Miyamoto: Nintendo not "active" enough in online space, subscription fees a possibility

Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection. One of these things is not like the others. According to Nintendo mother brain Shigeru Miyamoto, however, Nintendo's offering won't remain the F-student of the online world forever. Will that mean subscription fees? Maybe. Bet you can't guess who Nintendo's been cribbing notes from.

"Probably the other thing that we are desperate to realise is the core [online] business structure,” Miyamoto told Edge. “Do we need to demand customers pay monthly fees to enjoy online activities? Or give an online subscription that is free of charge, but then offer something extra for people that pay, so that they get some extra value? With these core business strategies I think we are less active than we should be.”

Miyamoto was hesitant, however, to declare his company's attempt a total failure. He continued:

“It is true, though, that Nintendo hasn’t been very proactive in developing such online activities as an MMOG. But when it comes to our endeavours that try to take advantage of internet technology, where we can provide our customers with more fun and entertainment, then I think we can say we have been very, very proactive and well-received. And that attitude won’t be changed at all in the future.”

Yeah, remember how we called Miyamoto "Nintendo's mother brain"? Well, we have to assume Samus blew off the part of him that remembered Friend Codes exist right before this interview. Sorry Shiggy, but juggling more numbers than an Excel spreadsheet is not our idea of "fun" or "entertainment." Sad to say, unless Friend Codes are removed from the equation entirely, gamers' only response to a Wii subscription fee will be to dismissively chuckle before turning back to play more Modern Warfare 2.

Oh hey, look, a soapbox! Were we standing on that the whole time? Talk about embarassing.