Slate Declares the Wii Online"A Smashing Failure"

[geneticfoil]

Nintendo's approach to online is horrendous. I understand that they want to produce an online environment to keep their family image alive. But Friend Codes are idiotic. A random series of numbers that I have to write down for EVERY game so if someone I know plays too, I can give it to them. At least give me one friend code for every game. And why does some DS games get voice chat, and not the Wii? At least let me talk to my friends. Even some kiddie and family MMOs have the ability to allow chatting between friends.

Of course, this would be all fine and well if the online itself didn't suck. Yea with friends works better, and its cool playing with people on this board, but if I just want to jump into a random match for kicks, I have to wait for at least 5-7 minutes, get everyone in, then someone drops and I get kicked back to the beginning so I can start this whole messed up process again. After I do get that game running, it's so laggy I cant even play.

Nintendo needs to fix this. Just because there's "at least" online in Brawl, doesn't mean it doesn't suck.

 

[Anarkex]

I play with friends a lot, so it's fine. Every so often I get a massive lag spike, but it's mostly pretty smooth even when its with someone in Texas (New York here).

I've pretty much given up on With Anyone, tho. I wait around for ten minutes, whackin' that sandbag, and nobody shows up. It's just not worth it.

 

[6footninja]

yes wii online sucks. Everyone has either experienced it or witnessed all the people talking about it. Nothing new here.

 

[PXG]

Why NWC sucks for Brawl:

LLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG


I shouldn't have to set a static IP, set my Wii on OpenDNS and perform port forwarding to make the game semi-playable online, while on an ETHERNET connection, at COLLEGE. But wait, I can go on my 360 or PS3, log on XBL or PSN just fine with virtually no lag at all.

Nintendo! Fix your **** ASAP!

 

[Riolu]

I've played it a few times at a friends house, and there was barely any lag. SO it was really enjoyable. I, unfortunatley can't do this because of my P.O.S. router...but i'm starting to get a little off topic.
I find smashing online really enjoyable.

 

[Tofu Beast]

Firstly, I'd like to say that my friend hooked up his PS2 so he could play Ratchet Deadlocked online. You can't communicate during the battle, only before, and it takes so long to type, you might as well not bother. Secondly, if he's bashing the Wii games and stuff, and therefore insinuating that the PS3 and 360 are better, than it's pretty much a compliment to say that games on the Wii are similar to games on the 360 or the PS3. In a lot of games, non-talking communication would be a major setback, especially in games where you must constantly pay attention (e.g. Guitar Hero and SSBB). Not to mention, some people play online just for a better challenge. And I think friend codes are a good idea.

That's what I say to everyone who complains about the lack of voice communication. You would have these little annoying kids shouting in your ear the whole match. My biggest problem is that you can not invite people to a game or send a message. It could even be pretyped messages and I would be more satisfied. I do not understand why they would not put that in.

 

[SKnickers03]

not a fan of nintendos online gaming...love nintendo, always have...but not a fan of it at all

 

[NeuralScan]

Brawl online works just fine when you have an IM up with the person you're fighting. From what I've played, you have to be lucky with lag, some matches are fine, others suck horribly.

'With Anyone' is just a massive joke, though it is pretty good when you win with a character that people generally don't think is very good - especially when the other players use characters with huge advantages in FFA... I see far too many Ikes.

 

[cobaltblue]

That's what I say to everyone who complains about the lack of voice communication. You would have these little annoying kids shouting in your ear the whole match. My biggest problem is that you can not invite people to a game or send a message. It could even be pretyped messages and I would be more satisfied. I do not understand why they would not put that in.

Its called mute. Most online games since Half Life have this magic ability. Plus with nintendo's friend code system it could have been easily done so that voice is only avilable when playing with freind codes. This would also elimenate the whole kids shouting in your mic problem.

 

[Windlord]

I think it's fine for playign with friends, but it could be ALOT and I mean ALOT better. It kinda gices you the bare minimum.

