Reggie on Wii U: Online experience will be robust, takes jab at Sony and Microsoft

While there have been no concrete details on the online infrastructure of Wii U, Nintendo has flat out stated they need to do better. While the launch of the eshop for 3DS was a nice start, if Nintendo is serious about offering a service comperable to Microsoft’s Xbox Live or Sony’s Playstation Network, they have a long way to go.

In an interview with Forbes, Reggie Fils-Aime discusses how Nintendo plans to stay relevant in the online arena. “What we’re doing is creating a much more flexible system that will allow the best approaches by independent publishers to come to bear,” Reggie tells Forbes when asked about Wii U. “So instead of a situation where a publisher has their own network and wants that to be the predominant platform, and having arguments with platform holders, we’re going to welcome that,” adds Reggie.

It’s commendable that Nintendo is willing to work with publishers on creating the best online experience for Wii U, but I feel that it is up to Nintendo to create some unified online system for publishers to take advantage of. Case in point is Xbox Live. Say what you will about Microsoft’s for-pay online service, but when playing a game over Xbox Live you know you can count on an always on friends list, leaderboards, private and party chat, and millions of players worldwide ready for matchmaking. Nintendo could do well by making all of these features standard for Wii U, finally giving Nintendo fans the full featured online experience they have been waiting for.

In true Reggie form, the president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America isn’t afraid of throwing a few punches at the expense of his competitors. “With the Wii, again, at the time our competitors were all about high resolution graphics,” says Reggie. “We said we think that a motion controlled experience could be more fun. Eighty six million units later around the world, I think people would say we got that one right as well.”

Let’s hope Nintendo doesn’t rest on their laurels when the time comes for Wii U. It’s no secret that many Nintendo fans have been less than happy with the Big N as of late.

Eugene lives in New Mexico and has been a life long gamer since getting his hands on an NES. Always partial to Nintendo, Eugene has made it a point to keep informed on all things Mario.