Wii Warm Up: A question of multiplayer
by Alisha Karabinus 
{ Jul 4th 2007 at 10:00AM }
We like online gaming as much as the next set of obsessive gamers; in fact, we even brave the friend code system on the DS every week, like clockwork, just to throwdown via the WiFi network. But just because we like it -- and sometimes prefer it -- does that mean that every game with available multiplayer needs to have online multiplayer? For that matter, does every game even need a multiplayer mode? Obviously, we're thinking here about the recent confirmation that Metroid Prime 3 will have no online multiplayer, but it applies to a lot of things. Let's take Wii Sports, for example. Tons of fun! Could in fact be online! But does it need to be? The philosophy behind Wii Sports seems to be that playing with others -- in person -- is fun. Isn't the philosophy behind the Metroid series pretty centered on the themes of loneliness and isolation, as well as exploration? With games like Saint's Row and Halo on the Xbox, online multiplayer makes perfect sense. Whether we want it or not aside ... is it really right for Metroid?We'll definitely come on board and say that we hope that the Wii boasts many online games by the time its cycle ends. We particularly hope for at least one or two great FPS games with online multiplayer, but perhaps that's a dream. Still, is it worth hoping for online multiplayer when it runs counter to the central idea behind a franchise or game ... and worse yet, should we be hoping for multiplayer from a team who has yet to show us that they can even manage decent local multiplayer, much less online?
Sure, online modes add replayability, and that's always nice. But if that's all we need in a game, should Nintendo start tacking online multiplayer onto Zelda games, for instance?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nushio @ Jul 4th 2007 10:21AM
Wii Sports is aimed at a different crowd. Its a more casual, passive game.
I stopped playing it months ago, but I wouldn't mind giving it another round or two IF it had online, see what I mean?
Metroid is aimed at the "hardcore" crowd, and we're always looking for the next Halo or whatever.
Even if Retro made no announcement regarding online, the 1 year delay made us think that they might have been working on it.
Nushio @ Jul 4th 2007 10:49AM
Oh, and regarding online in a Zelda game:
Remember four swords? Yeah that was awesome.
Phantom Hourglass comes with some sort of an online minigame dungeon which I expect to be fun for a good 5 minutes. Bring back the 4 Swords Adventures!
Shadow31 @ Jul 4th 2007 10:56AM
Four Swords was great multiplayer... but I can't imagine it as satisfying when you can't see the face of the player you just through into the pit so you can get that big force gem. And besides, Four Swords was MADE as a multiplayer game, as was Metroid Prime Hunters. On a standard Zelda game, do not try to include online play (this minigame thing is as far as I'll allow it to go).
And this article has a huge point. Metroid isn't Halo. Metroid is about isolation, loneliness, etc... it is not about teamwork, nor is it about versing other players. No, it has always been a single player game and has suceeded that way. Like I've said before, MP2:E proved that multiplayer does not fit the series. End of story.
vidGuy @ Jul 4th 2007 11:34AM
To be honest, I'm not much for online multiplayer. For games like Halo it works because those games require that there be a large number of players for most games. For example, capture the flag with two or even four players is pretty stupid. With 16 it's great. But there are very few games that I think online multiplayer is a fit. For the Wii games we have now, the 1 player games belong that way (could you see Zelda or Super Paper Mario as a MMORPG?) and the multiplayer games require you play with friends or family locally to be fun - online Wii Sports would be the most boring game on the planet, IMO.
None of this, though, excuses the lack of online from games that should have it. Metroid Prime 3 is not one of those games, but Brawl certainly is. When Nintendo or a 3rd party releases a game designed to be a twitch shooter like Halo, it should have online multiplayer.
Nintendo needs to get the ball rolling with online, but it is not a make or break for every game.
Michael K. @ Jul 4th 2007 11:34AM
I was happy when they said mp3 wouldn't have wi-fi, if it did they would have had to take away from the single player mission. Also, I hate the hold that online multiplayer has on the videogame industry, I hope its just a fad that will end so games can start to be about the single player modes and multiplayer with friends, instead of just mindlessly repetitive online play. This is all microsoft and stupid halo's fault.
DA @ Jul 4th 2007 11:48AM
Isolation was already blown from the series when other hunters got put into the storyline. As you may recall, Samus gets saved from a nasty fall by one.
