"Please note that if you choose to share your non-personal information with Nintendo, all of the information you submit through the Nintendo Channel will be non-identifiable and anonymous unless you have linked your Wii account to your My Nintendo account."

In bold type in the link that was posted at the beginning of the article:

[www.nintendo.com]

Saxboy

reecord2

StickyPurpleCat

sandwiches

ChaoticLimbs

So what if NOA's going to see that you clock 2 hours on My Sims followed by 2 hours on the Internet Channel on your GAL (Get A Life) timers each day?

Unless they restrict the number of times you can download a DS demo (which would be asinine), I don't see this being an issue.

TStodden

I hope they don't do anything to my children and pets!!!

Big deal...

boynas

shimage

yashichi8bit

hollowfreak

So, I will relinquish information as long as I can download DS demos from my Wii. I did this all last night, and it is all kinds of awesome.

Benjo

vag2.0

Adam In Texas

Well, not whatever...

DONNYchiban

I do think that they could spend more time and resources getting their online act togethere, brawl is a mess. The decentralized friends list is a mess.
Friend codes and more annoyingly their implementation are a mess.

majatt

ByeBye

Play No More Heroes a lot any maybe there will be a new one with actual marketing this time.

Roto13

KM91

Shyguy

megaStryke

JustJake

Smash Bros. is "lagtastic". I've played Mario Kart a number of times with only a few drops (casued by my local connection). Otherwise no issues.

TRT-X

Methusalah

Do you think those Achievements are just there for show?

"Play X hours", "Beat game with X characters", "Find everything"...

They can use those to see if you bother to do everything in a game, and if you're online...how long it took you to do it (did you grind through it in a week or play it steadily over time)

PSN's accomplishments (Once home gets running) will do the same thing.

The only difference is that Nintendo admits they're doing it and lets you opt-out.

TRT-X

MSUSteve

Click find titles. If you click find new titles it recommends new titles to you based on your playing history.

You also do the make a recommendation thing.

Yetanotheruninspiredscreename

Sadgasim

FanDam

Foxstar Sixtail

Ptolemy

bobafett356

@syl1985:Microsoft, Sony and countless, countless other people do the same thing, they just don't always tell you about it. Your ISP knows what you download/upload too, they just don't tell anyone without the FBI first demanding that infomation.

@Cogito:It's "User activity tracking", not spyware and you'd be hard pressed to find anything to block it, + most gaming systems have closed OS's.

There's going to be a load of black helicopter tin foil hat wearing mofos in here before long to sneer and laugh at, so I just want to say that Nintendo should have had something like this ready to go on launch day. If they want to not only keep the causal market they've grabbed onto, but expand it even more and convert as many of them into 'core' gamers, they need info and the old way of gathering infomation via the little slips of paper in games or even e-mails are largely ineffective and draw data from a much smaller user base of people.

And like I said, Microsoft and Sony if they aren't already doing this (And Microsoft is and has from the Xbox 1 on), will as well, it's a result of having a console with a 24/7 internet connection.

Foxstar Sixtail

CockroachMan

Maybe Nintendo will find out lots of us are running out of space and provide a solution?

marcus1060

To be honest I think with the pretty big opt-in screen, at least they're being completely up front about this, and it's optional. (I presume MS have a similar screen - and opt-out? - when you sign up for any variety of Live.)

I'm wary about companies collecting my data but in this case let's face it - it isn't exactly important data, is it? What games I've been playing? The fact that I have my Wii set to widescreen? In most cases I'd actually like them to have this data - I want them to make sure (and in particular encourage all third parties to make sure) that all games have widescreen support.

The only real issue I have with this is that I think if companies are collecting this kind of data from customers they have a duty to make the results available back to those same customers. Some of this, they are already doing (the 'total play time / number of plays' information against games) but I think they should also make available the more general statistical information (which proportion of people use each kind of display, what's the average number of Miis people have, how much do people play each week). This could either be via a press release every few months (a la Google Zeitgeist) or - ideally - via a stats screen in the Nintendo Channel where you can compare your own details against the global stats.

quen

I have a fairly decent 20 meg connection. I got it so multiple PCs could be online at once. If the Wii needs a tiny bit of my bandwidth so be it.

I don't care if they know I play a lot of No More Heroes (which they won't let me rate damn it), and surf for porn on their web browser.

