Nintendo DS to use GameSpy

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."

Comments

Gamespy?

[DJCacophony]

If gamespy is going to be on the DS, no doubt one screen will be for gameplay and the other for gamespy-affliliated advertisements

Re:Gamespy?

[Anonymous Coward]

but doesn't "DS" stand for "dog shit"?

Re:Gamespy?

[Pxtl]

Plus, if there's going to be online game playing through the DS, what about simple browsing? That's particularly relevant since many hotspots reroute outbound HTTP requests to the login page in order to handle logging on to their network.

Old News

[Anonymous Coward]

I apologize for such a downnote starter, but this news is practically antique.

Re:Old News

[KDR_11k]

The difference between the previous news and this is that before it was just a general deal (i.e. no platforms or goals mentioned) and rumours, this is now the official word.

first post!

[Anonymous Coward]

first post!

When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[klausboop]

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.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[matticus]

I used to play linux unreal tournament against mac unreal tournament players...That was in 2000. why it doesn't happen with consoles I will never understand.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[nuremon]

Final Fantasy Online does this, you can play from a PS2 or a PC.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[Qzukk]

Whats REALLY special about FF Online is that you can play from the US or Japan, and in game translation takes care of (some of, anyways) the language gap.

If DS could do this, I'd be impressed.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[Reignking]

That would explain why everything comes out like "All your base are belong to us."

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because in FPS games the PC players would wipe out the console players to easily. You just can't aim as accurately or quickly with a thumb stick as you can with a mouse.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[Reignking]

Which is why I will never play an FPS on a console...I'm bad enough as it is with aiming :)

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[Chris Mattern]

> multi-platform multi-player.

It's out there. Battle.net has been hooking up Mac and PC users for ages, as does WoW. FF XI puts PC and PS2 users together.

Chris Mattern

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[Anonymous Coward]

That feature is also in Sega's Phantasy Star Online (which predates older than FFXI), andallowed you to play with anyone from any region. Very nice.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[Anonymous Coward]

The Dreamcast version of Quake 3 allowed you to play against people on the PC, in fact you can still play online with it that way. They even released a map pack for PC players so they could host games using the Dreamcast-only levels that came with the DC version.

So it's been done already. By Sega. On the Dreamcast. Like so much else.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[StocDred]

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.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[freakmn]

I believe that it was possible to play Unreal Tournament on Dreamcast on a LAN, against a PC, if you kept your PC patched to a certain version. I can't currently find information on how to do this, but I'll post back if I do.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[freakmn]

I can't find any information confirming positively that UT works over a LAN, but apparently Q3A did, on Dreamcast. There are instructions on how to set it up here, and a Dreamcast Map Pack here.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[TwoStep]

Mac games are nto emulating a PC and running PC code. Developers are just making sure that the network packet format is the same (same endianess).

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[AuMatar]

Obviously you didn't play the game. The translation sucked, it was a set of predefined phrases that rarely fit what you needed to say. Not that I expected better, but unless the japanese player spoke english, you didn't communicate.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[computertheque]

this was done already with the Dreamcast and Pc versions of Quake3. The PC people just had to download the dreamcast map packs, but they could play each other online.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[Christopheles]

This is happening with some games, and is even more likely to occur in the future. More mega-cross platform games like PoP2 would not surprise me either.

However, in a combat situation where the controls and hardware manner (like FPS games), pitting Console vs. Computer would generally be unfair at best. At the very least it would have to state who was using a console and who was using a computer.

With consoles, everyone has basically the same hardware and controls (before the use of HDTV becomes popular), so they are all about equal. With computers, the person with the fastest computer generally has a very good advantage in these types of games. Mixing the two would be a recipe for unhappiness.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[HAKdragon]

Apart from what's already been mentioned, you could play against PC users on the DC and vice versa on Quake 3 you used the patch on the PC version.

Re:When will we get multi-platform multi-player?

