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Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection

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File:Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection logo.jpg
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection logo

The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is an online service run by Nintendo to facilitate free Internet play in compatible Nintendo DS and Wii games through the use of Wi-Fi connection. The service was launched in North America on November 14, 2005 with the release of Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk's American Sk8land, in Australia on November 17, 2005 with the release of Mario Kart DS, in the UK on November 18, 2005 with the release of Tony Hawk's American Sk8land, in Europe on November 21 with the release of both Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk's American Sk8land, and in Japan on November 23, 2005 with the release of Animal Crossing: Wild World. By May 9 2006, the service had logged over 40 million connections from over 1.3 million unique users worldwide in just over four months.

Connecting to the service

File:Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector.png
The Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector

The Nintendo DS is an IEEE 802.11 device, and a player can access the service via any compatible wireless network. This includes compatible public hotspots as well as personal 802.11b or 802.11g wireless routers, but does not yet include most public hotspots that use a captive portal. Entering the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection setup allows players to configure access to three different networks. A connection can be automatically detected on some routers, especially those that are AOSS-compatible. A user can also manually enter network settings. The Nintendo DS supports WEP encryption but not WPA. In addition to the three connections, the DS can be asked to connect to the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector, which requires little setup.

Nintendo's USB connector supports Windows XP-based PCs only (but some users have reported success with Mac OS X as well). Broadband Internet access is not required, but as common courtesy is highly recommended to prevent network lag. The USB connector is based on a Ralink chipset. Some hackers modified the official drivers so that many other adaptors with similar chipsets can act like an official Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector. [1] The chipset also means the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector can be used for Wireless Multi Boot.

There is no charge for connecting to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, or for playing any Nintendo first-party games. Third-party developers are free to decide whether to charge fees for playing their games through the service. Nintendo is working with hotspot providers to allow free access in public for Nintendo DS users and has already reached such an agreement with Texas-based firm Wayport to provide access in McDonald's Restaurants. [2] Wayport currently provides 6,000 Wi-Fi hotspots (which are not free to non-DS users). Connecting to these hotspots does not require configuration on the DS, bypassing Wayport's standard login. Nintendo also confirmed that the Wii will use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in this press release.

A similar partnership with FatPort to create free hotspots in Canada was announced by Nintendo of Canada on October 19, 2005. [3]

25,000 hotspots will be created in Europe, according to Jim Merrick, former Director of Marketing for Nintendo of Europe. [4] These include 7,500 in UK alone, thanks to a partnership with The Cloud and BT Openzone. [5]

Nintendo Australia announced on November 17, 2005 that they would roll out 26 hotspots across the country, in partnership with selected Electronics Boutique, Myer and Dick Smith Powerhouse stores. The sheer lack of hotspots came as a surprise to gamers in Australia, with many confused about whether the press release referred to 26 chains of stores, or 26 individual locations. It turned out to be the latter, meaning that many gamers would have to travel long distances to reach an official hotspot. Currently, all 26 points are active, but with no official announcements regarding an expansion with to the service or a partnership to allow access in McDonalds like in the US, most Australians have to purchase the USB adaptor, use a home wireless router or find an unofficial wireless hotspot.

Playing with others

Games designed to take advantage of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection offer Internet play seamlessly integrated into the game. After selecting Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in the game's menu, the device connects to the service. Simplicity and speed of starting a game appear to be Nintendo's focus. For example, in Mario Kart DS, players choose the online multiplayer option, then the player chooses to play with people at his/her skill level, play with friends, play with people in his/her region, or play with people around the world. Then the game immediately starts searching for available players. The user can also have a different game name for each game he or she plays online.

Friend codes

Friend codes are "addresses" assigned to every player that uses Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The codes are usually assigned one per player, per game; the codes allow a player to store a list of friends with the same game and play with them when both parties are online. The codes come in different formats for different games. For example, the codes of Mario Kart DS are six digits followed by another row of six digits, while Animal Crossing: Wild World's codes comprise three groups of four digits separated by hyphens. Friend codes in Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk's American Sk8land allow the player to search for opponents that are in their friend list and are also searching for a match against "friends" with the same game. In Animal Crossing: Wild World, friend codes are absolutely required to visit another’s town via the Wi-Fi connection, perhaps due to Nintendo’s privacy concerns or the potential in-game vandalism that could occur from unauthorized visitors to the player's town. Adding a friend can also allow text and/or voice chat, as in the case of Metroid Prime: Hunters and Animal Crossing: Wild World. In "Animal Crossing Wild World", every Wi-Fi users codes of which you obtain, are stored in your "Friend Roster" so you can keep a record of whose town you visit. Recently clubskill.com has had sucess uncovering a leaked wifi page on nintendo's own offical site announcing that they would continue friend codes and that it would be free to use this service, that the wii will be wifi compatible right out of the box.

Rivals

The "Rivals" concept was first introduced in Metroid Prime: Hunters, which is still the only game to utilize this feature. The "Rivals" feature eliminates many problems of friend codes. After each game, players have the option of adding each other as "Rivals." If both players agree, they are added to each others' rivals roster. In the future, the Rivals have the option of playing with each other again. In Metroid Prime Hunters' case, Rivals can play game modes and access advanced features that are not availble in regular online multiplayer. One disadvantage of Rivals is the fact that they still cannot chat with each other. Otherwise, Rivals connect and play like friends can.

Note that although there is a "Rivals" mode in Mario Kart DS, this does not perform like the above; instead, the player is matched against players of similar skill level, as determined by their progress through the game's single-player modes.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection figures

Nintendo Power Facts

(Facts taken from vol. 205)
FACT #1: As of 1:31a.m. PST March 7, 2006, 1 million unique users had logged onto the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection.
FACT #2: The US is leading the charge with 15 million Wi-Fi connections thus far. Japan is a close second.
FACT #3: In the first week after the game launched, 2 out of every 3 people who purchased Metroid Prime Hunters also played it online.
FACT #4: In its first week of sales, Tetris DS inspired 133,407 connections - that's over 13 games played per minute.
FACT #5: Players logged in to the WFC over 2.5 million times to play Metroid Prime Hunters in the first month the game was available.

Usage Statistics

(Sample stats taken from week of April 10, 2006 through April 23, 2006) (source: RevoGaming.net) (live stats)

  • Animal Crossing: Wild World 116,901 (44.2% of total) (live stats)
  • Metroid Prime: Hunters 70,954 (26.8% of total) (live stats)
  • Mario Kart DS 59,544 (22.5% of total) (live stats)
  • Tetris DS 15,842 (6% of total) (live stats)
  • Tony Hawk: American Sk8land 1,159 (0.4% of total) (live stats)
  • LostMagic (live stats)

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection website

Nintendo has created the Official Nintendo Wi-Fi connection website [6] as a portal for gamers looking to access the service, in need of troubleshooting assistance and much more. The website has live statistics and data from the service's servers and records high scores, and service status. It also allows a user to link their WFC ID to a My Nintendo account. The website went live on Monday, November 7, 2005 — one week prior to the key Mario Kart DS launch in North America. On March 7, 2006 at 1:31am PST, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection passed the milestone of having its one millionth unique user log on.

Nintendo Wi-Fi setup screens

Nintendo Wi-Fi games

For a more comprehensive list, see List of Nintendo DS Wi-Fi games and List of Wii Wi-Fi games

See also

Template:Nintendo Wi-Fi

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