Update: New US news:
To coincide with the details coming from Japan, Nintendo of America has revealed the US plans for the service that will link Nintendo DS games wirelessly all over the world. Already revealed as the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, this internet service will go online starting November 14th in the US, with the first Nintendo-published games, Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing: Wild World, and Metroid Prime Hunters supporting the network. The first third-party game 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. Households with Wi-Fi networks can access the service with only a minimal of setup procedures. For households with standard broadband internet access, Nintendo will sell separately the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector that will enable the Nintendo DS systems to connect to the internet.
Nintendo of America will also set up thousands of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection hotspots all over the US, and the company will soon reveal the details on where and how players can link up via these hotspots. Nintendo will also use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service for its next generation Revolution console when it ships sometime in 2006.
Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk's American Sk8land will ship on November 14th to kick off the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in the US. Mario Kart DS will support four player over the internet; racers can pick opponents from their roster of friends, match up randomly against strangers of comparable skill levels or simply choose to race against anyone in the world. American Sk8land will feature head-to-head play, enabling players to create custom art for boards and tags as well as track high scores and stats.
Animal Crossing: Wild World will launch on December 5th. Players can travel to other players' towns or invite up to three other players to visit their own towns, simply by opening the town gate. The four players then can interact and play together simultaneously in one town. Players must know one another and register to their respective friend rosters before they can connect.
Metroid Prime Hunters, the long-in-development first person shooter for the DS, will ship in the first quarter of 2006. The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service will enable players to link up with like-skilled opponents all over the world.
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."
http://ds.ign.com/articles/656/656195p1.html
And back to Japan:
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata promised during his keynote address at the Tokyo Game Show that final details on the DS's Online program would be revealed in October. Today was the day, as the company held a press conference in Japan outlining its plans for the Japanese DS platform over the next year. Online gaming took up a big part of that press conference.
In Japan, the DS Online program, unimaginatively titled "Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection," will kick off on 11/23 with the release of Animal Crossing DS (titled, in Japan, Oideyo Doubutsu no Mori). By this day, Nintendo plans on having installed "Nintendo Wi-Fi Stations" at 1000 game shops throughout Japan. These Wi-Fi Stations are Wi-Fi access points designed so that players will be able to start playing Online immediately after having purchased their games.
Nintendo also pointed out that DS owners would be able to use the 3,000 plus "FREESPOT" access points being set up by the Free Spot Council, a Japanese organization that works to expand the availability of wireless LAN access points throughout Japan and the rest of the world. Nintendo is a sponsor of this organization.
While you'll also be able to hook up to your home's wireless access point, Nintendo has a solution for those who don't have the equipment necessary for this. Working with accessory maker Buffalo, Nintendo will be releasing the "Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector," a small accessory that plugs into your computer's USB port and turns it into a wireless access point, provided the computer is already connected to the internet. The accessory will carry a retail price of 3500 yen and is expected to ship later this year.
All this connecting will be hassle free, Nintendo promises. When using the connection methods mentioned at the conference, won't have to input an ID or password, as these are automatically generated and stored in your DS for you. Those who make use of home wireless routers from Buffalo and NEC that are equipped, respectively, with AOSS and Raku Raku Musen Start technology will also have a simple connection process, with the DS automatically taking care of all the settings. Nintendo didn't address the subject of attempting to access wireless routers from other vendors, but we presume the DS will allow for ID and password input for those who require it.
Nintendo is also promising a free experience, at least as far as it can control. Access to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Station will be free. Nintendo published software that is listed as Wi-Fi compatible will also allow for free Online connectivity. As for third party publishers, Nintendo states that they will have to decide for themselves if they want to charge fees for their Online titles.
Back at the announcement of the Wi-Fi service a few months back, Nintendo addressed one additional issue: safety. Today, Iwata detailed how Nintendo will keep the Wi-Fi experience a safe one. Players against whom you've played face-to-face -- that is, not Online, but via point-to-point Wi-Fi (the way current DS, GBA and PSP games offer multiplayer support) -- will automatically be recorded to a friend list. You'll also have a twelve-digit "Friend Code," which can be given out in order to set up friend networks with players whom you've never actually met in real life.
Nintendo has provided two Online systems to developers: one where only members of your friend list can join in on the fun and another where anyone can join in, without restriction. It's up to game developers to decide which of these systems to use.
For its own part, Nintendo revealed how two of its games will support the two Online systems. Mario Kart will support both systems, allowing for players to select, from a menu, to take part in races with friends, with users at your current level, with users throughout the nation and with users throughout the world. As the game will not support text messaging, Nintendo is not worried about players connecting to players outside of their friend list. Animal Crossing DS, on the other hand, keeps the focus on your friend list -- in fact, only people on your friend list can access your village, as Nintendo is worried that random people will cause trouble, especially given the amount of freedom the game offers to players.
The plans outlined by Iwata today concern the Japanese market only. We expect Nintendo's US plans to be similar, but for specifics we'll have to wait for comment from Nintendo of America. Stay tuned
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