[Anonymous Coward]

DS' touch screen, when used with the carrying strap thumb pad, is a great FPS controller. I wish the consoles had the same kind of touch screen controls for their FPS games.

bad decision

[Reignking]

I cannot stand gamespy. I have had such horrible experiences with it that I avoid it all all costs. Costs like buying games that use it.

Re:bad decision

[Suddenly_Dead]

Battlefield seems to work fine with Gamespy, as do the other games I have that use a Gamespy masterserver / browser. Some game companies just use Gamespy's sample code with the SDK and work it into the game horribly, that's hardly Gamespy's fault.

Re:bad decision

[Reignking]

My last problem w/ Gamespy was with Freedom Force...and I do mean last.

When When When

[StocDred]

Just freaking tell us when Animal Crossing DS will ship already. It's been a DS killer app since Day One, and still no word on when it hits.

Re:When When When

[Eye of the Frog]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/200505 10/ap_on_hi_te/nintendo_ds_wireless

Re:When When When

[StocDred]

This November! Thanks for the link man, consider yourself the winner of a free Cabin Series Armchair this fall.

Re:When When When

[Yer Mom]

Whoa. There's something odd. It took them well over a year from the US release before we got Animal Crossing on the GC in Europe... and yet the European release date is September 29, according to Play :)

How many?

[Anonymous Coward]

Players will have the ability to choose to play with friends or strangers anywhere in the world

Yeah, all 5 of them. Seriously, the Nintendo DS is like the 2005 version of the "Virtual Boy": clunky, big, and an eyesore.

Two screens, what a fucktarded asshat gimmick.

Re:How many?

[astrokid]

Ken Katuragi, is that you? :)

Re:How many?

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:How many?

[Anonymous Coward]

Players will have the ability to choose to play with friends or strangers anywhere in the world

Yeah, all 5 of them. Seriously, the PSP is like the 2005 version of the "Game Gear": rehashed games, crappy battery life, and prone to breaking.

Analog nub, what a fucktarded asshat gimmick.

Re:How many?

[Pluvius]

So we agree that they both suck equally, then.

Rob

Gamespy woes

[Taulin]

I despise Gamespy so much for how hard it makes playing some games like the total war series. While I guess if I had to choose between no multi-player and using gamespy, I would choose using gamespy, I am at the point of avoiding all possibilities of supporting them in hopes that another, better, solution becomes available.

So Many Complaints For Something That Is Free

[jmole]

Would you rather have a free online service and have to put up with advertisements when you login or would you rather pay the monthy/yearly service on top of the $50 you spent on the game? Most PC games have GameSpy built into them and it is not that bad as some of you are making it out to be.

Re:So Many Complaints For Something That Is Free

[Anonymous Coward]

> Would you rather have a free online service and have to put up with advertisements
> when you login or would you rather pay the monthy/yearly service on top
> of the $50 you spent on the game?

Neither. I'd rather buy the game and be able to play it online with no added fees or ads. The way PS2 games work, in the limited experience I have.

The one PC game I've played with "Gamespy technology", Battlefield 1942, does not have ads last I checked.

Gamespy Arcade (or whatever they call it these days) has ads, but when they integrate their "technology" into the game directly, they don't put in ads. That's OK, IMO.

Re:So Many Complaints For Something That Is Free

[AuMatar]

I'd rather pay. I refuse to buy any product I can't use without ads. And I refuse to use any product that gets supported via advertising.

Re:So Many Complaints For Something That Is Free

[Khuffie]

Yet you're on Slashdot? :p

Re:So Many Complaints For Something That Is Free

[Anonymous Coward]

There are ads on Slashdot?

Re:So Many Complaints For Something That Is Free

[AuMatar]

Does slashdot have ads? I wouldn't know, I've been using ad blockers for years.

Metroid?

[FriedTurkey]

Hopefully a new Metroid will be Wi-Fi. Played the demo at Best Buy. I think the touch pad is actually better than a mouse for FPS. Kicking ass online would be awesome!! I would've bought a DS but I found out that there is no real Metroid game for the DS yet.