The Metroid Prime subseries has more multiplayer than not.
Retro screwed up and somehow needed an extra year to make MP3C suitable for release ("polish" and control). If it had been released when it was set to be, no one would be complaining. But that unbelievably trite and apparently all to easy to repeat excuse that the series has no room for multiplayer is just that, an excuse. But when you brag about your game being AAA in the 7th gen for the fastest selling console on the market, people's expectations get high. Retro screwed up. It happens. Enough with the "Nintendo can do no wrong" excuses, it makes you sound like a battered wife, or worse, a fanboy. [checks url]. Oh.
A vague and even distant awareness of Nintendo games would tell you, as Nushio has, that Nintendo has already started adding multiplayer to Zelda. A fanboy should at least have a vague awareness of one of Nintendo's top franchises.
Shadow: Halo didn't invent multiplayer. A game need not be Halo for people to expect basic 7th gen features. Not even the smallest amount of creativity is needed to fit online into a game series that did it quite well with Hunters. I expect 3rd party 6th gen shovelware to be feature-poor. But this is supposed to be a 7th gen AAA from Nintendo itself. If they want to be on top of the world, they suffer the expectations that come with it. If they don't want to hear what gamer's want, maybe they should shoot for 3rd again.
CD @ Jul 4th 2007 11:36AM
I agree Metroid doesn't need multiplayer but the fact is it's probably going to be the only good FPS on Wii for a while so it would have been nice to have it. The multiplayer mode wouldn't have to interfere with the single player game, so you wouldn't lose the isolated exploration in the main game. And it helps if any game with multiplayer includes online because not everybody has other people around to play with.
Chazz @ Jul 4th 2007 11:46AM
I wish less games had online multiplayer. It takes away the fun of having people next to you and takes away some of the enjoyment.
And I can't get broadband at my house because I live in the sticks. So yeah less online games.
Dan @ Jul 4th 2007 12:45PM
Some games really are nearly perfect for online multiplayer. Anything you can play multiplayer in person is a perfect candidate, especially sports games. But even Metroid is key too.
I think you need to give more than lipservice to replayability. These days, it's nearly EVERYTHING. Halo 2 sucked. But it had multiplayer. I wish Nintendo wouldn't sleep on this.
matt @ Jul 4th 2007 12:41PM
I really don't think online multiplayer is a necessity for current-gen games. If it fits the game (like Mario Kart DS and Halo), then great -- but if not, it's not a big deal. The previous comment about "basic 7th gen features" is a bit outlandish, I don't see how online multiplayer is a requisite for a good game... because Twilight Princess didn't have an online capture-the-flag mode doesn't mean that Nintendo "screwed up" like the claim that Retro has. Can we also argue that rumble and waggle and hard drives are basic 7th gen features and anyone without those "screwed up"?
If you want multiplayer Metroid, try Hunters and MP2. I was disappointed by both, so I don't mind at all that MP3 will be single-player only :)
Nick @ Jul 4th 2007 1:24PM
With the DS and its ability to "chat" along with playing, I think it opens up huge possibilities. The Wii could easily incorporate a wireless bluetooth headset for chat, and really - how awesome would it be to play some sort of multiplayer game with your friends over a headset.
Of course, nintendo would probably freak out and think that dirty old men would try to accost young children and then they would get sued by the parents and would never let it fly so you'll have to have a specific blood sample of your "friend" in order to chat with them, and then you'll have to pass a set of grueling tortue tests where you have to really prove you want to play with this person and are willing to accept any risks involved, and you'll also likely need parently permission until you're past the age of 40, unless you can front a death certificate from your parents, and even then they might need to see the body.
