Online games built with multiplayer is fairly important nowadays but if the game isn't multiplayer, there's no reason to think it needs online.

A good example of this is Gears of War and Metroid Prime 3. I'm (assuming) both are great games and both are great for different reasons. Gears of War has a fantastic online experience and without it the game would not have been a success. It would have shown what UE3 can do, but the single player isn't enough to keep players satisfied. With MP3, it doesn't need online multiplayer to make it a good game because it's not a game that was built with that in mind.

As for putting XBox, PS2, and GC games on that list, what's the point? Why don't you go ahead and add the NES, SNES, Genesis, and every other console on there. OMG! THESE SYSTEMS HAD NO ONLINE!! IT'S NOT NEEDED!!!! I know you're trying to say that games still sold well before online took hold, but adding that in is as silly as saying everyone game before HD graphics sucked because they weren't pretty.

As for Super Smash Bros Brawl, I think it needs online multiplayer. It could do fine without it, but it would be stupid not to have it. For multiplayer games, people do want to play online, that's simply how things are today. SSBB is a multiplayer game and people are going to want to play it online because the Wii is an online system (or so we're told).

Online multiplayer matters some, but pretty much only for traditional PC genres (FPS, MMORPG and RTS) that are annoying or impossible to play multiplayer without online.  Online gaming can be fun with other genres (Sports, fighting) but aren't necessary and may not be worthwhile when considering the issues (lag, annoying online communities, inconsistent matchmaking, etc.)  Why not just play with friends live when you can?

 And Consoles have tried to incorporate online gaming since at least the Genesis/SNES (remember x-band?)  The closest thing to success has been with the x-box and x-box 360 which have made online gaming the cornerstone of their brand.  The x-box was so successful it sold 25 million consoles and lost billions of dollars.  The 360 is so successful its stalled at 10 million sold and has yet to turn a profit.  There's little evidence that online gaming is the future of console gaming.  On PCs, online gaming has been HUGE for over a decade (starcraft, counterstrike, etc) but are STILL fairly niche on consoles (outside of halo and other FPS on x-box, are there any other big online console games?)

That's not to say that online gaming won't have its place, just that its not as important as some people seam to think it is.

The 1st Halo game wasn't playable on Xbox Live.

True, but one of the two things that made Halo a success was that more than 4 people could play it. It was kind of a predecessor to online play.

Microsoft ate losses for years because they knew they would. They're in this for the long run, as is Sony. Online gaming is the future; not every game needs it but Nintendo needs to offer it at some point.

Talking about x-band and that type of bullshit is a waste of time. What we're talking about is broadband gaming and a network of gamers that love a system. You're talking about a network that was offered before broadband even hit 5% of the population. In case you hadn't noticed, things are different now.

My point is that if Nintendo doesn't offer online gaming choices, they'll distance themselves from the hardcore gamers. That may not hurt them in the short run, but it will definitely hurt them in the long run. And those hardcore gamers are the ones that buy 20 games per console and play up hype for anything that's in the horizon.

/disagree On games like sports or racing, online is just huge, for two reasons 1- Sports/driving IA sucks. We are talking about very repetitive concepts that are only interesting beacuse of the huge quantity of variation which can exist in their real conterpart. Each team/player has a specific behavior, tactic, teamspirit, way to react under pressure, to surprise or surpass itself. AI fail to reflect that. You need a human opponent. 2- Theses games are competitive, and a counter part of real competition. It's not you against the univers, where you can be happy because you diden't die, and save the day/the lady. It's about balanced confrontation and the pleasure to be above your(s) opponent(s). I'm not saying I cannot have pleasure in solo, but it's just nowhere near what you feel when you know you're better than someone else, an actual human, just like sports IRL.

I don't think online play is absolutely crucially critical to have. Consoles have traditionally been more about getting many people around the screen, while PC gaming has revolved more around playing with people around the world.

Traditionally that is. Microsoft got a pretty nice online service last gen by focusing a huge chunk of their resources on it, while this gen it seems the technology is good enough to do it without that much of a hassle. I'm sure the great example of how it can be done from last gen helps a bunch too. =P

I've never had online play on my consoles, so I wouldn't miss it if the service for the Wii won't end up as good as it could be. That being said, I sure as heck enjoyed playing Starcraft and BF:1942 online with my friends.

Crappy online won't make me regret my purchase, but I would damn sure greatly appreciate it if I got to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl with all you guys.

Oops, nice catch.  Put a 2 (or the word series) on there. 

Forgot about racing.  Anything where a split-screen would otherwise be needed is helped by online.  Otherwise I think most people prefer playing with their friends (duh) and don't need to play so much that they'll actively need to seek opponents when not with their friends.  I guess this gets back to appealing to casual vs. hardcore.

Since neither one of you seem to have seen my other post I will re-post it.........

I have played many online games: City of Heroes/Villian (lvl 40 Mastermind/Villian), World of Warcraft (lvl 35 Mage), Star Wars Galaxy (lvl 28 Jedi), Halo 2 (Xbox), Call of Duty 2-3 (Xbox 360), Gears of War (Xbox 360), and it's another war game that was 360 can't think of the name though. I'm not saying that online is a bad thing or that it's a step in the wrong direction, but I am saying that I don't think it's required. I don't think that a home console without ANY online would lose that many sales. And people who WoW play it online because that's the only way to play it, what I mean by that is you can't compare games that have no single player campaign to games that are built for online. Plus, PC is different from home consoles. I'm just comparing home consoles.

Edit: Halo 2 made me hate online gaming on the Xbox, but I did enjoy playing Call of Duty 3 online.