
When people talk about the Wii’s online being poor, they mainly discuss two things, lag and friend codes. Lag is frowned upon all platforms. Who would really praise lag? It is a valid argument to complain about lag. However, the uses of codes are frowned upon. There are major advantages of using friend codes over using names. In real life, we do it all the time with things such as phone numbers, social security numbers (for non-USA residents, it is used from everything from applying to universities to applying for jobs), credit cards and so much more. The real problem is how Nintendo utilizes friend codes.
There are two types of codes that are used for online features, A Wii console code and a friend code. The Wii console code is used for sending data such as messages, pictures and a few other things. Friend codes are used specifically for games so people play together online. In some cases, both codes are needed to exchange game data such as replays, pictures and stages and ect. All codes need to be exchanged mutually and both must be registered before both people can interact with each other.
One nice advantage is identity. Players are being indexed by numbers. This now allows more freedom for choosing names. Some people may want to be referred by their real names, such as Alex, Vinny, Jeff, Brad or Ryan. My own name is Ryan Sullivan. That is a very common Irish name, especially the name Ryan. I have met about 10 people named Ryan Sullivan in my life time. As for the number of people named Ryan, forget about it. In the world of computers, identities must be unique for index purposes. When names are used, it becomes harder to organize the index.
Numbers are used universally. Just about everywhere in the world, people use the Arabic standard for numbers. In Japan, they would use their own characters (for names). In Europe and in the American continents, we use alphabetical characters (some languages use accent marks which I have no clue on how to type on a computer). The Middle East uses Arabic characters. However, regardless of where someone is from, people are familiar with using numbers. Some of the names used in online gaming can be get funky. Let’s take a name such as LeetLoserKid. Written like that it is a presentable name but when someone takes the chance to abuse the name iterator, it gets annoying as hell. Good twists on the name LeetLoserKid can be 1EEtl0serkid, l33710serkid or a bunch of other twists. Crap like that is piss ass annoying. Is that capital O or a 0 (a zero)? Is that an l (L) or an I (i). Try reading the following sentence. 1 |3337 ur /-\ 55 l|\| 4()/\/\5. Pretty damn ugly, is it not? When indexed by numbers only, the identification only includes 10 units: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0. One could easily use 96 characters from their keyboard to make a name. Numbers do simplify a lot of the broken issues with letters.
The problem is that there are too many friend codes. There should be only one universal friend code for all one’s need. People aren’t likely to memorize various random generated numbers and keep sending them out. To play two games with the same person online requires exchanging two codes for two different games. People should only need to be indexed by one sting of numbers. Some features aren’t even accessible without exchanging the Wii console code. Why can’t Nintendo just allow us to use our Wii console codes?
The other problem is the lack of options to custom tailor a user’s experience. The initial design is for the purpose of privacy. Some people aren’t worried about such things and people can be frustrated over how much work. Considering how much faster things have come to be, why would one want to slow things down on the customer’s part. Some people would rather have a pop-up that says “A person has registered you and blah blah, would you like to accept communications and online gaming with this person?” Why can’t they allow it so the information is streamlined out to the user? Some people don’t even know where to find their codes because the interfaces aren’t even standardized.
As net result, Nintendo could make their online gaming much better if they opened a few things to people. While the use of codes does have its advantages, it is poorly executed. What your thoughts on how friend code system? Do you think the uses of numbers are completely unacceptable? DO you think there needs to be an improvement on the interface?
There have been discussions of bringing Street Fighter IV to the Wii. A better alternative would be to make Power Stone 3 onto the Wii. The controls for Street Fighter IV would be terrible on the Wii. The controls for Power Stone 3 would not only work on the Wii but be superior to an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 controller layout. Online would be better with Power Stone 3 as opposed to Street Fighter IV.
Street Fighter IV controls would be awkward on the Wii. The game uses 10 buttons: Up, Down, Left, Right, Light Punch (LP), Medium Punch (MP), Heavy Punch (HP), Light Kick (LK), Medium Kick (MK), and Heavy Kick (HK). Arguably there are 14 buttons if you include diagonals. The best options would be a classic controller, A Gamecube controller and an Arcade Stick. A Wii Remote and Nunchuck combo can work, however the buttons are not laid out correctly. One design would be able to utilize the D-pad for attacks and that would be horrible (try playing Guilty Gear XX Accent Core for the Wii). The best set-up would probably come be the analog stick for a D-input, waggle the nunchuck for kicks, waggle the Wii Remote for punches and the buttons A, B, C and Z will be used as modifiers. Another modification could be made such as A to LP, B to LK, C to MP, Z to MK, A+C to HP and B+Z to make a HK. Modifiers would just suck for Street Fighter IV. The game was designed so one could have all the buttons laid out at their fingertips and done so comfortably. It just wouldn't correctly. Unless they package the game with a fighting pad, the game would be poorly received.
Power Stone 3 would have perfect controls for the Wii. A to punch, B to kick, C to jump, Z to grab, the analog stick to move around, the D pad to use final attacks while in transformation. In addition, it would work with the Classic Controller and the Gamecube controller, giving the player choices to play in a fashion similar to the Dreamcast. The mechanics to the game are simple enough to include motion controls and still be fun in the same fashion.
Online gaming would be terrible for Street Fighter 4 as oppose to Power Stone 3. Street Fighter IV is probably going to be a fast paced game. With the frame rate and detailed backgrounds, the game is probably going to lag a lot on the Wii. Power Stone 3 doesn’t need to be fast paced to be fun. The design and layout is a major part of what makes Power Stone fun. The ability to throw, kick, punch items, use weapons, jump around, and run around the arena to hunt for the power stones. Regardless of the frame rate, the game would be fun.
It should be noted that the game can probably use a facelift. The game should include an Arcade mode, Adventure mode, versus mode, online mode and the other modes that are usually included. Arcade mode (1-4 players) would be similar to its predecessors but be redone to make it unique. Capcom should make loads of bosses for this mode. Adventure mode would be a platform adventure, something translatable based on the games mechanics but still different from what has been done in the older games. It would be cool of Capcom can have Adventure mode run for at least five hours. Versus mode would of course be a local multiplayer (1-4 players), nothing amazing but something that is a staple requirement. Online should be something catered. It will do everything that versus mode does and more. One thing it should incorporate is a ranking system. Players will be able to rank against each other based on score and of course score will be based on performance. Another feature would Co-Op Arcade mode. There should be round robin mode to for a decent alternative to local multiplayer. I am sure Capcom will have some interesting ideas over my own for online. Another cool idea would be able to play the older power stone games. And all those VMU games they packed in the games should be playable on the Nintendo DS via DS Download Play. Maybe they can have some playable characters from some of Capcom’s other franchises or some of Nintendo’s franchises. Enough rambling on about what I think should be placed in the game.
To sum it up, why would someone want to have Street Fighter IV on the Wii? Perhaps to save money on buying a new console but the game would be a dumber version that just won’t cut it. Another note to be made is that they haven’t made a new Power Stone game in quite some time. Or perhaps they are going to develop in Japan only like Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom.
(I just want it to be noted that this is my new account, I was having complications with logging in. After two weeks of frustration, I decided to make a new account.)
| Date Joined: | March 21, 2009 |
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