This is awesome news for DS fans.

[DeanMeister]

Gamespy is a great network for PC games that nearly everyone knows about. It's clearly not considered a kids game service in anyway, so this is a smart move by nintnedo. Not only are they getting recognition with the Gamespy name, they're getting GOOD recognition. This is another huge step for Nintendo. Maybe now we'll see gamespy involved with Revolution??

To be fair...

[Anonymous Coward]

Japanese Console Hardware Chart
From: Apr 18 - 24, 2005

System Sales this week Total this year
Nintendo DS 96,191 675,310
PlayStation 2 33,080 788,353
PlayStation Portable 33,005 757,876
GameBoy Advance SP 10,820 265,512
GameCube 8,329 93,449
GameBoy Advance 422 9,146
Xbox 112 6,089

Yeah, the DS outsold the PSP (almost 3:1) for that week, but that was mainly due to Nintendogs. Notice how total sales are still lower so far this year in Japan (and yes, insert the 'omgrooflelololxbox' comments here).

Let's go back a week before this:

Japanese Console Hardware Chart
From: Apr 11 - 17, 2005

System Sales this week Total this year
PlayStation 2 30,572 755,273
PlayStation Portable 28,950 724,872
Nintendo DS 21,698 579,119
GameBoy Advance SP 10,529 254,692
GameCube 3,376 85,120
GameBoy Advance 397 8,724
Xbox 315 5,977

Hmm....

Translation: Your blind love for Nintendo is almost as bad as many of these posters' blind love for Sony.

Re:To be fair...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, now post the cumulative sales for both systems since their launch. You're in for a surprise (hint: the PSP numbers are lagging behind.)

Translation: You don't know what you're talking about.

Re:To be fair...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, I think your current -1 offtopic mod is as unfair as your final assessment, so I'll reply:

Why did you stop at April 11?

What you'll see if you do the research is that Nintendo DS sold over a million units in Japan in the month of December 2004 alone (not counting earlier impressive U.S. sales). To date, Sony has sold only about 1.2 million PSPs in Japan, including BOTH December 2004 sales AND YTD 2005 sales. Nintendo DS has kept pace with the PSP, outselling it both during PSP's launch week and following the PSP's boom period in January. That's how Japan has become home to 1.6 million DS owners and 1.2 million PSP owners by May 2005. Google the numbers for the U.S. to see similar performance comparisons here, and let's not even mention Europe, where the domestic sales difference is infinite.

(When comparing launch numbers in the U.S. or Japan, don't forget that early adopters woldwide imported American DS systems since DS launched here, while all these international buyers had to import launch PSPs from Japan, where it was exclusive for several months, inflating PSP's Japanese sales the whole time.)

So you posted an anomalous week in April. So what? Go pull MC's weekly charts for February and March (Nintendo ceded January big-time, thanks to the PSP's later launch date in December)....Nintendo DS wins. And this is not relying on the strength of its super-impressive titles, because (I'll admit it) they haven't been released yet, whereas the PSP's library has been a relative flood of supposedly jaw-droppingly impressive games. Too bad for SCEI that the sales don't match the fan and retailer hype (OH BOY, look at total individual PSP game sales compared to total individual DS game sales for some sad Sony joke numbers). And lucky for Nintendo that people have come to love Kirby, WarioWare, and Nintendogs in addition to Mario 64, especially since there are multiple DS games that have outsold any single PSP game you can think of by a factor of two or more in Japan. Like I mentioned, they aren't impressive games, just flat out GOOD.

Anyway, I really don't see why there should be a problem for Nintendo gamers that the PSP should perform well. As I've posted in other comments, it has done a lot to grow the handheld market without doing so at Nintendo's expense, which is fine by me. It's for that reason that I also don't understand why you'd assume that I am being blind in my dedication to accuracy when it comes to stories about Nintendo's supposed failures where none exist, especially when the truth is so easily proven.