We've mentioned it before, but Nintendo took a "wait-and-see" approach with the whole Internet thing (just to see if it was going to stick or not). Yet even the king of 360 Fanboys would have to admit that Nintendo has improved its online services exponentially. To go from a single third-party title solution to a complete and robust downloadable catalog which aims to host every console game in the company's history is impressive indeed. WiiWare has been a success, giving us yet another reason to stay away from GameStop (as if we needed one in the first place). And all of Nintendo's major multiplayer franchises (as well as many prominent third party IPs) feature online play.
While this is all well and good, the online experience is still seemingly prehistoric when compared with the likes of the Xbox 360. Creating profiles and using them to connect with friends is inarguably awesome and a great way to boost the social aspect of gaming. Imagine you're right in the middle of nabbing a few stars in Super Mario Galaxy. Suddenly, you get the urge to see what your friends are doing. Without interrupting your current play session, you hop onto an online dashboard where you can see if any of your friends are online. You notice your old friend who now lives across the country is gaming, so you challenge him to a few rounds of Mario Kart Wii. Within moments, the two of your are red-shelling each other silly. All of this is second nature to 360 users, yet it's comparatively a chore for Wii owners. Oh, and you can speak with your friends seamlessly during play without any issues.
I loves my Wii, but Nintendo has a lot of room for improvement in terms of its online service. Let's hope we see some changes for the better this year.
