Online Wii gaming will roll out Q2 2007, sez Reggie

We all knew it was coming, and now Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime has given us a timetable in which to expect the first online, multiplayer Wii action: Q2 2007. Assuming that Reggie wasn't referring to the second quarter of fiscal year 2007 -- which ended, like, a few days ago -- when he made the commitment on SpikeTV's Game Head show, it sounds like the first, unnamed online titles will begin trickling out in the March/April time frame. As you're probably aware, Japan's already had a taste of networked Wii gaming in the form of launch title Pokémon Battle Revolution, but Reggie kept the details about future multiplayer games close to his chest -- those titles will be revealed early next year, he said. Reggie also let slip the fact that new Wii channels are in the works, though once again, he omitted any real concrete information concerning either their content or scheduled rollout. So there you have it: if all goes according to plan, we should be able to hold a Gears of Peace-style event for the Wii in early spring; still, we can't promise that pwning us in Mario Kart will be quite as rewarding as draining our Crimson Omen with a hail of machine gun fire.

[mespinosam @ Dec 4th 2006 1:30PM]

Thats the most stupid thing I've ever seen... why not also create a fund to destroy a PS3 instead ???

[paakofi @ Dec 4th 2006 10:45AM]

the first person to complain about "sez" and threaten no not read engadget again gets a slap in the face!

[Mike Browning @ Dec 4th 2006 11:01AM]

At least it's not "written" by Paul Miller.

[paakofi @ Dec 4th 2006 11:36AM]

what difference does it make who wrote it?

[Jay T @ Dec 4th 2006 11:11AM]

yay! can't wait for "friend codes"!

[Keef @ Dec 4th 2006 11:20AM]

*plays gears of war*

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAAHA!!

[James @ Dec 4th 2006 11:36AM]

What the flaming hell were Activision thinking leaving online multiplayer out of COD3? 360 has it, PS3 has it, Wii... gets NOTHING. If Wii online services aren't ready yet, I would have preferred they had held off on releasing the game rather than release half of it (at full price!) just to get one more launch title on the shelf.

[Mrfreezie @ Dec 4th 2006 11:46AM]

Well, I don't think that the Wii was ready for online play. Nintendo probably made them leave it out, not Activision.

[TVGenius @ Dec 4th 2006 11:36AM]

I hope that they take MarioKart to the next level with the Wii, especially with ONLINE PLAY! YOU HEARING ME, MIYAMOTO?? DO IT! :)

[brandon @ Dec 4th 2006 11:41AM]

Unless Nintendo has some extremely well-guarded secrets, I don't expect any unnamed titles to be that great by Q2. Just seems like a short amount of time for a lot of work to get done. Granted, some of these titles could have been in the works for a long time, but Nintendo has botched online stuff pretty badly so far. If Mario Kart wasn't such a fantastic game, I think the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection would have suffered a great deal more. They're heading the same way with the Wii.

Why can't everyone just use something similar to the Halo 2 matchmaking system? That means you too Gears of War!

[blot @ Dec 4th 2006 11:43AM]

Considering MarioKart DS already has online play, I highly doubt they'd overlook it on the Wii.

[telepheedian @ Dec 4th 2006 12:01PM]

This would be great if there was an eyetoy or xbl vision camera clone to go with it. Warioware would be very interesting.

[SwissFreek @ Dec 4th 2006 12:34PM]

I could be wrong... but I'm pretty sure the *first* fiscal quarter of 2007 ends on new year's eve 2006, aka the end of this month, and *second* fiscal quarter '07 ends on March 31 '07.

[robjennings @ Dec 4th 2006 3:48PM]

There is some confusion regarding the concept of the fiscal year. Not all corporations share the same fiscal year end. Corporations choose a fiscal year end date based on various factors like revenue and tax implications.

Nintendo's fiscal year ends on March 31, so their second fiscal quarter takes place from July 1 to September 30.

[steve @ Dec 4th 2006 5:03PM]

so wait is the wii online service free
that is something i want in a console
**crosses 360 off his checklist**
i dont like having to pay for online play and internet

[eoin @ Dec 4th 2006 6:41PM]

imagine it:

your playing mario kart, heading for a star, your opponent is to your left, no need to turn the kart simply aim the wiimote like zelda, and fire that green shell at him, some kid in america starts crying, haha cant wait

[mike @ Dec 4th 2006 9:07PM]

*plays gears of war*

--

huh.. didn't you... beat it on the first day? you can't still be interested in that, can you?

[Keef @ Dec 5th 2006 6:42AM]

*plays gears of war*

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAAHA!!