Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Nintendo to Roll Out Wi-Fi Online Gaming

Geoff Duncan
By

Game maker Nintendo has announced that it plans to launch Wi-Fi based online gaming via its new Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection on November 14, 2005. Available at first for the portable Nintendo DS and for the company’s next-generation gaming console, code-named Revolution, in 2006.

Although details remain sketchy, Nintendo says users of Nintendo DS systems will be able to connect to existing home-based Wi-Fi networks with "minimal setup procedures," and folks who have broadband Internet but no wireless network will be able to use a separate Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector (on their computer?) to create a wireless access point for the Nintendo DS.

Recommended Videos

Away from home networks, DS players will be able to use thousands of free Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection hotspots in the U.S., although Nintendo has not announced any information about these hotspots, who will be providing the network, where the hotspots will be located, or how to connect.

Related

Once wirelessly connected to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo says "characters from the Nintendo universe will be playable online, as part of a unique wireless community," A series of online-capable games from Nintendo will be released in the next few months, including Mario Kart DS,Animal Crossing: Wild World and Metroid Prime Hunters; Nintendo says these games will require no additional charge for online play. Online-capable third-party titles are also expected, including Activision’s Tony Hawk’s American SK8Land.

According to Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo 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." The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection will apparently enable players "of all kinds" to log in wirelessly and begin play. Specific capabilities will apparently vary from game to game. For instance, Mario Kart DS (set to be available November 14) will enable up to four players at a time to race, and players can select opponents from a roster of friends, randomly selected strangers of similar skill levels, or, literally, anyone else in the world who happens to be online. Animal Crossing: Wild World (to be available December 5) will enable players to travel to each other’s towns, or invite up to three players registered on the host’s roster to visit their downs by opening the town gate.

Nintendo also plans to include the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in its forthcoming Revolution gaming console in 2006, presumably enabling interactive online game play for online-capable games developed for that platform.

Going with Wi-Fi—and bypassing wired networks entirely for Internet-based gameplay—seems like a smart move for Nintendo, which leads the handheld/portable gaming market but faces stiff competition from Sony and Microsoft in the console game arena. The real question will be how well the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection works with specific types of game play: network traffic and latency may make some games essentially unplayable at various times, and, if players are constantly dropping on and off the network ("Can you play me now? Good!") the entire experience may be too frustrating to catch on.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Geoff Duncan
Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
Every Mario Kart game ranked from best to worst
mario kart tour launch day record nintendo mobile

It's hard to imagine a time before Mario and his friends (and foes) got together to speed down the racetrack while throwing shells and hitting speed boosts. The series was a hit from its first entry on the SNES and is still going strong. Today, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is not only the best-selling game on the Switch, despite being a port of the Wii U game, but is still getting new content with the Booster Course Pass adding both revamped classic tracks and a few new ones. Just like the mainline Mario games, the Kart series always changes things up between entries, giving each one its own unique flavor while retaining the tight racing feel. Looking back over the entire franchise, we've ranked every game in the series from best to worst -- though even the series' lowest point is still fun.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Read more
The best party games for Nintendo Switch
games like jackbox best featured

From the moment we first saw the Nintendo Switch, it was advertised as being a device tailor-made for socializing. The portability, plus the fact that each Joy-Con can be used as an individual controller, makes it the easiest console to bring out for some quick multiplayer fun. As a company, Nintendo has always been focused on making games fun and social experiences first and foremost, and it's certainly exemplified this ideology with the Switch. However, not every game on the Switch is suitable for a party environment. These games need to be more than just multiplayer games — they need to be titles that are easy for anyone to pick up and play.

The first party lineup of Switch games contains a majority of the best party games. No one knows its hardware better than Nintendo, and it's gone out of its way to craft some perfect party games that even people who don't traditionally play games can have fun with, similar to the Wii. That being said, there are way more games on the Switch that can be perfect for small and large gatherings of friends and family. If you want to spice up a party with some games, here are the best party games for Nintendo Switch.

Read more
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s next booster pass brings Wii and GameCube nostalgia next week
mario kart 8 deluxe booster wave 5 tracks characters

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's next big update, Booster Course Pass: Wave 5, launches on July 12. Nintendo shared a new trailer for the DLC showing off its eight tracks, which includes a few classics from Mario Kart Wii, Double Dash, and more.

Wave 5 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass launches July 12th!

Read more