Look. I don't drink. But I smoke (I'm french, what did you expect?)

I was reading up a very nice blog entry regarding the evolution of the Nintendo hardware during the past 3 console generations, when it linked to this article on CNN

This a pretty old piece of news as it dates of December 2005 and relates the test drive of the Wii controller. Nothing really interesting on that side since i'd rather have IGN or another gaming site's point of view regarding how the wiimote works than CNN, and I therefore almost discarded the article.

That's when I came upon this baby:

Reggie Fils-Aime, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Nintendo of America, said he hopes to see another type of game really take off with the Revolution [Wii].

"I hope [massively multiplayer online games] are really explored on this system," he said. "That's a genre, from the home console standpoint, that really hasn't been explored very well."


What he states here is just a mear wish and not an affirmation, but I don't believe he would talk of hypothetical game design if he hadn't actually heard of some kind of project.

And to be honest, it could be one of the best ideas to hit Wii.




What prospect could the average MMORPG player hope to obtain in such a game?

Well first of all, we have the whole concept of playing an MMO on a home console. The only game to have managed to sum up a large community was Phantasy Star Online, first on Dreamcast, and then on Game Cube (with a minor success).

Xbox360 has Final Fantasy XI on it so it might be the birth of MMORPG style games on consoles, although I doubt that mapping a PC game that is Keyboard/Mouse driven towards a thumb controller will be the solution to bring this style mainstream.

And the controller may be the actual problem in the whole MMORPG to home consoles dilemna. I am a pretty experienced MMORPG player, I have played EQ, DAOC, RO, WoW and recently tried EVE Online and am really looking forward to playing Warhammer Online.

While I love all these games, what hits most non experienced people when they see me play is that it's terrifyingly complicated (just check out a World of Warcraft video and you'll probably understand why). Now although this isn't a bad thing for the PC, since you have complexe interaction tools called a Keyboard and a mouse, however it get's a bit more complicated to map this to a typical controller.

I wouldn't even think of playing WoW with an Xbox/PS2/GC controller (not even the Wii controler since the gameplay would be wrong).

So for the console, you have to make the controls and the interface much easier to use, since your viewing distance is further than on a PC, and you have less buttons to interact with.

That's how you get crappy RPG interfaces like in Oblivion. Yes, we know, 360 and PS3 games are pretty like on a PC, the consoles are shiny like a PC, built even better than most PCs, but they just can't (and musn't) act like one.

That's how dev's had to simplify gaming concepts to fit a pad in Phantasy Star Online. And at the time there was no VoIP, so imagine what conversations were like...



Moving on to MMO's on Wii. The same dilemna exists for this console as it does for the others (it's even worse than the others in some cases):

- the controller has only a few buttons.
- The lack of HD (not a rant as I don't actually care, but a fact) will render interfaces less "complex" than on their next-gen counterparts.
- The revolutionary concept of the Wiimote won't be enough to manage 50 or 60 different spells (or whatever) that you're used to in your average MMO.

So what does this mean?

It means developpers will have to think differently and come up with new gameplay concepts. Give us a totally new online experience, as a backstabing rogue, a spell casting mage.

Make up for the a lack of a complicated interface by cleverly mixing hand or arm movement and on screen information to quickly and instinctly cast what you want.

Can you imagine a game, where you control perfectly your character's movement's and interactions, can pickup an object ingame and use it as you would in real life (fishing rod, sword, beer mug, hammer, bow (meh, can't figure out that one >.<), wand, stone, flower, and the list goes on and on, to the limit of the developper's fantasy).
Can you imagine swordfights in arenas, fealing your controller vibrating harder after each sword hit and parry?
What about shooting that great big fireball up that taunting nOOb's ass... Just aim, and fire away.


This could be the first trully immersive MMORPG (if it's done well) as your character will be the true extension of yourself. You won't be just a person sitting at a desk and punching in keys, you will actively take part in the action and will interact with other people in ways impossible to think of today.

I am fairly certain that we will hear from that soon (E3 in a few days ?) and I just hope the game style and feel will meet everyone's expectations (Japanese aren't really good a MMO's...). But if I were a game designer, that would be the road I would take.

Oh and finally: as a couch is way more comfortable than a deskchair to play in, and your girlfriend can snuggle next to you and not vent about your PC hugging autism, a Wii MMORPG could be the next best thing to hit our little online universes.

Then again, the idea of a raid of 25 fat plummers fighting over the "Raccoon tail of the Monkey" may not be the best idea...