They could set up a network simmilar to tunneling. Thats why they have gamespy hooking up with them. They set up a special network that connects consoles together and treats it like a LAN except over the internet connection. So in theory any game that could do LAN could also be played online.
How viable could that be?

I've actually heard some pretty strong rumors that Nintendo contacted Gamespy or whoever did the tunneling thing for Xbox and asked for simular software. And that they were definatly designing something like that, except without the whole tunneling thing. From what I understand it would work a lot like most PC games work, in that you would have a gamecube being the server, and you would connect to other (read: your friends) gamecubes by typing in the IP or maybe by searching a central database. This would mean that Nintendo could provide Online play to those who want (and it would be really easy to make it compatable with games designed for LAN) without having to incur massive bandwidth and thus be forced to charge for it.

How you guys hear this stuff, I'll never know, but that's pretty close to what we've heard. Nintendo is working with GameSpy on this tunneling stuff and trying to make it work without using a PC. We'll keep you up to date.

Actually, you guys are talking about two completely different applications for GameSpy's networking tools. That's where this confusion is coming from.

GameSpy TUNNEL is for games that have LAN play, but not Internet. Tunnel uses your PC to act like a console, passing the network packets through the internet.

The tools GameSpy is making for Nintendo's games have NOTHING to do with "tunnelling". It's going to be full-on internet play, no PC needed. Saying that the "tunnel" will be included on the disc is not at all accurate, since no tunnelling would be necessary at all.

Oh sure, now you know something about this online ability, Rick. I'm glad to see you say something about it, though. Even after GCA's interview with Gamespy, I remained a little skeptical about the specifics of the online abilities of Nintendo's games that feature LAN capabilities.

From what Gamespy's representative said, it definitely sounds like these games will have online capabilities if you just hook the internet up to it and use that as your network connection by selecting LAN from inside of the game.

That's greatif that's exactly what it is.

hmm.... While it sounds good I gotta ask the question:

How Much?

Or will it cost anything? And what will Nintendo do with its Online capabilites? The announcements of the future of XboX live make it sound like a media player (ability to get music, movies, contact players when they're offline). PS2 has seemed to make a compromise by making any games published by Sony (with some exceptions) and offering to pay a lump sum per year to play their titles online. (like 20 dollars a year or so).

Now here's the theory/fantasy: Nintendo and Gamespy give us seamless online play for no or little charge (comparable to XboX live minus bells and whistles, just gaming) and make both Microsoft and Sony look really stupid b/c they're asking for cash for "upkeep."

2nd question: How will they do it? Sounds kind of stupid since there PS2 has shown the way of online gaming w/o a hard drive (SOCOM for example, Midnight Club 2) yet something like FFXI will need one. Lastly, will this enthrall companies who were skeptical to put online play (at least for gamecube) a second look because Nintendo has ironed out the kinks of online play. Or will Nintendo and Gamespy track companies down and say "You want online play? Look at this... (shows demo of its capabilites.)

Its interesting how a few sentences can get the old noodle going.

Basically it's saying that it's really lame to make a customer buy a game and then continue charging them to play the game. They're also sort of saying that it's sort of stupid for them, at this point, to set up this huge network that'll cost them a lot of money and then force the users to foot the bill when you're only getting half the game if you don't foot the bill.

It sounds like they're doing sony's approach, without centralized servers, and will let 3rd parties do what they want. But they're going a step up by offering online play for all lan-capable games without any extra fees.

At least, that's how I read it.

Well Rick, thats fairly much exactly what i heard, it is not tunneling, as with the xbox and games like Halo as it re4quires no more equipment. All the code will be built directly into the game, so it's, from what I've heard, fairly much a matter of connection for GCN, with modem/BB adapter, and it's right to go. I may be wrong, my it was ment to be that easy, only time will tell weather it is or now.

Mario KartD..........Boo - Freakin - Ya.

