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Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Revealed! - DS, Wii

6th October 2005, 4:23pm
Well, we've finally got word about the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection that will let you play your DS and Revolution online with people around the world. What's the best news? It's free! No subscription fees - nothing!


US:

Nintendo of America has revealed the plans for the service, which launches on November 14th in the US. The first few first-party titles that will support the system are Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing: Wild World, and Metroid Prime Hunters, while the first third party title to hit stores will be Activision's Tony Hawk's American Sk8land.

The service will be free to Nintendo DS owners, requiring no additional charge to play supported games over the internet. If you already have a Wi-Fi network set up in your home, little needs to be done to ready it for the DS. If you've just got a broadband connection, Nintendo will sell a little dongle (see attached photo) that will broadcast it from your computer's USB port.

Nintendo of America will also set up thousands of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection hotspots all over the country, as will Nintendo of Japan. We can assume Nintendo Australia will take similar steps.

Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk's American Sk8land will ship on November 14th in the US. Mario Kart DS has four player online support - opponents can be chosen from their friend roster, from strangers with a similar skill level, or completely randomly. American Sk8land has 1-on-1 play, allowing players to make custom designs and tags for boards, as well as tracking scores and stats.

Animal Crossing: Wild World will launch on December 5th. To find out how the online part works, read our massive preview. Metroid Prime Hunters will ship in early 2006. The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection will link players up to those with similar skills, for head-to-head battles.

"Nintendo has taken the online video gaming model and rewritten the definition of community," said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales & marketing. "With easy setup and no added service fees, players far and wide will log in and play with one another as easily as if they were sitting in the same room."


JAPAN:

The Japanese will get the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection on the 23rd of November with Animal Crossing being the launch title for the service. By this day, Nintendo will have built "Nintendo Wi-Fi Stations" at over 1000 game shops throughout the country. The point of these places are so that players can get online literally straight after they've purchased a game.

Conveniently, the DS will be able to connect through the 3000 "FREESPOT" access points that are set up by a Japanese organization that aims to make Wi-Fi and LANS accesible to everyone. Nintendo sponsors the company. Again, for those without wireless routers at home, the USB dongle will be for sale in the region.

When using these connection methods you won't have to input an ID or password, as these are automatically generated and stored in your DS for you. Presumably you'll have to use this password if you're planning on using your home router, not connecting at one of the game stations.

Oh, by the way, Nintendo has created two plans for their online gaming - one with fees, one without. It's up to the third-party publishers to decide whether they want to make people cough up for the service.


Very cool stuff. As November is just around the corner, expect to hear more about the Australia and European networks in the near future.
by Nick Schaedel » Author's Blog