9th May 2005, 3:25 PM
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
Sometimes you get the scorpion.