Quote:When Nintendo President Satoru Iwata unveiled the first pieces of information regarding the DS' online plans, he left gamers with many questions. Now, in a document sent to Japanese gaming website Game Watch, he has clarified some of this information.
First off, Nintendo plans to launch somewhere around 1,000 wireless hot-spots across Japan, to help those gamers who do not already have a wireless connection in their home. These hot-spots will be free to use, and there will be no set-up required. The Nintendo DS will automatically connect to them.
At the Game Developers' Conference, Iwata mentioned that there would be no need for gamers to use complicated things such as SSIDs and WEP passwords to access Nintendo's online service. This confused many gamers, leaving the impression that the DS might not be able to access hotspots that needed this information. However, in his recent comments, Iwata has stated that in order to connect to a home wireless connection, the DS will require some configuration, but that it would be minimal if the gamer users a "Nintendo approved router."
Iwata also said that Nintendo will not charge for their online service, but they are not going to stop other publishers from charging players to access their games.
I'm already planning on setting up a wireless internet connection for my house [I'm getting a laptop sometime this year], so this is definitely good news.
Planet Gamecube
Awesome.
There are hot spots all over the malls and at book stores, coffee shops, hotels, etc. Now all we'll need is a broad network for when we're not in a hot spot.
We all know my opinion on this one. :)
Yes, and as such you are not allowed to comment on it.
ABF is ten years behind everyone, tech-wise. By 2010 he just might move to a higher monitor resolution, and by 2020 he might have moved to wireless internet. :D
It's not my choice if we have wireless internet... well, I could say 'we should get it' I guess, but I'm not going to do that. :)
There should already be wireless access at your school.
Wireless routers don't cost THAT much anyway.
There is in some places, like the library and union, but not in dorms to the best of my knowledge.
Wireless routers only cost about $50, maybe even less than that.
And this matters because...
So what, you're against wifi based on
principle then?
That's the only thing I can think of.
ABF: I don't care that wireless routers are cheap, because I refuse to use them on the basis that I'd rather have a cord connecting my DS to my computer.
That's $50 I'd rather spend on games. Or books. Or something more immediately useful.
... and anyway, this is all academic. Remember, I don't have a DS...
Wireless routers are like $10 more expensive than regular routers. Cords begin to become inconvienent if you want many people to be able to connect to the same router. Thats not to mention the DS would probably be a bit thicker and bulkier just to accomodate a LAN card. This isn't like the Wavebird where you give up Rumble function for wireless.
Wireless internet is quite obviously the logical solution for getting the masses online with broadband.
Then I also have to comment on the backwardsness of not adopting WiFi.
What's awesome too is Nintendo is providing their own Wireless hotspots. I'm guessing that it will be reserved for DS and probably GBA2 play in the future... but does Sony have plans for this ?
I wonder if Nintendo has been holding back for this technology development to make a full on assault to retake number 1 with this generation ?
Quote:Or something more immediately useful.
Followup:
Quote:Nintendo have partnered up with IGN Entertainment to allow gamers to play against each other on their DS no matter where they are. Thanks to IGN's GameSpy Technology players will be able to compete against each other as if they were in the same room.
"With minimum setup procedures, Nintendo DS owners will be able to enjoy Wi-Fi gaming just as easily as if they were playing with their friends in the same room," explains Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales & marketing. "To realize this simple and seamless transition to Wi-Fi gaming, we're partnering with one of the leaders in the multiplayer gaming world. Accessing the service will require no added Nintendo subscription charges, whether users hook up using a home broadband Wi-Fi connection or access a Wi-Fi hotspot at a coffee shop, library or elsewhere. It doesn't get any easier than that."
While few titles have been announced so far, with the most famous one being Animal Crossing DS more are expected "in the upcoming weeks" according to the press release, meaning E3 more than likely.
"We're excited to bring the technology that powers more than 300 PC and console video games to Nintendo's innovative wireless platform. Now developers can easily and confidently add advanced matchmaking, community and other multiplayer services to their Nintendo DS games," says Mark Stieglitz, general manager of IGN Entertainment's GameSpy Technology Group. "We're honored that Nintendo is choosing IGN's GameSpy as their middleware partner, and look forward to a very long relationship."
I'll be ready.
Cube-Europe
Man, I can't wait!
Four Swords online on DS... OMG that would be heaven in a cupcake.
Quote:
Um... what part of "I don't have a laptop, PSP, or DS" do you not understand?
Quote:What's awesome too is Nintendo is providing their own Wireless hotspots. I'm guessing that it will be reserved for DS and probably GBA2 play in the future... but does Sony have plans for this ?
Yes.
Quote:Um... what part of "I don't have a laptop, PSP, or DS" do you not understand?
Then why do you care that the DS uses wireless Wifi? You're confusing me, ABF.
Great Rumbler Wrote:Cupcakes aren't free...
Woah, you mean that they're not free over where you live? Crap, here in Colorado it
rains cupcakes! Usually followed by sprinkles!
Sometimes we have money-rain, but cupcakes? No, it's never done that before.
Well it's pretty darn awesome.
Quote:Then why do you care that the DS uses wireless Wifi? You're confusing me, ABF.
In the case that I did get one.
Well when you do you can also get a wireless router. Amazing!
Well, I think ABF would just like to be able to use the technology he has based simply on the fact that he doesn't see any real reason that it would be lacking.
But, here's the deal. Fitting in an ethernet jack would be a waste of cost and effort when very few people would put it to use. It's not like it's only a software thing. People who HAVE broadband but NOT ethernet will be left out, but well, people that have broadband have the cash to spend on a router with wifi. And also, you'd be wanting a router anyway if you plan on hooking up your computer and another game machine anyway. The wireless feature in routers is getting pretty cheap. Finally, it's not as though that's the only reason to get it. Making your place a hotspot is also a nice courtesy to friends with laptops.
