Nintendo has promised that no gamers will be expected to pay a subscription for using the Wii U home console’s future online service, with company President Satoru Iwata again solidifying his intentions against rivals such as Sony’s Playstation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 – the latter of which charges a subscription fee for their players to go online.
Iwata previously hit out at both competitor companies, including making some comments regarding Microsoft’s Xbox Smart Glass technology and the proposed Sony PS3 and PS Vita cross-platform play. He suggested a number of other ways in which Nintendo ideas are being taken by other market presences (motion control as another example).
Interestingly it was Microsoft who pioneered online gaming communities through the home console and is currently spearheading the drive to bring non-gaming entertainment onto its platforms through the Xbox brand.
More interesting still, Nintendo makes no comment on how much of the existing and successful service is borrowed in the creation of its Miiverse – a social and gaming community which will go live shortly after the public sales launch of the new Wii U and will then becoming available through the handheld 3DS. Whether or not Nintendo are also guilty of a little borrowing of ideas, its service will be free to access and Iwata suggested this will help improve sales of the Wii U and will lead to a better relationship with gamers.
Third-parties will of course look to cash in and there’s no indication how much additional services such as movies through Netflix will cost us (presumably the same £5.99 subscription as Xbox LIVE and PSN). Nintendo also suggests that it will have no involvement with already established social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
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