned near mandatory, especially for a company with as many resources as Nintendo".[43]

Forbes contributing editor Paul Tassi described how the modern competition had spent several years surpassing Nintendo in Internet-based online functionality. He said that Nintendo has for some time lacked the competition's modernized online norms such as a unified account system via which to transfer games between console units. However, he also praised Nintendo's comparative lack of abusive consumer exploitation: "Nintendo resisted putting DLC in their games at all for years, but now that they have, they’ve shown everyone else what substantive, fairly-priced DLC should look like. ... Only Nintendo could take a first crack at something like DLC, and end up knocking it out of the park."[44] NintendoLife said that the March 2015 release of Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars, with its basis upon Internet-shared user-generated content and dual-platform licensing, has served to bring "Nintendo's online experience kicking and screaming into modern times"—at least for that one game.[45] Tassi further criticized Nintendo's uniquely restrictive policies about online video sharing as being based upon "apparent fear and misunderstanding".[46]

See also

Relevant Nintendo topics
Other online gaming services

References

  1. ^ Eisenbeis, Richard (March 14, 2014). "Digital Distribution Could Learn from Nintendo's Disk Writer Kiosk". Kotaku. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  2. ^ GameCentral (2013-09-26). "New Zelda, Star Fox, Splatoon trailers". Metro News. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  3. ^ Adelman, Dan (January 21, 2015). (Interview). Interviewed by Emily Rogers. Dromble http://dromble.com/2015/01/21/former-nintendo-executive-dan-adelman-discusses-nintendos-culture-third-party-support-and-much-more/. Retrieved December 14, 2015. {{cite interview}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ a b "The 64 Dream". The 64 Dream. February 2001.
  5. ^ a b McFerran, Damien (November 20, 2010). "Slipped Disk - The History of the Famicom Disk System". NintendoLife. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Takano, Masaharu (September 11, 1995). "How the Famicom Modem was Born". Nikkei Electronics (in Japanese). English translation by GlitterBerri. {{cite magazine}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); External link in |others= (help)
  7. ^ a b Freitag, Michael (June 8, 1989). "Talking Deals; How Nintendo Can Help A.T.&T". International New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  8. ^ Sims, Calvin (July 29, 1989). "Judge Will Allow A.T.&T. to Publish Electronic Data". International New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  9. ^ "COMPANY NEWS; Nintendo Plans Network System". International New York Times. Redmond, WA: Associated Press. August 11, 1989. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  10. ^ a b c "Lost Levels - A website about unreleased video games". Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Gadgets from the ads of the past – Teleplay System by Baton". World 1-1. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  12. ^ a b "LodgeNet to Introduce Nintendo GameCube Through Its All-New SIGNETURE TV System" (Press release). June 24, 2003. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  13. ^ "Hotel-based video game and communication system". Google Patents. Nintendo of America, Inc. December 3, 1996. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  14. ^ a b c "LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation". Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  15. ^ "Boob Tube No More". Businessweek. June 6, 1993. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  16. ^ Gillen, Marilyn A. (June 25, 1994). "Billboard (June 25, 1994)". Billboard. Billboard. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  17. ^ a b "Snes Central: X-Band". Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  18. ^ "GTE's Venture With Nintendo". International New York Times. The New York Times Company. January 9, 1995. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  19. ^ Carlton, Jim (January 4, 1995). "Nintendo/GTE Interactive to Offer Games for Interactive-TV". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  20. ^ a b Pollack, Andrew (June 27, 1996). "INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ; Nintendo-Microsoft Deal on Data Delivery". New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  21. ^ "Nintendo chief who built gaming empire dies at 85". wort.lu. Associated Press. September 19, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2014. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi and Nomura Research Institute President Shozo Hashimoto meeting in Tokyo to form their joint venture — AP Photo
  22. ^ a b c Sloan, Daniel (2011). Playing to Wiin: Nintendo and the Video Game Industry's Greatest Comeback. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-82512-9. OCLC 707935885. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  23. ^ "LodgeNet, Nintendo Sign N64 Agreement" (Press release). Sioux Falls, ND: LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation. PRNewswire. June 16, 1998. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  24. ^ a b "LodgeNet, Nintendo Celebrate Guest Room Video Game Milestone" (Press release). Sioux Falls, ND: LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation. PRNewswire. September 3, 1998. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  25. ^ a b "LodgeNet Begins Installing Hotels With Nintendo 64 Game Systems; Initiative Includes New Installations, System Upgrades for Thousands of Hotel Rooms" (Press release). Sioux Falls, ND: LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation. PRNewswire. June 10, 1999. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  26. ^ Gavish, Amnon (November 21, 2012). "Vidyo & Nintendo enable video conferencing endpoints in every living room". Vidyo. Archived from the original on November 27, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2015. I was part of a project that involved embedding a software dial up modem into the Nintendo N64 game console. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ "Surf Technology Integrated Into Nintendo Product" (Press release). Teradyon, Israel: Surf Communications Solutions. PR Newswire. June 14, 1999. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  28. ^ "It's Alive!". IGN. March 12, 1999. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  29. ^ Miyamoto, Shigeru (August 28, 1999). "Miyamoto Talks Dolphin at Space World '99" (Interview). Interviewed by Chris Johnston. GameSpot. Retrieved July 6, 2014. {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |subjectlink= ignored (|subject-link= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ Kennedy, Sam (February 9, 2000). "Miyamoto Goes Online for Dolphin". GameSpot. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  31. ^ "Yamauchi Confirms Dolphin Delay, Internet Plans". IGN. June 7, 2000. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  32. ^ "LodgeNet Brings Mario Tennis(TM) to Hotel Guests Nationwide; New N64(R) Game Will Appear in Stores, Hotel Rooms Same Week" (Press release). Sioux Falls, ND: LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation. PRNewswire. August 29, 2000. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  33. ^ a b "Fight!". Electronic Gaming Monthly. 14 (12). Ziff Davis, Inc.: 212 December 2001. Cite error: The named reference "EGM fight" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  34. ^ a b Thorsen, Tor (July 7, 2004). "Iwata: "Customers do not want online games"". GameSpot. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  35. ^ Famitsu (in Japanese). Translation. March 2006 http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/2006/03/25/103,1143298259,50588,0,0.html. Retrieved November 13, 2015. {{cite journal}}: External link in |others= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: others (link)
  36. ^ "Message from the President: To shareholders and investors". Investor Relations Information. Japan: Nintendo Co., Ltd. 2008. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ Morris, Chris (18 November 2008). "Nintendo's Community Roots". Forbes. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  38. ^ "Car-based entertainment system with video gaming". Nintendo of America, Inc. June 10, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  39. ^ "セント・ギガの歴史]". Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  40. ^ Hinkle, David (November 19, 2007). "Year one: GameCube vs. Wii". Joystiq. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  41. ^ Claiborn, Samuel (December 20, 2013). "NES Remix Review". IGN. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  42. ^ Kuchera, Ben (July 23, 2014). "In the face of recent wins, Nintendo's lack of online functions is no longer forgivable". Polygon. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  43. ^ Tassi, Paul (February 28, 2015). "The World Is Nintendo's (If Only They'd Take It)". Forbes. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  44. ^ Olney, Alex (March 5, 2015). "Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars: Review". Nintendolife. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  45. ^ Tassi, Paul (February 6, 2015). "Nintendo Updates Their Bad YouTube Policies By Making Them Worse". Forbes. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Smuckola/History_of_Nintendo%27s_online_strategies&oldid=695264297"