It seems that Nintendo will unveil an online plan during the GCN's life after all.

The Doc

You know the earliest they will announce anything on this is at there investor meeting (if it didn't already occur.) The latest I'm guesing is next E3, but that isn't really soon like it sounds for the excerts. So if I was a betting man (i'm not) I would put my money on the investor meeting if it didn't already happen.

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Originally posted by: PGC NewsBot
And it's not just the usual dismissal, either.

In a Los Angeles Times article supplied by Reuters, Nintendo Co. Ltd. president Satoru Iwata has offered a bit of insight into Nintendo's online plans.

The article focuses on whether consumers are willing to pay for online features, and how much they are willing to pay. Of course, this has been a major issue for Nintendo all along, as their main concern is how consumers will pay for and how Nintendo can profit from online games.

"I don't think its reasonable to make someone pay for a game and then make them prepare a network connection and charge a monthly fee," Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, told Reuters recently.

Meanwhile, Nintendo's Iwata said his company was working on a service that would not require users to cough up regular fees for games.

"In the near future we are hoping to announce something that addresses this issue," he told Reuters.

Be sure to click the link above to read the full article.

Thanks for Bryan McGovern for the tip!

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You know, typing in your friends IP is great, and an IP search engine sounds great...But I still want my online enabled software to contain an intuitive multiplayer screen which would allow for quick matches (the game matches you up with people with similar win/losses), quick team matches, etc.

A simple IP input screen isn't going to be enough...of course the software would be handling the multiplayer screens...I just hope they don't screw up.

Or maybe I'm asking too much. Xbox Live has all you need, but then again you gotta pay 50 bucks...
Oh well, there is always PC gaming, which is free (cept for some MMORPG's) AND has more features than any of this online console crap.

...but you also have to have $1500 worth of hardware to play the newest online PC games. That's the rub.

silks

The more bells and wistles that Nitendo puts into the service the more it going to end up costing them and us.

Someone isn't reading. It's not going to cost US a single penny. Nintendo is absorbing the costs. That's what they're trying to say, it's not fair to ask you to KEEP paying for something you already own.

Precisely.. it sounds like Nintendo is trying to find a way to be able to make a profit without having to charge more... in other words, either building a new contraption, or finding ways to make servers more cost-efficient. Either way, they won't charge us after we buy the game, which is good. >)

Nintendo is doing the right thing. There is no way in hell that I am going to pay to play my console. Online gaming is still restricted to my PC personally, but I am starting to become curious about Nintendo's online strategy, as they have some games that would work SO WELL online, such as Pokemon, Star Fox, or Mario Party.

I am glad Nintendo see it that way. I also don't see why when we paid full price for a game, we should pay a monthly fee.

I think that this is a great idea. Nintendo would need something like this to get online market penetration. One thing nags me though, Nintendo have always wanted to wait until online gaming was profitable before they entered the foray. This day has definitely not reached yet, so I wonder how these two prospects go hand in hand. I think, in exchange for free online gaming, they could probably charge it on the cost of the game up front. Say if a regular game costs $39.99, then an online one would cost $49.99. I certainly would not mind and in my personal opinion would be THE best solution..c'mon, you have paid more than 10 bucks on way less trivial things and it does not even have to be that much..i just came up with a theoretical figure. What do you guys think?
Also i would like some kind of front end like xbox live, as the though of typing in Ip addresses does not really appeal to me. they could also consider offering with the next generation console a music purchasing service like apple's service or the new napster.....not their own, but perhaps a deal with one of those companies to offer content, I see it as a plus on their feature list for GCN2.... Thats just the way i see it. strictly online gaming for 'free', with extra features for users who want it (through selling a low cost browser disc of some sort) but i digress...... I knew nintendo had to be up to something of this sort, they have been monkeying around with online scince x-band on the SNES & randnet on the N64... when they enter this arena they WILL bring it into the mainstream just like they did for console gaming w/ the NES.