LuppyLuptonium

Shiryu

" It is kind of shitty that you can't get the DS demos w/out opting in, but it still seems harmless to me."

It's a trade off. They have to justify the bandwidth of sending the demos to you and if the price is market research as well as convieance who gives a flying fuck?

Otherwise just go to the damn walmart or a gamestop and use the DS Download station there.

Yetanotheruninspiredscreename

- For the sequel to its hugely groundbreaking debut, they completely changed everything about the gameplay (better or worse, they still took the chance on making something different).

- A Link To The Past was amazing and introduced many new elements that became staples of the Zelda gameplay format.

- Ocarina Of Time took the series to 3D in what is one of the top games of all time.

- The handheld versions almost always break from the more traditional storyline of the console versions.

- Majora's Mask, while not as well-liked as its predecessor, had a unique story and introduced transformation to the series.

- Wind Waker took a huge risk with drastically different visuals than what we were used to and had the whole sailing / island system, which left everything a lot more isolated and unique-feeling compared to most of the Zelda worlds. Annoying as shit to navigate, but definitely different.

- Phantom Hourglass use of touch controls changed up the gameplay completely.

Hell, about the only two that are really "the same" are OoT and Twilight Princess. The gameplay between the two feels incredibly similar and it follows the basic Zelda formula pretty similarly to OoT, yet it was still an awesome game even then.

On the other hand: Halo - Shoot. Lots.
Halo 2 - More shooting. And teabagging.
Halo 3 - Yet more shooting. And teabagging. And Live racism and bigotry.

NinjaMarion

And if you are using google, gmail, hotmail or any free service on the internet, you may be sure that your information is going to be used. So nitpicking about this while they give you a choice is quite pointless.

marlblank

It is kind of shitty that you can't get the DS demos w/out opting in, but it still seems harmless to me.

I have the same feeling towards some other collection things, like Steam gathering hardware specs. It's really nothing sensitive, and actually can potentially improve the service/platform.

slacker164

ThaiGrocer

Please. Does anyone honestly have any problem with any of this?

Fitz Rhapsody

I wonder if they even care?

FlameEye

Roto13

Also, maybe they will see how extremely seldom I play my Wii. Now if only Nintendo could see the data on, by comparison, how often I'm using my 360...

Sorry Nintendo. Dem's the Breaks.

Muffin_Man

beez1717

The least Nintendo could do is throw me some Wii Points for filling out surveys. Would it really be that much of a loss to them to throw me 10 points a survey and let me have a free SNES game after I give them SIXTY surveys worth of information?

Klaymen

This is a poll since you agree to it. Several times on this page the website that lists what is tracked has been linked to. It's just effing system specs and some gameplay time.

Yetanotheruninspiredscreename

Korby

Then you need to look harder. Also Halo an original IP? Only console gamers think that. PC gamers have played Halo hundreds of times before the game even came out.

At least Zelda does add some new elements and refines others.

Yetanotheruninspiredscreename

I think it's a good thing. Sales figures show how many people bought which games, but they won't tell you that I played Marvel Ultimate Alliance for a total of 8 minutes before realizing it was a total POS. It will be interesting to see if Sony and Microsoft adopt a similar system.

viewofeverlast

details what is tracked and mentions what is not tracked. It's a hell of a lot better then what numerous agencies do such as Tivo which thought a number of users were gay or Hitler fanatics based on one or two viewing choices.

Yetanotheruninspiredscreename

I'm not at all concerned about this. I don't mind Amazon checking my shopping habits and suggesting things to me, and I don't mind when Google does it either. It actually makes my experience nicer.

I hope that Nintendo gets the message when they see how many times I send the "Should Nintendo release Mother 3 in America" question with two "yes" responses to the Everybody Votes channel.

Huckleberry

Rocci1212

actually u can stream while you are downloading the movie

AllKindsOfRalph

ByeBye

I like Halo as well, I have all three, and would really like for bungie to update 1 and 2 for 360. And I with your thoughts on Zelda. ever since LTTP it's beat bosses, crossover into another world/time travel beat more bosses, rinse, repeat.

Just the thought of Halo 3 not being a rehash made my head hurt.

And I can certainly agree with you on the Mother 3 issue as well. I can only replay Earthbound so many times.