 

[SmashBro99]

Anyone else realize that Slate.com is owned by Microsoft, and therefore would be unlikely to tout the competition's product?

I stopped here, because there's like 3 more pages when in fact, this is all that needed to be said.

I love no voice chat, think of Halo online, I don't want random ppl yelling in my ear and stuff.

It would be the ultimate mind game.

 

[WindD]

You would have to fix the match making system if you wanted random people shouting in your ear. Otherwise you're stuck with the makeshift matchmaking systems on websites like this one and wifiwarz. I look at gamefaqs' brawl online board and it looks like what brawl with anyone should, a list of rooms for people to join. And guess what, if you had choices in the options saying "Voice chat, Voice chat for friends, Voice chat for selected friends" would it really be hurting you?

The logic of "wow people are criticizing a game I like, they are bad" is stupid. Everyone on this message board likes smash. If we're complaining, it's because we want change. I do appreciate online but I don't appreciate how halfassed it is especially with Nintendo rolling in the dough and delaying the game twice. Let's not forget this is not Nintendo's first online game and how hard would it be for them to ask a third party developer fimiliar with the game to give them some advise. Nintendo's biggest problem is that instead of giving more options to allow for multiple ways of playing online, they constantly force everyone to play the same walled and trenched game that destroys the ability for an online community to form. Look at Sakurai's comment on ranked games...there are almost always unranked games in all online forms of play. I could go on much longer and offer analysis based on nintendo's other games, but I think only two people will read this anyway, so whatever.

 

[refugee]

I stopped here, because there's like 3 more pages when in fact, this is all that needed to be said.

I love no voice chat, think of Halo online, I don't want random ppl yelling in my ear and stuff.

It would be the ultimate mind game.

Can you people please stop using this half *** excuse of why having no voice chat is good. All you have to do is use the friggin mute button. Thats it. No more annoying 10 year olds yelling in your ears. But then you guys just walk away and use the same bloody logic in the next thread that is trying to tell you that nintendos online does suck balls. And by the way people, THIS IS NOT NINTENDOS FIRST BLOODY ATTEMPT AT ONLINE. Mario kart DS was and that was realeased almost 3 years ago. THREE. How the hell could they not improve their online in that amount of time? Then again how come every wifi game nintendo makes is consider their first attempt? Its not, they are just so mentally handicap when it comes to online that they cant improve. In fact, Brawls online has some features missing that were featured in previous nintendo online games. Like voice chat between friends (a feature Sakurai actually wanted but nintendo did not allow), and even just seeing someones name and having a name that is over 5 letters. Its pretty horrible.

 

[rove]

Yup smashing online isnt great at all.
But I expected it to happen anyway.
First of all, the lagg will always be there no matter what nintendo does, distance, and money play a big part in smashing online.
And you get a bad quality of smashing online for free...
FREE...
It doesnt mean you get your moneys worth because you didn't even pay for it.
Common sense...

 

[WindD]

Free logic doesn't work, I payed 250 for a wifi capable console and 50 for a wifi capable game. It's still worth my money because it's smash online, not because it's free. It's not acceptable because this is game had a huge budget and it was the irresponsibility of the developer that caused this.

(edited for stupid spelling mistakes)

 

[Pubik Vengeance]

Sure it sucks, but it seems Nintendo can't accept that Online isn't just a trend.

At least they are *sort of* makiing baby steps.

 

[refugee]

Sure it sucks, but it seems Nintendo can't accept that Online isn't just a trend.

At least they are *sort of* makiing baby steps.

Along with taking huge steps back and side steping. At this pace, nintendo is going to have worst online then it does now.

 

[ShadowLink84]

Free logic does work, I played 250 for a wifi capable console and 50 for a wifi capable game. It's worth my money because it's smash online, not because it's free. It's not acceptable because this is game had a huge budget and it was the irresponsibility of the developer that caused this.

