Sean, somentimes I think there are more than one of you writing: “Take Nintendo Land. The game is great in local multiplayer”. Seriously, is it really you?
Taking this aside, you say also that Nintendo wants to persue internet gamin in a tepid pace. Well, considering that Dreamcast, launched in 1998 in Japan, was already internet capable from factory, 14 years is not tepid enough? Xbox Live is now 10 years old.
This Nintendo pace reminds me of Mao Zhedong, when asked about the influence of the French Revolution in China, during the 1970’s:
“It is too soon to analyse”.
I played Nintendo Land before when it was called ‘connectivity’ for the Gamecube. The stuff that Pac-Man Versus and other connectivity games did is very similar to that Luigi’s Mansion game. Ask the people who have played the Wii U at the Nintendo events.
It’s a smart idea for Nintendo to rely on proven fun for Nintendo Land. But damn it, it would be so much more fun if it had some Internet capability. It’s not easy getting 5 people to play a game console everyday. If Nintendo wants the Wii U not to turn into a party machine, Nintendo Land is not a good start.