Fils-Aime on WiiConnect24, Microtransactions

By Shawn White / Friday, 23 June 2006

In an interview with Game Informer magazine, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime discussed a number of topics pertaining to the company's next-generation console, Wii, such as uses for WiiConnect24, install base goals and more.

On the topic of WiiConnect24--an internal mode which keeps one's Wii powered on at all times so as to receive updates via the Internet--Fils-Aime provided a few examples as to bonuses players might see with the service. "If you've gotten to a particular part in a game, we could push content out to you, so you get to battle a new boss. Maybe you get a new artifact; maybe you get a new weapon...that's just one example," Fils-Aime noted. "We see the system as something that's going to be used by everyone in the household everyday...all of that is possible."

Concerning the possibility of microtransactions on Wii, similar to those used in Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace, Fils-Aime stated, "All of that is possible with what it is we are trying to do. If our licensee partners want to go in that direction, it's certainly possible in our system."

Lastly, Fils-Aime mentioned why he thinks Wii could achieve a greater install base than its predecessor console, GameCube. "Our focus is on a substantially higher base than we achieved with GameCube. We think that our strategy in terms of great core gamer games, expanded audience games should allow us to achieve that," the NOA president said. "Plus, with the stellar third-party support we're getting, really, right at launch, that's another major difference from what we did with GameCube."

The full interview can be read in the latest issue of Game Informer magazine.

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