I am going to try this new segment out, James’s Rants. The post will consist of things that are on my mind about Nintendo or gaming all together. I am not sure if it will be a weekly or even a bi-weekly thing. I will probably see how this first one does and go from their. I hope you enjoy my rant.

I will be honest; I am looking forward to getting my hands on the Halo Reach Beta on Monday. All this talk about Beta testing has got my little head wondering. Why doesn’t Nintendo allow for Beta testing? I don’t know all the in-and-outs of Beta testing, or what it would take to do it on the Wii, but I feel that it could be possible. Why not release a Wii Channel, like the one for Metriod Prime 3, which allows players to use Wii-connect to access the Beta?

Beta testing wouldn’t work or even be helpful for most Nintendo games, like Galaxy or Sin and Punishment. Testing would be more helpful for 3rd parties who are looking into creating the ultimate online experience like High Voltage wanted. For those of you who played The Conduit online, you may have noticed some issue in that game that could of probably been helped with an open Beta testing. I do not blame High Voltage at all for this, they where shooting in the dark with the Wii’s online capabilities. It probably was like trying out a prototype bicycle. Is it going to fall apart when it goes down hill, will the brakes work? The Conduit was the first true online shooter experience placed was on a system that was not been fully tested for online. It could of done well for it to get a few riders around the block with an open Beta.

Take a look at Bungie or Blizzard, both of these companies do extensive Beta testing with their game. The developers pay close attention to the Beta to see what works or what needs to be tweaked. There is no way a developer can simulate the stress of thousands of players playing their game at one time. Also, no offense to game testers, but you don’t compare to the hard-core fans who play the 12 player death match. It there is a flow to be found in the game, these 12 players will find it.

Nintendo I am a big fan of your company. I just think if your going to dabble in online gaming, you should do it right. Yes Mario Kart worked well, but Brawl did not. The Conduit was pretty good over-all but still had its issues, even for a game that was supposed to be a break through for the Wii’s online.

What do you think, would you be interested in Nintendo releasing a way for developers to release Beta?