Nintendo Land will not feature any kind of online multiplayer play, according to Bill Trinen during an interview with 1UP.
"It's not going to be played over the network," Trinen said when asked if the game would feature online play.
This doesn't necessarily mean there will not be online interactions, just no playing with friends who are not in the room.
Not exactly a shocker to most of us, but to take sentiments from one of the NWR commenters, it's still a shame. I'd love to blast some Metroids with you guys. I hope to see that the other online components of the game are fully fleshed out, but I guess we'll find out about them when it comes out.
@Mop it up Well, it looks like we won't have any online first party games until at least after March, unless Pikmin somehow has online multiplayer in it.
"From our perspective we don't see online as a huge differentiator. Its like the air we breathe these days as gamers and so for us we're going to give you tons of that air. Don't worry about it." - Reggie Fils-Aime
Nintendo Land This Game is Not A Toy WARNING: KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN. THIS PACK-IN TITLE LACKS TONS OF AIR WE BREATHE AND MAY LEAD TO ONLINE SUFFOCATION.
old but still slightly frustrating as a fan that they missed the opportunity to showcase their new robust online system with what could have been an awesome online launch game. mind you I personally LOVE couch co-op and will take that over online any day.
The idea of communication between the players is pretty central to the NintendoLand games working. It could have played online (in theory) if everyone on the wiimotes had headsets, but it seems more like a livingroom game to me. Nintendo needs people to understand these asymmetric ideas, and if your first experience is doing it online it could be confusing in all kinds of ways. So maybe that's the reason. Maybe.
NSMBU on the other hand should have an online option by now. I wonder if they experimented with it. Any kind of lag would kill the experience. You can hide it in Mario Kart, but co-op platforming is about pixel precision. Still, it should be possible, right?
1) I never really enjoyed Mario Kart online. Maybe because I always lose. It's easier to not be sore when you can joke around (in person) with the people schooling you, I think. I used to play a lot of Diablo 2 and WoW and other online computer games. Guess I prefer to be co-op, not competitive, in an online setting.
2) I'm the only person I know in real life who's buying a Wii U.
@Guillaume I've only seen 3 single player games, the Donkey Kong tilt game, The ninja stars, and Balloon Trip, those games look okay and I'm sure they'd be fun for an hour or so, but not $50 fun.
The meat of this game is the multiplayer for games like Luigi's Mansion, Zelda, and Metroid, those games look fantastic and would be so fun to play online.
It's 2012, every multiplayer game should be online, no more excuses.