So close, Nintendo

The Girl and I have been pretty obsessed with Animal Crossing: Wild World. It's almost like a single player MMO in it's vicious grind design. And yet, it's so damn happy and cute that you simply can't have any ill will towards it.

Still, the Wifi design reminds me of Mario Kart. It's very good, but still feels incomplete. You still have to rely on websites like Wild World Friends or Animal Crossing Community to get decent hookups or create a really active marketplace, just like DS Meet is almost a requirement for Mario Kart. If I want to send a letter to The Brother about Animal Crossing, I've got to do it in GMail. I can't just send him a letter like I do every other character in the game. I also noticed that this weekend's flea market was apparently a locals only affair.

Not that I don't appreciate the technical problems which could be involved. Adding NWF mail would require some kind of NWF mail server ... a totally different beast than a simple client/server setup and a possible new hole for exploits. Also, more cost to Nintendo. It's just frustrating to see Wifi finally coming together for a handheld ... and yet still feeling like it come up a little short.

Metriod Hunters will have chat at least, even if it is only pre/post game chat. I was already missing that in Mario Kart. Small steps, I guess.



tagged: nintendo , gaming