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Nintendo DS to use GameSpy

Posted by Zonk on from the spies-everywhere! dept.

frikazoyd writes "Not long after Iwata's discussion on new hardware WiFi connectivity, IGN announces that the Nintendo DS is going to utilize their GameSpy network to connect online gamers, and without any fees." From the article: "The service will be utilized by software developers in several Nintendo DS titles, including Animal Crossing DS which was revealed at the Game Developers Conference in March. Players will have the ability to choose to play with friends or strangers anywhere in the world, as long as both systems have access to a Wi-Fi hotspot. Nintendo will reveal other online-capable Nintendo DS titles in the coming weeks."

3 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. When will we get multi-platform multi-player? by klausboop · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think this is great, but I hope it is a step to something I've looked forward to for a long time: multi-platform multi-player. What I mean is that if you've got a PC version of DOOM3 and an XBox version of DOOM3, why not expand the base of available players by letting them play against each other over the internet?

    Similarly, if a third party is making a title for both the DS and the PSP, why not figure out a way for them to play against each other, either wirelessly device-to-device or over the net? In a properly enabled home network, why not let the DS in the bedroom play against the Gamecube in the living room?

    Shouldn't this stuff be possible? Has this happened and I missed it? Seems like they're missing the boat via lack of forsight.

    --
    Some of you already have those cute little shirts on that say disco sucks, right? That's not all that sucks.-Frank Zappa
    1. Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player? by StocDred · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Similarly, if a third party is making a title for both the DS and the PSP, why not figure out a way for them to play against each other, either wirelessly device-to-device or over the net? In a properly enabled home network, why not let the DS in the bedroom play against the Gamecube in the living room?

      Well, you'll get some form of cooperation within the same company - IE, DS and Revolution, PSP and PS2. But seeing how quickly gamers stepped away from the GBA/GameCube connection, what incentive does anyone have to continue that? Four Swords Adventures is one of the best multiplayer GameCube games out there, but most gamers didn't have the capital to invest in it.

      First of all, it's not easy, because all the consoles are going to have slightly different tech, I may be wrong on this, but I think the only reason you get Mac-PC multiplayer is because most of those Mac games are just emulating a PC and loading PC code. Am I right? So a multi-platform game would have to dumb down to the lowest common demoninator and have the PC emulate an Xbox or the Xbox emulate a PS2... and who really wants to encourage developers to make more LCD ports?

      Sure, it's something you would like, and other gamers would like, but how does it increase sales? At this stage, it would help Nintendo more than anybody, so GameCube owners could get some use out of their broadband adapters... and why would Sony want to participate in that?

      Why would any company want to encourage you playing with another company? Most companies prefer to imagine that their competition doesn't exist, especially if they're already the market leader. No one at Sony cares about "increasing the base of available players." The whole idea is to get you to keep your brand loyalty, so you become a zombie for one system and spend your days screaming up and down about how you're on the winning team and everyone else sucks. And so you stick around to buy their next system, instead of sampling the other guy and switching over.

      And if you own more than one system, you have to either choose the one version of a game you want for the exclusive features (like Splinter Cell's multiplayer on Xbox vs. the GBA monitor screen on GameCube) or else buy them all so everybody gets their filthy lucre.

  2. Re:How many? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You keep posting things like this, and I keep posting the same correction: More people own Nintendo DS than PSP in every region where both are available, and Nintendo DS has been outselling PSP on a weekly basis in Japan since a couple of weeks after the PSP launch. Any joke you crack about the size of the DS userbase only means to prove your ignorance of these facts, Sonyturfer.