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1000 DS HotSpots By End of Year
Nintendo has announced that they will impliment up to 1000 DS wireless hotspots by the end of the year in Japan. No word yet on international wireless initiatives, though the article states there are many countries interested in the project. Iwata also repeats an earlier belief that online gaming has yet to really take off. From the article: "Iwata said online gaming had yet to take off and spread to a wide audience of users because of various drawbacks, including a laborious process to get connected to a network and consumers' unwillingness to pay a monthly fee for access."
Now I'm ashamed that I had lost faith in them. Nintendo truly doesn't go with the majority. They really were waiting for the "right time" to do something unique with online (and specifically, wireless) technology.
Between the DS hotspots and the proposed online service for the Revolution, it just goes to show you that Nintendo will take whatever the competition is doing and find a unique way of adapting it.
Wouldn't it be great if a cell phone plan was basically a "wireless" plan instead, without restriction to one particular device?
I believe this is where we need to head in order to reach the next level of online portable gaming.
I only hope they just would do it, and not say they plan it and drop the ball.
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I'm all in favour for hotspots, they sound like an imaginative way of solving a problem of folks not having broadband. Can't see myself hanging around one of these "hotspots" though, as much as I want to play it online. I question how many other folks would say the same.
Would be even nicer if they had WiMax in them. Would cost a hell of a lot more, but think of the range. You could play your friend across on the Revolution or DS without either of you leaving home. Would be interesting if they offered the ability to upgrade the network card in the console.
Usually when someone makes a statement like that, I'm all over it with a list. But you've got me there. Please Nintendo.. get some good games for DS. I'd buy ZooKeeper, but I already have Bejeweled on my Palm.. plus I'm not sure how it would scale to multiplayer.
I really can't even think of any good multiplayer games that are coming up off the top of my head. Maybe Animal Crossing DS will allow you to have some fun with other people.
It's like sex, except I'm having it!
Granted, 1000 hotspots is alot of hotspots in and of itself. But to have 1000 DS hotspots in Japan is staggering. To give you an idea, Japan is a little smaller than California. There are less than 1000 mcdonalds in california (and in Cali, there's a friggin McDonalds EVERYWHERE). So I imagine you wont be able to walk down the street in Japan without passing by a DS zone.
Mario Kart DS (online), Metroid Prime Hunters (most likely online)... Um... Those are the two multiplayer games I'm excited for that are coming out this year. There's also a Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles in the work (if you recall correctly, this was a VERY multiplayer oriented game on the Gamecube, just executed pretty poorly).
Unfortunately it has been confirmed that Metroid Prime Hunters will not be online
Has it? Got a link?
Here is an interview with Nintendo regarding Hunters. The relevant part is: IGN: With multiplayer being Metroid Prime Hunter's focus, and Nintendo's stance on going online with its Nintendo DS software, what can you tell us about the possibility of this game going online? Kensuke Tanabe: Unfortunately, the game won't support the multiplayer internet function of the Nintendo DS. To do it, it's not that easy and we'd have to build the infrastructure for it to work properly. The timing of the game release and the building of the infrastructure just didn't match. So while it won't be online, multiplayer will still be very very fun.
Ah, bummer. Mario Kart should proove to be good, though.
Mario Kart definitely slipped my mind there. Looking forward to that one. And I hope that Crystal Chronicles isn't as bad as it was on GCN. Don't get me wrong, I liked the game.. but I didn't like that I was basically forced to play with the same people all the time (if you did a few levels without a character, they were too underpowered for the higher levels).
It's like sex, except I'm having it!
Well there is Trauma Center: Under The Knife Hands. You and a friend can see which one of you can make a better Kevorkian. Jee... This game might the only reason why I would buy the DS.
Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.