[Perfect Stu]

Why Nintendo should go online?

Loyalty to consumers. Spend some money to fulfill the wants of your userbase. It always results in good things. You give the gamers what they want, and they'll stay loyal. You'll also attract new gamers that wouldn't give the system a second look before. I know people who would consider buying a Gamecube if Mario Kart Online was announced. I'm dead serious.

I think you'd be mistaken if you were to think that online gaming can never be profitable in the future. You need to get your foot in the door at some point, right? Why not do it now, for the sake of keeping up with competition? If online gaming becomes a hit (like it is becoming) on the PS2 and especially XBox, Gamecube will start a downfall. Once big-hitters go online like Halo, Perfect Dark and Gran Turismo, you'll start to see network adapters and XBox Live starter kits FLYING off shelves. Xbox and PS2 sales go up, Gamecube sales, if anything, start to decline.

In the end, a sales company only goes as far as their consumers take them. Fail to please them, and you'll lose them. Like me. Like other 'once Nintendo' fans I read about in PS2 and XBox gaming boards. Have you checked the Gamecube board at IGN lately? It's gotten depressing...fans are lashing out against Nintendo...if they don't do something to keep the smiles on these gamers' faces, they won't think twice about picking up a PS3 or an Xbox 2 instead of Nintendo's next offering in a few years.