The game is FORCED to delay due to lag. This would happen regardless even if you had the best **** servers in the world. Why?

Simply because people share the same IP and that bogs down the IP and all that information that is being sent and relayed is really quite a toll.
In fact there is also the issue that were we to have something like MP:H where the lag is invisible then that would be a large issue since no one would be where they were on screen making it extremely difficult to play.

One other issue is how fast the wii is, you compare it to the 360 and the PS3 and you realize those monsters are capable of producing games with multiple people with little lag. Then wii is only so strong so you cannot really be annoyed and blame Nintendo's servers. you would have to also blame the system's capabilities. If you dislike lag then don't buy a wii simple, force the creators to maker a better system by not buying the current system, or spam their complaints hotline.

I believe had Nintendo made the wii a more powerful system , (maybe not as powerful a the 360 and PS3 but at least somewhat acknowledgeable), the lag wouldn't be as great an issue.
That and because NIntendo made it free online service they believed they could easily skip on things. yet when you look at the PS3 online service which is free, there is very little lag.

If anyone is wondering, I run a different IP from the majority of people meaning that when I play online, even when I play with anybody, my games have little lag. And thats with my wii being on the other side of the house on a different floor while playing my friend who lives in California while I live in NY.

If we are to actually get Nintendo's attention I beleive we should actually force them to pay attention by sending emails, making petitions, filing complaints etc etc. IT is surprisingly effective.
*points to the ORIGINAL ps1*

 

[Ichida]

Are you all ****ing SERIOUS?

*facepalms*

It never fails to make me laugh how just because some people have terrible connections and don't know **** about port forwarding, they immediately dismiss Wi-Fi.

You wanna know how to make it "playable?" Get a better god**** connection. Shell out a few extra bucks each month and step it up. Encrypt your router. Turn off your **** torrents and other bandwidth-using programs. Disconnect any other computers whose usage isn't vital to somebody's survival during your matches. LEARN TO PORT FORWARD. For **** sake people, you'd think SOMEBODY would clue in on this. I've had absolutely zero issues with playing any Wi-Fi game online. The advent that is Wi-Fi - and not just Brawl - has made my gaming life spectacular. It's brought me together with friends I know all over the world.

In summation, it's not Nintendo's fault - it's yours.

EDIT: Upsizing so everybody will SEE this.

 

[Best101]

It definitely could have been better. However it IS online, and I've never really known the joy of playing with others... So I like it.

Anyone else realize that Slate.com is owned by Microsoft, and therefore would be unlikely to tout the competition's product?

When a man builds a house for a homeless man, he is not met with complaints on shoddy craftsmanship.

At least online play EXISTS. it's a start, don't complain.

Completely misses the point on why there is very little communication between players over the WiFi connection.

Imo, it's fine. It does it's job.

Have any of you played online games on other systems than Nintendo. There's no denying that Brawl's online is the worst online ever developed. Dude it's 2008 and they can't even fix the lag on a game like this. I've seen Socom 3 (was it?) play with 32 people online at the same time with no lag, and that game has 1,000 times more things on the screen (and off) than Brawl will ever have. There's no denying that Brawl's online suck, as I say again.

 

[richiek]

Before Brawl, I've been playing Call of Duty 4 on Xbox Live, and let me tell ya, lag is a pretty big issue there too (check out the xbox.com forums). There have been numerous times where both me and my opponent shoot each other at the same time, and I end up dying because of lag.

 

[Allanon.gc]

The game is FORCED to delay due to lag. This would happen regardless even if you had the best **** servers in the world. Why?

Simply because people share the same IP and that bogs down the IP and all that information that is being sent and relayed is really quite a toll.
In fact there is also the issue that were we to have something like MP:H where the lag is invisible then that would be a large issue since no one would be where they were on screen making it extremely difficult to play.

