When Nintendo launched their limited campaign of GameCube/Game Boy Advance connectivity, I was an English-majoring undergrad (AKA "that dude with too much free time") with two friends who were nerdy enough to also have GBAs, link cables, and a high tolerance for gimmicky hardware tricks. Our time was limited to the three main games playable for this sick intercourse between console and portable gaming systems: Pac-Man Vs., Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. The first two titles gave us our share of fun, but the last one marks one of the best (though brief) multiplayer experiences I've ever had in my life.
I've never been too excited about online multiplayer, because--for me, anyway--it's always been alienating and lacking that distinct sense of entertaining madness that comes with a group of friends screaming at each other in the same small room. So I was a bit bummed when Nintendo dropped their connectivity plans so soon after starting them; despite requiring a lot of gear to get working, the whole GBA/GameCube pair-up allowed for some amazingly unique multiplayer experiences. And now that the worldwide takeover of both the DS and Wii has made countless homes equipped with enough Nintendo hardware to start their own GameStops, a newer and easier form of connectivity could bring back some of that joy I experienced so briefly five years ago. But why has Nintendo dropped the ball?
I've always wondered why Nintendo limited Wii/DS interaction solely to the downloading of demos when so much more could be done between the two systems. Sure, Miyamoto and company may still wake up screaming with bad memories of last-gen's connectivity going over like a lead balloon, but wireless technology has made things much simpler now. And considering how happy Nintendo is to foist confusing, unintuitive features on its audience (*cough* friend codes), a Wii and a DS making sweet wireless love seems too simple to screw up. Considering the low budget nature of Four Swords Adventures, why not throw up multiplayer episodic content for WiiWare? It'd be an inexpensive undertaking, and the press would go crazy for a "new" Zelda game being released for a Nintendo platform that sees its share of garbage. I could just be crazy, but I always thought system connectivity wasn't explored nearly as much as it should have been.
Any thoughts on this?
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