I'm glad it has sparked a bit of discussion. I just want an easier, hassle free way to play online with people. Would it be nice to have some of the features PSN/XBL has? Of course. The only Wii game I EVER played online was Brawl and that was a disaster. Lag was horrendous, and it just wasn't as fun as playing locally. I'd have LOVED to been able to play Brawl more, but it just drove me nuts.

Another thing I love are achievements/trophies. Nintendo needs to do things like that as well, gives game that extra replayability as well as bragging rights with friends. It's like filling the National Dex in Pokemon D/P/Plat. But EVERYONE can see you did it. *clap* I'm a dreamer I guess, but if Nintendo really wants my continued business, it's what I want. I consider myself a casual/core gamer. Not hardcore, but core enough that if I don't get the things I want, I simply will invest where I can get it. :(

I agree with your points, but WiiWare was something that they had been planned from the beginning. Comments about it were made back around E3 2006. Now granted, this is after Live Arcade premiered, but to call it catch-up is a bit unfair.

Fully agree. Wii would be perfect for me if it didn't have so many restrictions for online play.

FC's are stupid and should only be utilized via parental controls. That's the whole point of parental controls so the parent and control the content, not the company.

Open it up like Live/PSN and let parents lock it down if necessary.

However, the other problem is that Nintendo themselves don't invest wholeheartedly in their stuff. So many of their IPs come without online support and/or when they do its without WiiSpeak. Its really stupid.

Any game with anytype of mutliplayer should have online w/ WiiSpeak. Fully locked/unlocked via parental controls.

They need it, otherwise they could be hurting big time next gen.

Honestly, the simplest and easiest way I can see them doing it is by DEFAULT setting all those restrictions on games, and forcing the parent/user to change from the default to whatever settings are available.  This way a young child who needs their parents help to setup the Wii, will find it difficult to change the settings, and for the older gamer who WANTS those features they'll easily be able to change it.

I also agree.  They don't necessarily HAVE to add some form of multiplayer to their own IPs, but some of them would be awesome, especially with a unified online service.  Hoping anyways. :D

Absolutely agree. I wouldn't even mind if it was an XBL clone that you had to pay for. My biggest complaint about the Wii has always been the online service which is simply nonexistent. The reason it's not as prevalent in Wii games or used by developers (including Nintendo) is because the setup is not user friendly (which is funny because Wii is about being user friendly). I don't want it to be like PSN... I want it to be like XBL because this is the best. Best setup out there right now and I would love to be able to have that available on a Nintendo console. Would definitely improve online experiences for the games and of course bring more online games to the system.

I think we are seeing Nintendo already move in this direction though with Wii Speak, movie watching channel, Mario Kart's online, etc. Hopefully by the next generation they'll have something that really moves them into that direction. Maybe it'll actually get me to be a huge online gamer on a system off of the 360 eh.

Nintendo needs a more fleshed out online.

Using that spinning globe as an interface would be awesome.

You all really think just declaring they need online will somehow mean they actually do? Try getting evidence it's actually hurting them. And I mean evidence that you aren't interpreting that way.

Already provided evidence.  You know, the part about how I've BARELY touched the Wii in favour of the 360 due to the lack of online experience the Wii currently offers?  I can guarantee anyone else who's in favour of a stronger online presence from Nintendo is in the same boat, or something similar at least. 

Personal anectodes are not eveidence. I don't even play online, but I'm not going to think that proves Nintendo doesn't need to, because that only proves I don't need it.