I might be overextending a bit there ;)
As for replayability, I haven't touched TP since I beat it. Why would I? There's just no point, it's done, and it's shelved. It was cool, but there's no reason to go back, not for a while. However, when you give me 30 hours or so of gameplay, all is forgiven. But unless the game makes me want to abolish all bathroom breaks until I reach a certain point, like God of War (1 and 2) and Metroid Prime did, gimmie more, dagnabit.
jman @ Jul 4th 2007 1:52PM
I dont see what the big deal is about online...i mean do gamers these days just not have enough friends?? ( with three usually the max) Multiplayer games are so much more fun when u can actually see the person sitting next to u...it just adds to the fun...bieng able to get back at a friend for killing u numerous times in a row by hitting him in the arm...or even getting the satisfaction of seeing one of ur friends suffers as u continue to rack up points in football...nothing against online gaming...it can be fun...it just seems like there is to much empahasis on it these days...this is especially clear when u see the responses of metroid not bieng online...ppl refusing to buy because of no online?? thats just retarded... : /
diegomcnamara @ Jul 4th 2007 1:55PM
I consider myself a gamer, but I don't usually partake in online gaming mostly because there's always a discrepancy in skill levels in competition type games. Wii Tennis would be kinda fun online, as would golf. I think RE4 would be tons of fun if it the Mercenaries mode was online (4 gamers co-op against hundreds!), but for something like MP, I don't think it matters much. I usually don't attempt online ventures because there's always that 12 year old kid out there who dedicates 15 hours a day on MarioKart, and it makes my Wifi matchup just unfun.
As much as broadband play appeals to the hardcore gamer, I think it isolates the casual gamer, which is the demographic that Nintendo is shooting for anyway.
DA @ Jul 4th 2007 2:02PM
@ jman: Gamers today are older, not in high school anymore, and can't have gaming parties all the time. Having an online option not only brings the possibility of a much larger pool of opponents, but allows you to play against your buddies now in different states. If you work odd hours, chances are you can still find opponents, whereas if I were to give my friends a call for a 2am Halo tourney, I'd likely get capped for waking them up, but I can still tap into players who are still up in a different time zone online if that's my schedule.
We're not in adolescence anymore. Our games shouldn't be either.
If what a person wants is a game with online gameplay, why would they buy a game that doesn't have it? Nintendo itself raised expectations of online gameplay amongst premium titles like MP3C, drawing in new potential customers. Then they ripped that expectation away from a major AAA title, and with it went those new potential buyers. Not a big surprise. The game just went from a potential 1000 hours of playability to 20 without a price drop.
Would you buy a car without wheels or axles (or any other comparable locomotion tech)? No? How retarded of you.
Nushio @ Jul 4th 2007 2:14PM
Well said, DA. I couldn't agree more.
jman @ Jul 4th 2007 2:32PM
@ DA
Touche...
Im not saying im against having games that are online...i actually do enjoy online multiplayer to and extent...im just saying that its not the END ALL way..and i dont think that all games should have it like metroid but at the same time i do see ur point...(in playability hours)
(01) @ Jul 4th 2007 2:49PM
I think the post should really be titles, "Are you pissed that MP:3 won't include multi-player?" I, for one, am not. Don't get me wrong, I love me some multi-player. Unreal, UT, UT2004, SSBM, Mario Kart Double Dash, none of these games would have been half as fun w/ out the ability to play with other, non-AI opponents. That said, the Metroid Prime series is NOT designed for multi-player. Did any of you use multiplayer mode in MP:2? For more than 2 matches? It sucked, and we all knew it, because the game mechanics and story don't lend well to a multi-player mode. I'd rather have a solid, well developed multi-player game than a half-assed tack on to a game that doesn't need it.
bobo @ Jul 4th 2007 3:33PM
@DA:
Nintendo and Retro have never even pretended that Metroid Prime 3 would have online multiplayer, so if they lost potential buyers from people who imagined that an un-announced feature would be included, too bad for them I guess. A car without wheels and axles? Come on, Online multiplayer is an option, it's nowhere near a necessity, unless it's a game like Shadowrun that bases its entire premise on being multiplayer.
I really don't see why people are pissed that a game is not created a certain way despite never saying it was going to be. "I'm pissed that Elebits was not a high-def racing game, because that's the type of game I wanted to buy!" -- Uh, yeah, look elsewhere if a certain game is not what you wanted.
Nick @ Jul 4th 2007 5:39PM
Okay - jeez, Metroid *IS NOT ONLINE*. Metroid is NOT MULTIPLAYER. The first one wasn't, and I loved it. The second one was, and I would never touch multiplayer. The third one won't have it, they went back to focusing on the amazing single player game.