One other issue is how fast the wii is, you compare it to the 360 and the PS3 and you realize those monsters are capable of producing games with multiple people with little lag. Then wii is only so strong so you cannot really be annoyed and blame Nintendo's servers. you would have to also blame the system's capabilities. If you dislike lag then don't buy a wii simple, force the creators to maker a better system by not buying the current system, or spam their complaints hotline.

I believe had Nintendo made the wii a more powerful system , (maybe not as powerful a the 360 and PS3 but at least somewhat acknowledgeable), the lag wouldn't be as great an issue.
That and because NIntendo made it free online service they believed they could easily skip on things. yet when you look at the PS3 online service which is free, there is very little lag.

If anyone is wondering, I run a different IP from the majority of people meaning that when I play online, even when I play with anybody, my games have little lag. And thats with my wii being on the other side of the house on a different floor while playing my friend who lives in California while I live in NY.

If we are to actually get Nintendo's attention I beleive we should actually force them to pay attention by sending emails, making petitions, filing complaints etc etc. IT is surprisingly effective.
*points to the ORIGINAL ps1*

So... do you practice going around collection technical information to make yourself sound smart... or do you just not have all your marbles in the same place?

1) The hardware of the Wii does not mean it is not capable of online gaming like the PS3 and Xbox 360. Nintendo just needs to set up dedicated servers. There is no reason that the Wii is unable to host a 4 player max game such as Brawl without choke and huge amounts of lag. This is especially true if the server's are decent... so please don't rattle on about how server hardware configurations are somewhat related to the Wii's hardware.

2) IP and bandwith are two different things... data transfer can't take a toll on someone's IP... and I can't imagine that the total bandwith for SSBB games would be hefty at all.

Also Ichida... port forwarding as well as being smart and not an idiot about your net usage will not fix the majority of the problems so turn down your font size and calm the hell down.

 

[WindD]

The game is FORCED to delay due to lag. This would happen regardless even if you had the best **** servers in the world. Why?

Simply because people share the same IP and that bogs down the IP and all that information that is being sent and relayed is really quite a toll.
In fact there is also the issue that were we to have something like MP:H where the lag is invisible then that would be a large issue since no one would be where they were on screen making it extremely difficult to play.

You aren't even commenting on my post. I never made arguements about the lag, I'm commenting on the matching making options, the fallacies of the voice chat arguement, and the saying it doesn't matter of online is free. I'm fine with the lag because I know how to deal with it to an extent due to previous online gaming experience.

One other issue is how fast the wii is, you compare it to the 360 and the PS3 and you realize those monsters are capable of producing games with multiple people with little lag. Then wii is only so strong so you cannot really be annoyed and blame Nintendo's servers. you would have to also blame the system's capabilities. If you dislike lag then don't buy a wii simple, force the creators to maker a better system by not buying the current system, or spam their complaints hotline.

I believe had Nintendo made the wii a more powerful system , (maybe not as powerful a the 360 and PS3 but at least somewhat acknowledgeable), the lag wouldn't be as great an issue.
That and because NIntendo made it free online service they believed they could easily skip on things. yet when you look at the PS3 online service which is free, there is very little lag.

If anyone is wondering, I run a different IP from the majority of people meaning that when I play online, even when I play with anybody, my games have little lag. And thats with my wii being on the other side of the house on a different floor while playing my friend who lives in California while I live in NY.

Once again why is this addressed to me? Anyway you ISP doesn't have anything to do with your lag(if by IP you mean internet provided as it seems and not your IP address). Most ISP by their connection through two uber providers anyway in the US (at least that is what I learned the last time I checked).

If we are to actually get Nintendo's attention I beleive we should actually force them to pay attention by sending emails, making petitions, filing complaints etc etc. IT is surprisingly effective.
*points to the ORIGINAL ps1*

Yeah just ask Starmen.net

 

[-Hoggle-]

Wifi online for brawl is just one of the many disappointing features that this sequel brought to the franchise.

 

[MFZ95]

I played a match with one guy,only a quater second lag,then when some guy entered,IT WAS A BLAST FROM THE 90'S WHEN WINDOWS 98 WAS SLOWWW!

