Ninty online incomplete at Wii launch

Not everything in Nintendo’s online department will launch with the console on launch day. Joystiq, citing a Nintendo press release, notes that the weather forecast channel won’t be predicting anything until December 20, while the News Channel (with content from the Associated Press) won’t be breaking windows with the morning paper until January 17. Should explain why there would be a few holes remaining in the Wii Channel section come Launch Day.

But that’s only the hard data both Joystiq and we could glean from Ninty’s PR. The press release says that “some functions can be used right out of the box and more will roll out during the next few weeks and into next year”. And everything from there becomes frightening speculation. For example, Joystiq’s wondering if Opera’s going to be delayed, citing this line as reference: “More information about the availability of the browser will be released in the coming weeks.”

You think that’s a downer? Joystiq also suggests that Wii online multiplayer itself won’t be available until next year. Thing is, there’s nothing in the press release that would seem to suggest that (On the other hand, we wouldn’t expect that bit of news from a PR entitled “Nintendo’s Wii: A Gateway to New Experiences.”). But if Joystiq’s right on that mark, that should explain why a number of launch/early Wii titles (Red Steel, Metroid Prime 3, “a number of 3rd-party titles“) won’t have online multiplayer out of the box.

We’re just glad that the Virtual Console will be up and running (back to the future) on Launch Day.

Not everything in Nintendo’s online department will launch with the console on launch day. Joystiq, citing a Nintendo press release, notes that the weather forecast channel won’t be predicting anything until December 20, while the News Channel (with content from the Associated Press) won’t be breaking windows with the morning paper until January 17. Should explain why there would be a few holes remaining in the Wii Channel section come Launch Day.

But that’s only the hard data both Joystiq and we could glean from Ninty’s PR. The press release says that “some functions can be used right out of the box and more will roll out during the next few weeks and into next year”. And everything from there becomes frightening speculation. For example, Joystiq’s wondering if Opera’s going to be delayed, citing this line as reference: “More information about the availability of the browser will be released in the coming weeks.”

You think that’s a downer? Joystiq also suggests that Wii online multiplayer itself won’t be available until next year. Thing is, there’s nothing in the press release that would seem to suggest that (On the other hand, we wouldn’t expect that bit of news from a PR entitled “Nintendo’s Wii: A Gateway to New Experiences.”). But if Joystiq’s right on that mark, that should explain why a number of launch/early Wii titles (Red Steel, Metroid Prime 3, “a number of 3rd-party titles“) won’t have online multiplayer out of the box.

We’re just glad that the Virtual Console will be up and running (back to the future) on Launch Day.