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Hands on With Nintendo's Wi-Fi Adapter
vituperation writes "1UP took the Nintendo USB Wi-fi Adapter for a test drive and has posted a detailed photoessay on the installation process. It looks straightforward enough... provided, of course, you run WinXP. For those who prefer other operating systems, the article also mentions the ease with which the author (who doesn't use XP) was able to connect his copy of Mario Kart to an existing wireless router. Nintendo's online strategy seems questionable, making connectivity completely dependent on the options offered by individual games, but the trade-off is that it's simple enough for practically anyone to make use of."
This is copied verbatim from the Darkain site, it pretty much answers your question: "UPDATE There seems to be some confusion regarging the online hotspot connectivity with the Nintendo DS. These hotspots will not allow for every multiplayer DS game to be played over the internet. It is not a special router or a form of tunneling. New games for the DS (such as Mario Kart and Animal Crossing) are being built to directly support TCP/IP communications. As mentioned above, this can be implemented on a per-game basis, and now games are starting to be released to support this feature. Games that support TCP/IP networking will work with home based conventional wireless routers and access points (802.11B/G, not 802.11A) as well as internet hotspots. Nintendo is also releasing a USB wireless adapter for users who do not currently have wireless networks setup in their houses."
The thing is just a rebranded Buffalo USB Wireless key. If you don't have wireless already there are probably a lot better maybe even cheaper solutions and as I understand it this doesn't give you any extra functionality like compatibility with Nintendo's proprietary wireless protocol.
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http://www.buffalotech.com/products/product-detai