 

[kevc]

When a man builds a house for a homeless man, he is not met with complaints on shoddy craftsmanship.

At least online play EXISTS. it's a start, don't complain.

idiot, you are the typical person who will always take everythin as they cme

 

[Forget Me Not]

idiot, you are the typical person who will always take everythin as they cme

Beggars can't be choosers

 

[WindD]

Just because a person repeats a statement over and over again doesn't mean it's true. Beggars can be choosers all they want.

 

[Revven]

idiot, you are the typical person who will always take everythin as they cme

And I'm of the opinion that complaining doesn't do ****. If you think it does, go ask the numerous Mother fans who want a Mother 3 release in America. All this thread does is waste space for better discussion and this could've honestly gone into the complaints thread that which btw, is freakin' stickied.

 

[Impossibilities]

You should be thankful it at least has online mode. Mario Kart Wii is supposed to have a whole channel dedicated to online, Ranks and stuff like that. Hopefully it's worldwide and not just in friend codes.

 

[Superstarmario]

Are you all ****ing SERIOUS?

*facepalms*

It never fails to make me laugh how just because some people have terrible connections and don't know **** about port forwarding, they immediately dismiss Wi-Fi.

You wanna know how to make it "playable?" Get a better god**** connection. Shell out a few extra bucks each month and step it up. Encrypt your router. Turn off your **** torrents and other bandwidth-using programs. Disconnect any other computers whose usage isn't vital to somebody's survival during your matches. LEARN TO PORT FORWARD. For **** sake people, you'd think SOMEBODY would clue in on this. I've had absolutely zero issues with playing any Wi-Fi game online. The advent that is Wi-Fi - and not just Brawl - has made my gaming life spectacular. It's brought me together with friends I know all over the world.

In summation, it's not Nintendo's fault - it's yours.

EDIT: Upsizing so everybody will SEE this.

So EVERYONE has to get "a better go****" connection, because Nintendo's online sucks? For one, not all of us are rich kids. I payed for fuggin DSL that can run Ps2 online games that are 5+ years old (Hello Twisted Metal Black) than my Wii does Brawl today. I should just shell out because Nintendo sucks at what they do? I thought I payed 250$ (Wii) 40$ (USB adapter), and 50$ (Brawl) for a competent online service.

If Sony's Ps2 and it's FREE online can do it, they'res no fuggin reason why Nintendo couldn't. It's not my fault. It's theirs.

You should be thankful it at least has online mode.

Hahaha, no.

All this thread does is waste space for better discussion and this could've honestly gone into the complaints thread that which btw, is freakin' stickied.

To make way for what? Another casual vs Competitve thread? We totally need to keep disk space for those! I'm not using the stickied "Nazi sez: Negativity toward my brol herez" thread either. Shove it.

 

[Ichida]

So EVERYONE has to get "a better go****" connection, because Nintendo's online sucks? For one, not all of us are rich kids. I payed for fuggin DSL that can run Ps2 online games that are 5+ years old (Hello Twisted Metal Black) than my Wii does Brawl today. I should just shell out because Nintendo sucks at what they do? I thought I payed 250$ (Wii) 40$ (USB adapter), and 50$ (Brawl) for a competent online service.

Since you apparently didn't notice, paying for a better connection wasn't my only suggested solution.

 

[Superstarmario]

Since you apparently didn't notice, paying for a better connection wasn't my only suggested solution.

I thought not downloading or torrenting to prevent lag was common sense.

My bad.

 

[Ichida]

I thought not downloading or torrenting to prevent lag was common sense.

My bad.

This is SmashBoards - an anti-intelligence zone. Common sense gets drunk the minute it logs on.

 

[Superstarmario]

......Got me there.

 

[Ichida]

I would very much like to see if anyone actually takes my suggestions and solves their lag problems with it. *points at everyone else at SmashBoards fervently for a few seconds* Your mission is to learn what the **** port forwarding is and accomplish it! There's a thread explaining how! Quest for it, dammit! And minimalize your **** bandwidth usage!