Spacehog85

Also, I wish people would stop bashing the Wii library, because the Wii has plenty of awesome games and I play with it a lot.

tim333

I hate to say this BUT...

I think you can turn this feature off the telling Nitnedo about you. You have to give your consent to this, and if you don't want it turn it off.

Sailorcancer

Sailorcancer

ByeBye

...and I happen to really like Halo. I know it isn't the cool thing to do, but that's what I like. Halo still seems great to me, but I feel like i've been playing the same Zelda game for the last 15 years.

Mini-Boss

Roto13

Cogito

Spacehog85

The Wii is a platform of great potential for some very fantastic games with unique gameplay elements, but outside of making a fitness "game", Nintendo doesn't seem too interested in really bringing out that potential. The fact of the matter is that I bought a Wii two months after launch, and I have been very disappointed thus far. Zelda was ok, Mario Galaxy was fun and very imaginative for a while, I played the death out of Melee, so Brawl hasn't exactly enraptured me, and Retro's Prime 3 was great times, but I didn't do a second playthrough cause of the massive 360 holiday release list headlined by Halo 3. Oh, and didn't I mention that its basically universally agreed that the Wii's online service is total, lagtastic crap, even for a free service?

All that, and I still have a grudge against Nintendo cause they refuse to release/translate Mother 3 outside of Japan. So yes, until Nintendo does something new along the lines of Pikmin, I'll bash the Wii.

But I will admit, I forgot to mention that me and my friends played the total hell out of Mario Strikers. That game is a blast.

Mini-Boss

It would be...

BaRiLlInAnT!!!!!

Zerbrecher

M

Greo

If this truly caters to a specific customer, they'd have answered requests of people wanting sequels for certain titles and better VC titles.

超外人

Crisu

n99y99r99

j.howlett

And then there are the DS Demos, which is the single greatest Wii Channel option Nintendo's offered since they let you watch porn on the Internet Channel XD

Obviously this channel doesn't bring Nintendo's online up to the level of the PS3's or 360's (they're not even in distant view), but it brings a lot of things together nicely in the best channel in awhile (**** you, Check Mii Out)

Zerbrecher

* The Movie previews are full-screen streaming

* The TV previews are full-screen streaming

* Spotlight videos are full-screen streaming

* Inside Xbox videos are full-screen streaming

* SD Game trailers are download and view (hence my pet-peeve annoyance).

* HD Game trailers are download and view but I can understand this as most people don't have the bandwidth. The strange thing is that SD and HD movies are stream-able which allows you to start watching them a few seconds after you buy SD movies and a few minutes after you buy HD movies. The only explanation I have for this is bandwidth demand.

okenny :)

I'm sorry. :(

Santa_Lock22

@Cogito: And I really don't think this is anything like spyware seeing as the channel pretty indescreetly tells you what it wants to do and asks whether or not you want to do it, thus negating the "spy" aspect

DarkLinkinfinite

That would be awesome.

OneManFreakShow

Gloibin

Why does everyone here love to nitpick about the Wii? Seriously, everyone that enters a Kotaku post just to bash the Wii should be banned. It's not funny, it's not "cool", and it certainly doesn't make you look any smarter.

OneManFreakShow

supertails15

This is nothing like spyware. Spyware hacks your computer and controls it to do whatever it wants. They aren't spying on you. Like I said before, it's like a survey.

OneManFreakShow

ShaggE

The only sequel I'd welcome at this point would be another Mother/Earthbound game.

elocanth

But then Nintendo couldn't suggest any upcoming first-party games to me, now could it?

Mini-Boss

It could be worse... Honestly. This is rather minor for data mining. It's very basic information that the user often will give up for free if simply asked

huginn

Cogito

What does any of this post mean?

I seriously don't get it. It's more of an interactive survey than anything else. They want to see what interests you. Heaven forbid they care about their customers' interests.

OneManFreakShow

Erwin

OneManFreakShow

Dragonis

1. landstalker

2. new adventure island (pc engine)

3. dracula x: rondo of blood

and

4. sin and punishment

downloaded,

that i have only one mii,

and that i haven't played any of their "wii" games for more than two hours.

if only there was a way to inform them which of the games with save data on my hard drive have since been sold back to the local used book store for 90% of their original purchase price.

108

syl1985

I actually like the channel ... I like streaming the videos rather than having to download them like on the 360.

jayntampa

The Red Comet