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Wii Warm Up: A question of multiplayer

We like online gaming as much as the next set of obsessive gamers; in fact, we even brave the friend code system on the DS every week, like clockwork, just to throwdown via the WiFi network. But just because we like it -- and sometimes prefer it -- does that mean that every game with available multiplayer needs to have online multiplayer? For that matter, does every game even need a multiplayer mode? Obviously, we're thinking here about the recent confirmation that Metroid Prime 3 will have no online multiplayer, but it applies to a lot of things. Let's take Wii Sports, for example. Tons of fun! Could in fact be online! But does it need to be? The philosophy behind Wii Sports seems to be that playing with others -- in person -- is fun. Isn't the philosophy behind the Metroid series pretty centered on the themes of loneliness and isolation, as well as exploration? With games like Saint's Row and Halo on the Xbox, online multiplayer makes perfect sense. Whether we want it or not aside ... is it really right for Metroid?

We'll definitely come on board and say that we hope that the Wii boasts many online games by the time its cycle ends. We particularly hope for at least one or two great FPS games with online multiplayer, but perhaps that's a dream. Still, is it worth hoping for online multiplayer when it runs counter to the central idea behind a franchise or game ... and worse yet, should we be hoping for multiplayer from a team who has yet to show us that they can even manage decent local multiplayer, much less online?

Sure, online modes add replayability, and that's always nice. But if that's all we need in a game, should Nintendo start tacking online multiplayer onto Zelda games, for instance?

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