Nintendo Releasing Wireless Router for Revolution

nmaster64 writes "Nintendo is really pushing their Nintendo Wi-fi hard, completely reversing the anti-online mentality they've held in years past. Nwizard.com reports, "Nintendo will soon be producing a router that will allow access to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Network on both the DS and the Revolution. The router plugs into a USB 2.0 port and transfers your computers internet connection wirelessly into your next-gen Nintendo devices." It should be noted this story came at almost the same time as Sony announced they dropped the PS3's router functionality." Update: 07/13 06:20 GMT by Z : Please note there is no source referenced for this "story", and this could in fact be some guy's pet theory.

Comments

WiFi for consoles makes sense

[ReformedExCon]

The ability to reduce the number of cables is absolutely outstanding. A console that can be attached to the Internet without having to run a wire from the router or wireless hub to the box is a godsend. The ping times might suffer a little, though, I bet.

I can't understand why Sony would want to withdraw WiFi from the PS3 spec, though. If it is a technical issue, then you can bet they will come back later with an add-on WiFi dongle. If it is something else, then they've got me in the dark as to why they would reduce the spec at this stage when PS3s aren't even scheduled to hit the stores yet.

But as wireless networking becomes faster, and broadband providers start providing wireless router modems, this kind of thing is going to become the norm. Not only games, of course, but almost anything that needs to "think" more than a "dumb" device will be designed to take advantage of the home-wireless LAN.

Re:WiFi for consoles makes sense

[heov]

it's nintendo ds, not gameboy ds. the ds has both wifi and a proprietary rf signal. currently it uses the proprietary rf signal for DS to DS communication. the wifi radio in the ds will be used when online games finally come out. it's real wifi. can work on any router. same goes w/ the revolution. the controller uses a proprietary signal, but online play is standard wifi. this device nintendo released is basically a proprietary wifi dongle. it's not required, but is meant for those who don't have wifi already (which i suggest simply buying a real router)

Re:Windows only?

[Dolda2000]

If Nintendo all of the sudden relies on a Windows PC to do all this magic, I will have to turn in my fanboy card.

That you won't have to do. Regardlessly of whether this router requires Windows, both the DS and the Revolution are still compatible with standard 802.11b (and g?) WiFi networks. So you can still use an ordinary WiFi AP to do that magic.

Re:Windows only?

[Torne]

No, the RSA encryption on the DS is not used to secure the actual wireless communications, but only to secure wireless download play (when you play multiplayer over wifi with only one cartridge between you). The code sent over wifi to multiboot all the DSes that don't have a cartridge is RSA signed, and an unmodified DS will refuse to run multiboot code that does not pass the signature check.

Once the DS has been booted, either by multiboot or by having a cartridge inserted, the 'RSA Secured' is irrelevant, and any security which is then used is only whatever security the game developer has put into their software, usually zero.

The device Nintendo are proposing here basically seems to be nothing more than an access-point mode USB wifi adapter, possibly with some software to configure Windows' connection sharing. It will work just as well with any standard wifi router/access point, as far as anyone can tell (online DS games soon to be released, such as Animal Crossing DS, are being promoted as working at any wifi hotspot, something that wouldn't happen if they used some Nintendo proprietary 'thing').

Speculation: They didn't make a router that connects with a cat5 cable because these days a lot of people have all-in-one wireless router/broadband/everything boxes anyway, and probably most of the people who don't already have some kind of solution to this, integrated or otherwise, only have their broadband connected to a single PC. They could've built this functionality into the Revolution, making it an access point in its own right and giving it an ethernet port, but it's cheaper not to, I guess, especially if my speculation is true.