After having played online RPG's and FPS, I think that online games are over-hyped. The advantage of online gaming is the ability to play with other people, but this is also a disadvantage. For example: When playing Counter Strike, if someone is winning, they are almost always accused of being a cheater, but seldom does anybody ever say 'good game', or 'nice to play with you' to the winner when they are about to leave. I fail to see the point of online games when split screen or even LAN games (where you are playing with people you know) are almost always just as or more fun than their online counterparts. There are also other disadvantages, MMORPG's almost always rely on doing a routine over and over again to get a good character, FPS are plauged by lag and cheaters. Hopefully Nintendo will be able to break the cycles of MMORPG's and FPS, but I fear the atmosphere that Nintendo games traditionly ooze will be drowned out by rudeness and hacker language. I fail to see that advantages of online games when you could play against friends with split screen or LAN without tunelling.

s1fz0r ur t3h sux 1f j00 th1n|< th4t!

they wish they were hackers something tells me with consoles there will be less chance of idiots ruining it for people, less chance, not none, cause i doubt people will goto the extent of buying a console/game just for that fact, with pcs pirated games are so easy to get, and everyone has internet access pretty much these days, so BAMM! instant idiots, but with online consoles, nintendo speficicly (their fans seem to be more relaxed/happier (just my perception, i could be wrong)) less of this will go on i belive

anyone with xbawx live care to comment?

When playing CS LAN I get accused of cheating sometimes. Stuff like headshoting the entire other team (3people) on one round or wiping half a team before they get thier guns on pool day on one clip of M4 (8 person team). But seriously, on-line FPS really sucks. Especially CS. Some people do have genuine skill, but all the hackers are making hard to tell the difference, so when somebody does too good, they get blanketed by the "You are cheating" statement. I wonder how this would work out for importers. Maybe there wouldn't be anything different.

"You're cheating." The war cry of the llama. Of course, anyone better than you MUST be cheating. Meh.

Unfortunatly just tacking on $10.00 will not pay for constant use of the network. If they did tack some more money on a game it would be more in the way of $50-to-$70 extra.

I think Nintendo's new and exciting product is this online plan Iwata is talking about. I remember Iwata talking about Nintendo testing Mario Kart online. Now why would they do that if they had no intention of going online? Also, since Nintendo is adding LAN to so many games, it appears that they are making those games online. Everything is adding up.

I actually do hope tunnelling software is made for Mario Kart. Its multiplayer will be MUCH better with people who are playing in the same room, but it's not easy to round up a bunch of people who want to play it. Of course some multiplayer aspects wouldn't really be feasible online (coop, like what Rick was talking about), but standard battle mode would be pretty cool. And there wouldn't be any there wouldn't be any people swearing or yelling at you, unless they add the option to talk in-game.

Imagine if Nintendo came up with software so you could play older games like SSBM online. Super Monkey Ball, Mario Party, and F-Zero are perfect for online too.

You mean some kind of "shared machine"? The same thing emulators can do these days?

wouldn't it be smarter for nintendo to start online games, using a regular connection and let other people host servers? like how ISP's own their own CS/TFC/q3 etc servers, have some form of setup like that, make the hosting software freeware so people can DL it and set up their own servers, that makes sence to me..

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Originally posted by: KDR_11k
You mean some kind of "shared machine"? The same thing emulators can do these days?

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Originally posted by: PIAC
wouldn't it be smarter for nintendo to start online games, using a regular connection and let other people host servers? like how ISP's own their own CS/TFC/q3 etc servers, have some form of setup like that, make the hosting software freeware so people can DL it and set up their own servers, that makes sence to me..

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I don't get why everyone has ignored this news. Nintendo is developing internet play that will be awesome and easy for everyone. They are taking time to perfect it. In a interview on 1 Up, Harrison even said that online has to be a component in the N5. Which means we will get online games, and they won't be the ordinary run of the mill games or PC ports.