ABF, to your statement "if I get it I will have to buy extra hardware to support it or go somewhere that has it", I agree. There's no denying that. I'm just saying this is technology that is going to be adopted pretty much everywhere, so it's not really relevent.
My level of interest in owning a laptop is nearly zero. :)
Yes, yes, I know, plugs, etc... it just seems very stupid to restrict use based on something as minor as the connection method. If you have a fast enough connection you should be able to run it... the PC industry runs mostly on compatibility. Why can't consoles too? I mean, I can see restricting dialup access, if they will be lagging (and this is NOT a given -- there are current, fully modern PC games which run quite well on dialup.)... but wireless vs. wired? Silly.
Having wireless decreases the size of the DS, which is likely one reason Nintendo went with it. Another being that wireless IS the wave of future regardless of how you feel about it. Cellphones, laptops, and now handheld consoles, it's all going wireless.
Quote:My level of interest in owning a laptop is nearly zero.
Well, it's not like you need one to set up a wireless connection.
Many PC games are dumping dial up 56k for broadband. Simply put, 56k is much too slow and too small a bandwidth for the amount of data required for the current generation of games.
I think people are also favoring wireless these days also because the connection can be set up to be pretty damned secure, and much more secure than LAN networks with a WEP password and such.
Btw, has anyone heard if Advanced Wars DS will be online ? It would be a shame if it wasn't.
Quote:Many PC games are dumping dial up 56k for broadband. Simply put, 56k is much too slow and too small a bandwidth for the amount of data required for the current generation of games.
True for FPSes, but for strategy games 56k works, with the one problem being download time (to get maps you don't have). RPGs? Depends on the title. Some work well with dialup, others not as well.
Quote:Btw, has anyone heard if Advanced Wars DS will be online ? It would be a shame if it wasn't.
We haven't heard anything suggesting that it will be, so I'd say probably not...
I just don't see what the problem is. Say what you will, it's an exxageration of the situation. They didn't exclude JACK, well, okay they LITERALLY excluded people using ethernet jacks... But, you get what I mean, it's not a relevant exclusion. It's roughly like complaining that current day DVD players don't support laser disks. Okay, that's an exxageration too, but my point is this. Using actual wires is "out". Pretty much everyone I know that has more than one machine hooked up to their broadband is using a wireless router now. The exclusions you complain about are silly to complain about. And, as GR pointed out, yes, if they put the actual port in the DS, it would increase the size, for no good reason.
On another note, well, wired internet is actually more secure based on simple physics alone. Assuming equally good encription (easily doable), a wire PHYSICALLY blocks people a lot more than data being broadcasted to everyone within the hotspot radius. I would still use a wired connection for SUPER secure stuff like between two super computers in the pentagon. At least there you have to actually sneak IN the place to get a hack going. Of course, I don't care. I have nothing on my machine I fear someone stealing.
Back on topic, look at it this way. The DS is a portable. The hookups would increase DS size and cost. Wireless is closing in on becoming the norm. All together, it adds up to it being NOT a mistake to not bother with an ethernet jack on the device. Seriously, it was NOT a bad move! It wasn't!
Perhaps a better analogy than my above one is this... When cell phones came around, did anyone complain that they didn't have phone jacks so you could also use them on a normal phone line?
http://cube.ign.com/articles/611/611909p1.html
Gah... let's hope this doesn't happen, in the US at least... If they implement this, could Nintendo try any harder to destroy their market share?
Oh, and SquareEnix might support DS and Revolution.
Try to find the original quote by Nintendo about that. I didn't take it to mean that they're only going to let people who know each other play online together. I have no idea how IGN came up with that.
What the heck is IGN talking about? Nothing in their article yesterday said anything REMOTELY like that.
Yeah, let's hope it's some kind of translation or writing error...
Surely Square-Enix wouldn't be praising Nintendo's online scheme if that's what they were planning on doing.
Sounds to me like he's talking about the DS wireless multiplayer.
But we already have that... I dunno, but I don't believe IGN's interpretation. Maybe he was talking about a friends list or something.
Quote:Surely Square-Enix wouldn't be praising Nintendo's online scheme if that's what they were planning on doing.
You never know...
Quote:But we already have that... I dunno, but I don't believe IGN's interpretation. Maybe he was talking about a friends list or something.
It's a completely ridiculous idea, so I sure hope it's wrong.
Quote:You never know...
Well, actually I do. Square-Enix wants people to be able to play with tons of other people online [FF11], not with a small group of people that you have to actually meet in real life.
It would work with Nintendo's 'DS wireless multiplayer is to meet people' thing, though...
It wouldn't work with Square-Enix's 'play with a ton of people online' thing, though...
Nintendo has done ad campaigns and stuff around that concept, so it'd make a sad sort of sense... but I do think that they aren't quite THAT stupid... at least for the American release... and yes, you're probably right about Square.
Square-Enix man! Don't ditch a WHOLE COMPANY
:D
Anyway, FF11... You know they are actually releasing another MMORPG. I saw a preview some time ago. Basically it's a bit more victorian an era, and also, from what I can tell, it's got nothing but humans in it. But it was just an FMV in the end, so for all I know it's actually going to be real time battle (that would be interesting I guess, if I were the sort to spend a monthly fee on ONE GAME).
Squeenix does need to fix some of their customer relations issues though. Namely, let the players stop paying for... forever... and keep all their data on the servers for exactly that long, just like all the OTHER MMORPG guys do.