The Shrine

It could be due to the sheer volume sold (1 million for Halo 2 vs 112k for Mario Kart), but about 50% of Mario Kart DS owners have gone online whereas Halo 2 was closer to 11%

http://ds.ign.com/articles/668/668709p1.html

Considering how much people love playing FPSs online and that Microshaft pushed Halo's online capabilities so much and provided 2 free months of Xbox live, I find it kind of odd.

Halo I'm sure plays MUCH better than Mario Kart online.....

The DS is a portable system that is WiFi enabled out of the box with a free connection service. Meaning if you own a DS and the game, you can find the nearest WiFi hotspot, connect, and play.


The Xbox is a home system that requires:

1) having a router in the same room or buying a wireless adapter;
2) already having a net connection;
and 3) paying extra for a subscription service.


In light of the previous information, how is this story surprising?

I already posted this in the other Mario Kart thread, but anyways. It's not really surprising at all considering Nintendo's online policy vs. Microsofts; as Agent 57 detailed. It's not really that surprising to me either, actually quite expected. Nintendo even said they expect that eventually about 90% of DS users will use it for online purposes (which in comparison is much more than the Xbox live pay to play system).

Agent 57 wrote:The DS is a portable system that is WiFi enabled out of the box with a free connection service. Meaning if you own a DS and the game, you can find the nearest WiFi hotspot, connect, and play.


The Xbox is a home system that requires:

1) having a router in the same room or buying a wireless adapter;
2) already having a net connection;
and 3) paying extra for a subscription service.


In light of the previous information, how is this story surprising?

Makes sense to me. I'll try anything once if it's free. It takes a lot more for me to try something if I have to work and pay for it. I think most people are the same way.

I have played Mario Kart a bit online at some friends of my place. I had a blast with it ^_^

Microsoft's policy on online gaming is really fucking retarded. Actually, the XBox 360 itself is really fucking retarded, but that's another discussion.