Should Nintendo play the "free online" card?

[Scoobes]

NightDragon83 said:

Scoobes said:

I see it as uneccessary considering they would have gotten a great number of subscribers for PS+ by offering the great discounts (as on PS3), free games and Gaikai. That's a great value package, but unless every game is going to have dedicated servers, it leaves a sour taste. At least apps and free 2 play titles will be accessible to non-subscribers, but I still see it as wholly uneccessary.

Also, if Steam can be both profitable and free, what exactly have Valve done and why are both MS and Sony not managing to do it?

Well don't forget, Valve isn't spending billions to develop, manufacture and support a proprietary game console like Sony and M$ are both doing (of course that may change if "Steam Box" ever becomes a reality), nor do they have to spend tons of money running and supporting a closed online platform like XBL or PSN.

All Steam really is is just an online hub for digital distribution of software that also functions as Valve's centralized way to update and support all of their games.

What makes you think Valve don't have to spend all that money on a relatively closed online system? It's nearly as closed as you can get on PC, has dedicated servers for numerous games, cloud support for storage and pretty much all the features that the console online systems currently have via Steamworks (matchmaking, achievements, DLC, community features, anti-cheat, built in voice chat, cross-platform play etc.). They even host all the mod work that goes on in Steam workshop. There are just as many features that require the network infrastructure if not more, yet it's still free.