NintendOnline

“Nintendo isn’t giving online gaming a chance.”
That is very likely the number one criticism Nintendo has received this generation. It is also the number one criticism that is absolutely wrong.

What many fail to realize is that Nintendo has in fact given online gaming a chance during just about every console generation since the original Nintendo Entertainment System. From investments to partnerships, the history of Nintendo’s online escapades is one that spans over two decades and is deeper than the blue of the Pacific. Nintendo’s online past also paints a picture of how the company, though it may say differently now, once strived to become a communications juggernaut like that of AOL Time Warner or MSNBC.

“Few have taken the jump, and they’ve found it to be very deep water. We’re all looking at that aggressively. For anyone to deny the reality of the web is to defy gravity. The web is real and it’s going to be an ever more important part of everybody’s life. Discovering the appropriate business model for this sector of the business world, I think, is on everyone’s lips, and we’re all working at it very aggressively.”
- Peter Main
former NOA executive VP of sales & marketing