Gamecube Online
Nintendo shuffles its feet in preparation for an announcement
Although Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo's president, considers online gaming "a fad", there are tens of thousands of people around the world who disagree with him. Counter-Strike, the online teamplay modification for Half-Life, is currently the single most popular 3D game on the Internet, bar none. Services like iSketch and other simple online games are incredibly popular, and those online casinos... The thing is, even though Nintendo of Japan still think of online gaming in the same way, Nintendo of America do not, and are taking steps to make sure that when the time comes, there is some form of network for the 'cube to connect to. The word is that Jim Merrick, who has overseen hardware development and such on the Gamecube already, has been promoted to take control of the top-secret online network project, Nintendo Online. According to IGN, development kit designer Applied Microsystems, who work for Microsoft and Nintendo on their respective consoles have placed job advertisements seeking online gaming consultants and the like, and Nintendo have recently secured the domain name www.nintendoonline.com. Incriminating evidence, if ever there was any.