What can you do with your Wii via the Internet?

[disneysteve]

We got a Wii a month ago and have been enjoying playing it. I knew that you could hook it up to the internet but never bothered to read the instructions until tonight. Since we have a wireless network in the house, it was totally simple so it is now hooked up. Now what? What can we do via the Internet? I've heard that you can play games against your friends if you are on at the same time. Can you challenge strangers? Are there extra features or games to play? Are they free?

Any info would be appreciated.

[Broken Arrow]

Ah, well, perhaps this is going to be a bit of a disappointment.

Besides the basic online features that Nintendo has integrated into the Wii system, there' s very little to no attempt to build a centralized online infrastructure similar to what Microsoft has done with Xbox Live. In other words, game developers are pretty much on their own, and it's a daunting challenge indeed. In fact, very few games are even available for online multi-playing.

To be fair, Nintendo never set out to be a dominant console system of this generation with the Wii. They correctly reasoned from the very beginning that going toe-to-toe against Microsoft and Sony with a leading edge system would be bloody and costly at best.

Instead, the Wii would be more of a casual supplement to its more sophisticated but expensive counterparts that already feature online gaming. Given this approach, Nintendo also wisely concluded that it would be entirely too costly to create, maintain, and then compete with their own online infrastructure.

Apologists also point out that while Nintendo did not pursue this avenue, the foundation and the potential for it is still there. That and, unlike Xbox Live, whatever you can find online is free of charge.

And that's why the Wii doesn't have much in the way of online gaming. The fact that the Wii has succeeded beyond even their wildest expectations does not appear to have changed their minds on this issue. For what it's worth, Wikipedia maintains a list of games available over WiFi. Wii games are available only peer-to-peer (not connecting to some central server like Xbox Live).

[disneysteve]

Thanks, BA. I'm not disappointed at all. We didn't get the Wii with any thoughts other than playing the games at home. I didn't even know about the internet thing until after we had it. Heck, we're still having fun with just the Wii Sports game that came with it. We aren't big gamers. My wife has said she'd like to get Wii Fit, though. We've heard good things about that. Otherwise, we aren't the type to spend a fortune to build a big game library. We didn't even pay for the Wii. It was a gift.

I'll check out that Wikipedia list, though. Thanks.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I play wii mario kart online all the time. I think my DH and I are obsessed. And yes we have wii fit.

[disneysteve]

I play wii mario kart online all the time.

Can you explain how I would go about doing that?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

My DH set it up so the wii works on our wireless network. Then I don't know we do it online. PM me for more details.