 

[thewiredknight]

The artcle is missleading as he doesn't say Brawl is a bad game. In actuality the article is more on Nintendo's online setup and he uses Brawl as an example for his argument.

As a whole I agree with him. The online system "works" per se but it has so many fundamental flaws that using it can just become downright irritating. Even if he wanted it anonymous I should be able to just see a list of hosted games and pick one rather than wait for indeteriminate amount of times to find people which it might not even manage.

I also agree on the lack of the ability to talk even with friends and that hte shortcut taunts do not make up for a lack of communication.

And I think everybody agrees with him that Sakurai is a little too cheery about the family friendly online. I'm not asking for anything like Live (save for Gamertags which I love) since Live's community is downright horrible but Nintendo could have done better than this.

Although admitttedly al lot of this makes more sense ever since that article pointing out how much Japan dislikes online gaming.

 

[FerretStyle]

No voice chat? Understandable. It's a bandwidth hog amongst all of the other valid reasons to not have it. But no form of communication at all? Ugh.

I have friends on my list who I play with every now and then, and I have no idea who they are. When you accept a friend request in game and they get added to your list, that's it. You can't send them messages or anything. I have good connections with some of those people but there's no way to arrange games with them because I have no clue who they are, I just have to hope they are online

And there is something seriously wrong with the way their servers handle connections. I have a great connection that's very optimized (me and my roommate are geeks and he works for the cable company), I never lag With Friends or get disconnected, whether I make the room or not. But in "With Anyone" matches if someone else lags I tend to get booted half the time.

And the biggest complaint I have about their system is that it requires no user input once you enter a room. Once the timer is up it will pick a character for you if you haven't already, ditto with the stage, and then after the game is over it will bring you right back to the character select screen to start over again. That means you can leave the Wii on all day and do nothing at all and continue to get queued for games over and over. Brilliant!

That being said, it's still nice to be able to arrange matches with friends.

 

[Tofu Beast]

I remember when Nintendo was the leader in game console technology......

 

[ShadowLink84]

So... do you practice going around collection technical information to make yourself sound smart... or do you just not have all your marbles in the same place?

1) The hardware of the Wii does not mean it is not capable of online gaming like the PS3 and Xbox 360. Nintendo just needs to set up dedicated servers. There is no reason that the Wii is unable to host a 4 player max game such as Brawl without choke and huge amounts of lag. This is especially true if the server's are decent... so please don't rattle on about how server hardware configurations are somewhat related to the Wii's hardware.

Ugh you misunderstand. I am not saying that the wii necessarily MUST be as strong as the PS3 and 360 in order to prevent lag. if you read my post and actually passed English 10100 you would understand that.
I am saying that if the wii were more powerful it would make incidences of game breaking lag less noticable and would possibly decrease the occurance of gamebreaking lag.

2) IP and bandwith are two different things... data transfer can't take a toll on someone's IP... and I can't imagine that the total bandwith for SSBB games would be hefty at all.

Also Ichida... port forwarding as well as being smart and not an idiot about your net usage will not fix the majority of the problems so turn down your font size and calm the hell down.

The bandwidth for SSBB isn't at all heavy but you also have to remember the amount of people that are playing SSBB at the same time. I've noticed that during off periods between 9 to 3 p.m. I have suffer no lag whatsoever at all during my gameplay. So I am guessing (since you can notice it) that it just adds up. Considering that Brawl hasn't been out so very long I would iamgine that the appearance of online gamers in such a large amount all at the same time would cause a problem.


As for data transferring I believe it was posted in an earlier topic that people who share the same IP tend to lag more than people with different IP's.
Oh and yes I collect information and as such I cannot be claimed accountable if the information is misconstrued or incorrect. Which means pull the bug in your *** out or you just keep your witless remarks to yourself. Thankie sai.