Samba de Amigo features some kind of pay-to-play online content
by JC Fletcher 
{ May 6th 2008 at 10:30AM }
The boxart for the Wii version of Samba de Amigo has now been revealed in tiny form on Gamestop's site. It is, as far as we know, the first game to feature the new red Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Pay-to-Play logo, which was first shown at GDC this year.Either this means that you'll have to pay a subscription fee to play Samba online, or (infinitely more likely) that downloadable songs will be available over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Which, if true, makes the Wii version of Rock Band (with its new lineup of expansion discs!) just that much more insulting.
Gallery: Samba de Amigo
[Via NeoGAF]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jeff @ May 6th 2008 10:48AM
Nintendo, Nintendo, Nintendo....This is a big mistake. Its like not havening in a dad and then out of nowhere one shows up and give you orders. Its not fair. (If you didn't get the analogy I meant that we have had free wi-fi for so long and now here comes the "Pay-to-Play" that will probably rule some of the best games. so in turn I will not get them. Unless its such an awesome game that no one can pass up I will get it. I will probably cut down on buying games now. Stupid move Nintendo.
TheCoats @ May 6th 2008 10:55AM
As much as i agree with you i have to say 2 things
1-if it is for downloadable content - IM IN
2-If it makes the gameplay ALOT better and not so damn laggy and we start seeing some legit things we can do - IM IN
IF not then I dont know guys
Sonic_13 @ May 6th 2008 11:30AM
@Jeff: Wi-Fi is going to continue to be free. This is just Nintendo's name for DLC.
@TheCoats: Sounds like you need to move your Wii to get a better signal as you shouldn't be any lag at all.
Brucie B @ May 6th 2008 11:09AM
You Must be Crazy!
AzaMcWazza @ May 6th 2008 12:24PM
I think the name "Pay to Play" is a misnomer and will hurt Nintendo. People will think they need to pay extra just to play the game.
Also, people who buy RockBand Wii need their heads examined. Better to just get a PS3 or 360 and get it on that and not support yet again another shoddy (read: nonexistent) online implementation.
Eternityx @ May 6th 2008 12:55PM
If they do a pay to play service they will need to invest in some sort of alternative storage. If i bought said game with 8 said expansion pay packs, I am not going to scour my 4 SD cards for content or spend a bunch of time trying to re download a bunch of content so I can play a game. When Nintendo wants to talk pay to play they need to think about making it convenient for people or else no one will do it. Also, the use of software distribution will lead to free updates to our games which should be good..Maybe they can do it like Halo, charge for a map pack if you want it now or wait a few months and get it free.
Jeff @ May 6th 2008 1:58PM
As if Nintendo wasn't already the most richest game industry in the whole world! now they want us to pay more!? Screw this.
Sonic_13 @ May 6th 2008 2:20PM
Are you this upset with Sony and Microsoft as well? You should be considering that they have had DLC for much longer than Nintendo. Otherwise you just sound illogical.
Bones3D @ May 6th 2008 2:12PM
My guess, these songs will need to be streamed to the Wii just before each round to compensate for the limited storage space available. Anyone with an iPod knows it takes almost nothing to eat up a mere half-gigabyte of space.
Sonic_13 @ May 6th 2008 2:20PM
Songs and other DLC can easily be saved to SD cards. Developers just need to implement it. We already have several games that allow you to play MP3's from the SD card in game.
Elmoogle @ May 6th 2008 3:43PM
Just out of curiosity, how many of these games with mp3 support aren't named Excite Truck? I'm not being sardonic, I seriously don't know of any others.
Charles @ May 6th 2008 4:32PM
Well Elmoodgle, I only know of one other and that would be Endless Ocean... And Pop that is coming out for WiiWare
SoshiKitai @ May 6th 2008 4:35PM
Uhmm... hmmm... Endless Ocean?
That's all I know. :P
This whole "music to game" thing is reminding me of the Xbox. ...you know, when you could store music into the system, but BARELY ANY games ever used the option of allowing the system to replace the BGM with the system music. Several fights ensued. (Now the Xbox360 solved the bickering by just allowing it as an option at any time)
Except this time, we're just bickering if the amount of space would hold, or that we have the full capability to do such.
So, in the end... creators should just TRY to make more games with music that's stored in the SD card...
That way:
If it's crappy- people can say "we told you so"
If it's good- the other people can say "we told you so"
velocitystrike @ May 6th 2008 5:21PM
One of the customer preview buzz things says "This game is such a copy of hoyle casino 5 for the pc" -
- which made me laugh.
Mr Khan @ May 6th 2008 5:59PM
Hmm, i didn't think this was so close, i figured it was a ways down the pipeline, though i suppose with Wii Ware up and running, this service can be enabled too
I feel it can only be good. Nintendo's not going to give up the only good thing about their online system, being the price. This will be about DLC, and possibly about tiered online play
Shogan @ May 6th 2008 6:58PM
I thought Pay To Play was their new online service. Kinda like the free online in Brawl would be improved if you paid for a faster server or something.
Sticking something that says Pay to Play, whether it's DLC or better online, is going to scare some consumers off... particularly the audience that Nintendo is trying to reach. Those people aren't as game savy as many of the people here.
Habb @ May 6th 2008 7:00PM
"Pay-for-play" is an extremely misleading marketing title. You're not paying to "play"; you are paying for additional content that is not necessary to enjoy the core game. Better titles would have been "Additional Content Available" or "Buy New Content Online" or something like that. "Pay-for-Play" is competely awful... seriously just dreadful. Someone in Nintendo's marketing department needs to be fired for sheer incompetence. Idiots.