As a (hopefully) hot summer dawns, Nintendo try to keep us welded to our broadband connections with the release of the Wii's first online-enabled title, Mario Strikers Charged Football. To accompany our review of the title (hint: we like it), the staff offer their opinions of Nintendo's brave new online world.

What do you think of Nintendo's first foray into online home console gaming with Mario Strikers: Charged?

Iun:

Having not played this yet (my Wii has yet to arrive from the UK into China) I can honestly say I have no personal experience of the "true" online aspect of Nintendo's game plan.

However, that is not to say I haven't heard my fair share of moaning and groaning about lag during peak periods of play. During the day time it appears that the service can cope with the lack of demand... but when everyone and his uncle goes online after school/work/watching a movie, all hell breaks loose.

Are you really surprised though? This is after all, Nintendo's first time playing to such a large audience -and they have never focused their attentions online in the same way as other companies. So frankly it's very easy to forgive them for their little teething troubles. Alright so these troubles are causing a lot of people upset but jeez... the world does not begin and end with online gaming.

On the flipside though, these issues should send a clear message to Nintendo that online gaming is a popular phenomenon and they may finally catch the boat before it sails for good and leaves them standing with their good ideas at the dock. I just hope it's sooner rather than later.

Justin:

With Mario Strikers Charged being the first Nintendo home console online game, I am actually rather disappointed. Nintendo started out their online journey with the DS with games like Mario Kart and Animal Crossing. Being on a handheld and their very first experience with online gaming, it was not too bad. The simplicity and functionality worked, although it was just too simplistic for advanced gamers. Again, as a handheld, it was and still is adequate. Although, when you are sitting at home in your house for a good online play session, you want more out of it. For one, the console has a robust set of online abilities. The fact that the console is always online, has built-in wifi, and a contacts list in the Wii main hub, it should be great. Unfortunately, they seemed to ignore all this by creating an over-simplified and very DS-esque experience.

Competing with the likes of Xbox Live, and even the PlayStation Network, Nintendo is going to have to try harder. Friend codes suck, and that is just the fact of it. It would be easy for Nintendo to write off Mario Strikers and make the rest of their games highly online active, but I fear they will not. I fear they will continue to dig a deeper and deeper hole for themselves which they can't get out of. Turn around now Nintendo, don't wait until the next console round to adopt true online!

Fierce_Link:

I picked up Strikers on a bit of a whim. I wasn't expecting the greatest game of all time. Actually, to be perfectly honest I can't remember what I even expected! However,I was pleasently surprised by the sheer fun factor of the game. But, we all know the real reason why we chose to purchase this: Online.

It's not perfect, and there is room for improvement. But, compare this entry with Nintendo's first entry in the online fray with the DS. The system has evolved so much since Mario Kart DS. The fact we don't have to search impatiently to play our friends. I found it pretty cool to be able to scroll down my list and see if others were busy, who was online and who was available. Nintendo have great groundwork here and they need to further develop this.

Of course, like I said, there is room for improvement. What I would like is possibly an MSN-esque feature where you could send a message to somebody who isn't a friend and ask them to add you - maybe after you've played a ranked game against them. It would also be lovely if only one side had to input the friendcode, and if a similar message popped up on the other side asking if you chose to accept or not accept this person who is adding you.

The game itself is fun offline, but is a million times more entertaining with friends, be it online or offline-multiplayer. Check it out.

The Peeps:

I seem to remember a statement a long time ago, when Nintendo said they didn't want to get into online gaming until all the bugs are sorted out and they can do it properly. Well it's a few years down the line and to me it still looks like Nintendo aren't taking online gaming seriously. The DS has been selling phenomenally but I don't think I could name more than 3 titles that would be considered as serious online games, and now with the Wii I think we're going to see the same thing.

The fact that the Mario Strikers servers crashed on the day of release goes to show that Nintendo really don't realise how much their fans and followers want online games.

I've had 3 online games so far and only 1 that has caused me problems. I had just won the first game and then for no reason I can think of, my connection was lost. I then saw that I had a loss in place of my win. There should be some way of the game being able to tell when you've purposefully disconnected and when your connection just fails for no reason. So now, even though I haven't lost a game I still have a humiliating 1 loss!

