http://www.gamespot.com/news/6178305.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop;title;11

Some ones not happy about their hardware or attitude. 

Makes sense. It'd probably be a bad idea to set the Wii up for such easy comparisons with the 360/PS3. MMOs are a special problem - Nintendo couldn't allow much interaction if they wanted to continue only allowing communication between people who have exchanged friend codes.

Final Fantasy XI Producer Hiromichi Tanaka presented a keynote about future Square-Enix Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games at the Game Developers Conference in Austin, Texas today. Tanaka stated that the Wii is not a platform being considered for MMOs at this time.

"As for Nintendo Wii, it will be pretty difficult if you were to cross-platform for a couple reasons," Tanaka responded when asked about the possibility of a cross-platform MMO appearing on the console. "One is that Nintendo's currently not allowing different cross-platform titles, and as you know, the resolution differences make it harder for us to make cross-platform games. Currently we're not looking at Nintendo Wii as a platform."

Tanaka did state that an MMO on Wii is technically possible so long as the console receives a hard drive attachment. Nintendo has made no statements about producing such a device for Wii.

The only true MMO to appear on a Nintendo platform thus far is the GameCube title Homeland. The game was created by developer Chunsoft and saw a limited release in Japan back in March 2005. The other server-based online RPGs for GameCube allowed up to four players in the Phantasy Star Online franchise, costing approximately 10 USD per month for a Hunter's License.

The Wiire will have more on the issue of Wii MMOs in the future.

http://www.thewiire.com/news/941/1/SquareEnix_Wii_MMOs_Possible_Not_Currently_Allowed_by_Nintendo

From what I understand cross-platform means that a game on the PS3 could communicate with one on a different console. This would not be a problem if you were to create an MMO exclusively for the Wii. He said the problem is the lack of a hard drive, how can this be possible when the GameCube had an MMO, although it didn't have a hard drive.

I agree, this isn't too surprising. As long as Nintendo is sticking to their oft criticized system for online gaming they won't be seeing MMO games on their system; that is, unless they allow the game to keep its own friends list and you can party up with anybody. One of the major draws in MMOs is that you can easily add/remove friends and have clan/guild lists IMO, needing to exchange FCs inhibits that.

 Another thing is how would you enter text while playing the games on the Wii if you don't want to use voice chat? The 360 is getting that little snap on keyboard (though I wish they would support a full kb/mouse) and the PS3 lets you plug in a keyboard/mouse IIRC. There is no such thing on the Wii that I know of. It's not a major issue obviously, but still.

Or even the same game, as long as gamers are "segregated" into different servers. And the HD comment doesn't even make sense, since most stuff in an MMO is stored in the server anyway. That's unless he's talking about delivering expansions (for pay obviously)... and he probably is.

MMO need hard drive and the hard drive space is needed for updates, and also you'll need it to store expansions.

this is Square's cry for a harddrive addon to the Wii, and please we dont FFXI for wii. That game is too old and its dying.

FCs aren't forced upon developers by Nintendo. EA Sports doesn't use them. Nintendo uses them for their own games - that's all.

Speech may be restricted, no one tried so no one knows. And whether it's for technical (lack of mic support), or political (gamers are assholes) reasons we have no clue.

There is some degree of keyboard support now - if your gonna criticize stuff, keep with the news. Though quite honestly, I hope it never becomes necessary for any game. Keyboard on the couch is a PITA, and an on-screen keyboard is enough for the amount of typing I want in a console game. Consoles are not PCs, nor are they supposed to be PCs.

MMO need hard drive and the hard drive space is needed for updates, and also you'll need it to store expansions.

this is Square's cry for a harddrive addon to the Wii, and please we dont FFXI for wii. That game is too old and its dying.

I was not criticizing the Wii for not having a keyboard, I was raising the issue in discussion and like I said it was as far as I know and now I know that there is USB KB support; sometimes I get more information by just brining it up in a thread. Had I said something to the effect of "Nintendo is foolish for not supporting keyboards on the Wii" then I would be (unjustly) criticizing.

And if they allow game makers to have their own in-game friend lists and guild lists even better. They should also allow players the choice to have people from their FC list automatically added into the game's list if their friends own the game. My only experience with their online is through some DS games, so my knowledge of how it is run now is understandably limited if things are different.