Ah, but those hardcore gamers that buy 20 360 games are also the sort that generally grab up 2 or 3 different systems a generation and the wii is the most logical second system for most gamers (old argument.)  Why fight for the 360's thoroughly established turf when you'll be the #2 choice for most of their audience whether you do so or not?

And yeah, x-band and its ilk sucked and were a totally different ballgame.  Just saying that PC online gaming has been thriving and lucrative for a very long time while on consoles it hasn't so far.  It should continue to grow at a steady pace, but nintendo clearly isn't missing out on a huge marketshare yet.

That said of course, Smash Brothers online would totally own (if done well.)

PC gamers had this exact same argument years ago when online games were beginning to become popular on the PC. Some gamers were upset because single player games were becoming more and more rare. It's obvious what the outcome has been on PC, the rare single player game but the vast majority either online only or have an online component.

I realize some people will come back and say PCs are different but when it comes to online I can't imagine there being any real difference. It's just with consoles we're now at that point with online that PCs were at then.

About the Metroid, if you want online multiplayer to Metroid, you really have missed what Metroid is all about.

Problem with online multiplayer games is, that usually games for omp are designed for it, and single player sucks. Gears of War is a good example, or Starcraft. WoW in the other hand doesn't have single player and it doesn't need one. Trend seems to be that you have a couple of hours solo campaign to train you for the online multiplayer.

People who play WoW, they play it because they want to play online. And people who buy Twilight Princess, doesn't feel need to play it online. There was 2 games, that have been designed for different approaches considering online, and both of them are good as is.

In the future, online is unevidable, but games run into problems, when online is required to play or to get the most fun out of it. There are only few games, that have good online, and that why the few games are so popular online. After more competition, people in numbers, play less one online game and games popularity drops, since people are not interested in playing a game, for which you have to wait possibly hours to get someone to play with, or just that only couple of people are playing the game.

If game has a good campaign, it doesn't need online, or just few online features is enough, but if the game is bad, it must have online to save some.

I liked the single player campaigns in both Gears of War and Starcraft.

@Legend: Yeah, PC gamers, who missed good single player games bought a console... But where to turn after you can't get those even to a console.

Ok. How many consoles are online? Every console not online, doesn't require ANY online games.

I'm going to say this again, I DONT THINK ONLINE IS A BAD THING! For some reason it's coming across to some of you that I don't like online I do like most online games I have played. I just think it's not that important, if a game has online then great that good upgrade, but if it doesn't that doesn't make it a bad game. Online will continue to grow I agree! But it's not going to kill a game if does not have online (unless it's Halo lol).

I remember seeing somewhere that soon after the PS3 launched in Europe, over 50% or something like that has signed up for PSN, so I would say it's a fair amount. Also, with consoles like the PS3, if you have a wireless router (which are becomeing more and more popular) you don't need to even set up a connection becuase you can do it wirelessly, and so is less of a hassle than it was. I mean only 1/4 of our PCs is connected to the winternet by cable.

Personally, my view is that if a game has multiplayer already, then it also should have online. I mean people have said it's better to play with your friend, but you can do that anyway, also, I only see some of my relatives once a year, think how useful it would be if the game was online, and therefore I could play with people I don't get to see very often. I know nothing is better than playing in the same rooms as your friends, but playig online, is better than not playing in the same room. Like someone said previously, many games are made with engines that already have network progamming done, so it shouldn't hurt the developers at all.

Btw I have never played metroid, so I will give you guys the benefit of the doubt, and say it doesn't need online.

So many people signed up for the PSN in europe 'cos Sony give you a free copy of casino royale on blu-ray for it!

Gears of War had one of the most phenominal single player games in the history of gaming (and I've played every FPS/TPS on the 360 up till the last month).

What made it one of the best SP's? Online and Offline Co-Op. Can't find a friend? Plenty of people and incentives to beat it on co-op either way (aside from such a great experience).

IMO, you can complain about SP's being gimped due to MP, but if anything, MP co-op campaigns against AI is just about the funnest experience out there, provided you got a good group of buddies to play with.