This is how wii do it...

Online play that is.

And from what i've read, it's not brilliant i must say.

Smash Bros for the Wii is going to have online play, but it's the most basic form of online play i've ever heard of. You've got 2 different options for playing online, playing against friends that are already registered in your game or playing against strangers. Playing against strangers there's no ranking at all and no stats, you won't know their name and you won't be able to talk to them. All they'll be to you is Player 2.

I kinda understand why Nintendo have done this, they're desperate to be the console the whole family can enjoy and this will mean that young kids can play fine against adults without the whole worrying concept that i don't need to explain here.

There'll be no verbal abuse as the wii has no microphone at the moment.

The only shitter is the fact that nothing is ranked so a casual player (which most Wii users are, lets face it) will have no chance against the hardcore players who have completed it within 1 day of getting the game. And who doesn't like stats? 73% of people love pouring over their stats (poor quality joke, i know).

It's a good idea but it's also a bad idea. It's nice for casual gamers but there can't be any longevity there as it's just pushing the online gaming community backwards 5 years.

But then, as you well know, i don't play online coz i keep getting thrashed so this might be the turnaround i want. When i win i want EVERYONE to know my name, when i lose i just want to slink away quietly. Of course no-one knows my name because i've never actually won.

playing people online really sucks

So there i was last night, having a go of Virtua Tennis 3 coz i hadn't played it for a while. And i'm not too bad at it, playing in career mode i've gone up from rank 300 to rank 105 and i'm still winning every set cleanly. Ooh, i've got a great idea, i'll go online and give it a go on singles there, I should be able to hold my own at least and the trueskill won't pit me against anyone too good.

First person playing online, DESTROYS me, absolutely fucking annihilates me, didn't get a single point and struggled to return every shot. I looked so pitiful chasing around after the ball while i barely return every smash. Bish, bash, bosh, 3 sets to nothing.

So this guy was pretty good, i just got unlucky, try again. First couple of volleys i'm not doing too bad so this might be a bit of a better match. Nope, he finds his feet and wastes me, didn't get one goddamn point, not one.

I hate online play. The trueskill system is just a load of bollocks. I just get wasted on every game i ever play online. I don't think i've ever won one game online since Unreal Tournament 2003. Surely i can't be that bad at games, i've completed dozens of games, i've been playing games since the Philips Videopac 2000 back in 1983.

But i go online and i end up playing against people who have been playing this game solidly since it came out and i have no chance. As i said before, the trueskill system is clearly old cack. It doesn't represent the real skill of someone coz it only goes on how many online games you've played. I could fully complete the game on single player first, then when i gonna be good at the game i can go online and completely trounce the other people who play it every now and then.

It should check how long you have been playing the game online and off and put you against someone of similar standing, that would make it a lot more fair.

No i'm not bitter, i'm just sick to death of playing people who are SOOOO much better than me, there must be SOMEONE out there who i can give a good competition to, anyone?