Like has been said time and time again, and something that will again be like beating a dead horse - would you rather them either:
a) Take longer to put out a game that's already taking quite long enough
b) toss in a CRAPtastic Multiplayer that stinks?
c) make as GREAT a single player game as possible and leave it at that?
DO you want to make Zelda or Super Mario Brothers into multiplayer? Four Swords was different, and isn't comparable. It, like Hunters, was designed as multiplayer.
The same people whined, moaned and went on and on when the first MP was released. These consisted of primarily XBox and Halo fanboys. Is that the same now?
I don't know, but if you don't want to buy Metroid Prime 3 because it doesn't live up to what you expect, well why don't you learn how to design games and have it it yourself. Let's see what you can come up with.
Until then, suck it up. It ain't going to be what you oh so desire it to be, and personally, it's YOUR loss not to pick up and enjoy what is to easily be the next big, awesome, and system buying game.
Michael @ Jul 4th 2007 5:51PM
What are you going to do once you've completed this supposedly great single-player game? Play through it again? That sounds like mindless repetitivness to me. Online multiplayer has become a standard component of the modern FPS. To go back to the car analogy, a FPS without online multiplayer is like a car without cruise control. You don't really need it, but it's better that you have it.
vidGuy @ Jul 4th 2007 6:03PM
"Play through it again?"
Well, that's what I've always done for great games like Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World, Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 4, etc. Not right away, mind you, but every year or so I'll replay one of these masterpieces.
I agree online helps extend gameplay from a poor 1st player game, though.
Nick @ Jul 4th 2007 6:55PM
Play it again? Uh, YEAH. JUST because Metroid Prime is in a FPS style doesn't mean it's JUST an FPS. It's not Quake, it's not Doom, there's story abounds in the game, that's what it's built on. Beautiful story, great graphics.
Like vidGuy said, are you complaining that RE4, Super Mario Brothers and ANY other game other than the standard boilerplate FPS games?
I can't stress enough that JUST because Metroid Prime is a FPS, doesn't mean it hold those same standards. It's an adventure game, that's shown/told in a first person perspective. The constant comparison to other multiplayer FPS games is unfair and simply doesn't make sense.
I LIKE multiplayer, personally I'd think having a FPS game that was multiplayer would be great, but Metroid is not it.
I'm old school, I've loved metroid since the first one. In my mind, Samus never talked, which is why I never liked Metroid Fusion. Fight for another FPS game to be multiplayer, not this one.
Atdt1991 @ Jul 5th 2007 10:49AM
I wanted multiplayer online because I wanted a cooperative or competitive game without sacrificing my (small) screen space. They've certainly tried it before, and we believed the reason they were holding back so long was because they were perfecting a multiplayer component.
If that wasn't the case, what was the hold-up? Are you saying, "We didn't want it anyway!" because otherwise you'd have to admit that Nintendo is completely screwing us out of any online play for the wii, leaving us with remnants and friend codes and miis that can't interact or even tell you what your friend is playing?
It's 2007. I love my wii, or I wouldn't be on this web site. That said, every month that goes by where the only thing with any sort of online interaction at all is pokemon, I feel a little more like I was sold a bill of goods.
I mean, speed runs were BORN on Metroid! We could at least have a speed-run/item scoreboard.
I'm not looking for the typical Halo Multiplayer experience. I had Halo (and Halo 2), and if I wanted that, I'd play that. But not giving us ANYTHING? I mean, they could have used their imaginations and found some way that we could interact with each other.
I'd be happy with that. Heck, just let me click on a mii and tell me someone's busy playing Metroid, or let me send a quick message from the mii page. Why's it gotta be so damned difficult?
Mr Khan @ Jul 6th 2007 5:34PM
I'll agree with the moderates here saying that a series that's designed for good Multiplayer action should be put online if the console merits it
I think that some multiplayer games wouldn't benefit (Wii Sports, DDR, and Guitar Hero all come to mind), but more traditional multiplayer games should have online built in in this day and age if the console supports it
Of course, as a dedicated Nintendo fan, my Online experience is limited to Phantasy Star Online, Mario Kart, and Metroid Prime Hunters (and soon Strikers), but that doesn't make online multiplayer any less exciting
One thing we should discuss is why voice chat against random strangers in an online game is the worst thing on earth. Always disconnect the headset and mute the game when you play LIVE, always...