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Recently, the Wii U Go site received a tip from an anonymous EA intern with some interesting information regarding the Wii U. According to the source, the Wii U might team up with EA’s new digital distribution service Origin. We already know that EA is helping Nintendo develop the Wii U’s online service, including its rumored voice and video chat support, leaderboards, and friend lists. But if Origin is fully integrated with the console, this could mean that the console itself will allow for the digital distribution of all of its titles, which would be one heck of a step forward in the console world. Even so, this information seems pretty iffy. For one, we don’t even know if the Wii U will have a hard drive. If it doesn’t, the console simply won’t have enough space to support a digital distribution platform. According to this anonymous source, Steam is also looking to get its service onto the Wii U, which would make for some interesting competition. Once again, though, this doesn’t actually mesh with the idea that the system might not have a hard drive. 
Many publishers are happy with Xbox Live’s features, but they aren’t happy with how strict Microsoft’s guidelines are. Nintendo went with an open flexible approach with online because when Nintendo asked developers/publishers what they wanted in an online service, that was the number one thing they asked for. So what do you think? Bold new step forward for consoles, or baseless rumor from a green intern who hasn’t yet learned to hold his tongue? By Angelo M. D’Argenio |