My next gripe is with the search function. I went to search for a new game after just playing one, but it didn't find one. I waited 15 minutes and no match was found. That's fair enough, maybe no one was playing at that particular time... The thing is, I had to turn my whole system off because the back button had inexplicably disappeared!

Well it wouldn't be a good rant without mentioning friend codes so here it is: Friend Codes Suck. What we need is an Online Gaming Channel where you can invite friends for a game and have a set-up similar to the 360. Online gaming is the only area where I think Nintendo should be following Microsoft's example.

Overall I love Mario Strikers both on and offline, it's a fantastic game and you get so involved you end up shouting in joy like a wally, or screaming at your tv in fury... like a wally.

Nathan:

You mean apart from the fact that the servers crashed on Friday afternoon and over the weekend? All of Europe wept that day. Like many others, I spent the months building up to the Wii launch with my fingers crossed hoping that Nintendo would be kind and cure their phobia of Internet perverts and give us a proper and user-friendly online system such as Xbox Live. I cried when it was announced that games wouldn't even use the Console Code for online play, and we'd have to use separate DS-like friend codes for the impending Wi-Fi enabled games.

Luckily, Next Level Games have managed to improve on the DS's system in many ways, excluding the painful exchanging of codes. The idea to have a code for each Mii is genius, as it allows several people who use the same console to have their own online identity and friend roster without destroying an angry little brother's win/lose record. Gone are the days of searching for a match with your friends, as you can see their online status and send and receive game invitations to people who are online.

There is a lot that needs to improved on, but this is the first online Wii game, so I'll let Nintendo off. This is a brilliant first step into home console online gaming, and I hope Nintendo can further improve on their efforts in the future.

Adam:

I have been waiting for the day that we finally see a proper online Nintendo home console game and that day finally arrived on 25th May. What a first title it is. This game is the perfect first foray for a lot of the casual gamers who have been enticed by the Wii, whilst also having enough in it to keep the hardcore Nintendo fanboys happy. It's simple presentation, easy to use menus and online modes help people make the simple transition from the likes of Wii Play and Wii Sports and whilst the game may also seem to be simple with its pick up and play controls it has a level of depth akin to more hardcore sports sims.

Many people will have experienced the dreaded error codes when trying to collect the stats from the servers during connection and this has become a common problem during peak times. For many this will be pretty damning and a clear sign that Nintendo aren't up to scratch when it comes to online play. But remember the difference that is visible between the first online DS games (Mario Kart DS etc.) and how much they have developed over time (with Pokemon D/P and Diddy Kong Racing being 2 recent examples), I'm sure Nintendo will nail it and whilst there will never be the number of online games that are out for 360 we will surely see a vast increase in the number of titles over the next 12 months, adding yet another string to the Wii's mass market and hardcore appeal bow.

Cube:

I've never been a fan of online gaming - I've never really had a decent match and the DS is too fiddly. Most ranked matches on the DS I never get to finish, thanks to disconnectors. I bought Mario Strikers because it sounded like fun...and now I want more online games. The system is very simple to use, and organising matches against friends doesn't require luck anymore. Friend Coded are back, but I never really minded them in the first place.

For once, I'm finding the ranked matches fun. At one point I was up against someone doing a lot of volleying, faking and other tecnhiques, so I simply put myself against a level 5 computer and got practising. I soon learn the techniques and how to counter them, and went back online. I use the techniques sparingly - like I did snaking in MKDS - and only used them against others that use them. (Where's the fun in making a match completely one-sided?).

Friendly mode is fantastic, too. I've had a few matches using "cheats" (particularly no stadium events, classic mode and no items), which were close and a lot of fun. Sure, the online mode can be annoying at times - but it seems more the case that its someone else beating you 1-0 is more important than the computer AI beating you 10-0. I admit, I've almost broken one of my Remotes - it now has a crack in it, and I've totally lost one of the batteries as they simply flew out of it - but its still a lot of fun. It sometimes feels good to get angry with a game.

We've had our say. But what do you think? Are you satisfied with Nintendo's online infrastructure? Or has one error code too many left you seething? Let us know below.