January 3rd, 2008
Nintendo to bring DS downloads to Wii
According to the New York Times, Nintendo is moving their two top gaming platforms even closer together: the Wii, designed for casual gamers of all ages, and the DS, designed for players on the go. Both devices feature built-in WiFi connectivity. Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s president and chief operating officer was interviewed earlier this week:
Mr. Fils-Aime said that future DS device will be more tightly integrated with its Wii console. Complete games as well as game samplers will be able to be downloaded into the Wii using its broadband connection, and then transferred wirelessly to the DS.
Aside from whole games, other possibilities will be pursued. The ideas are being tried in Japan first before making their way to other countries:
In Japan, the DS’s functionality extends beyond its game-playing ability. There the device is used to give information during museum tours, and to download content from the Wii.Some of those features will eventually be introduced into the North American market as well. “To aggressively drive DS business we need to provide other forms of entertainment to excite the consumer,” said Mr. Fils-Aime.
The Wii continues to be a big hit at my household over a year after its release. The kids’ current favorite is Super Mario Galaxy. Innovative gameplay, rich character development, and tons of just plain fun have made the game a big hit. Warning: if you get vertigo, don’t even watch.
After playing Pokemon Diamond and Perl about a dozen times, however, the DS seems to have lost some of its appeal with our family. That, plus the fact that no one can find their games (or most of the Wii remotes for that matter). WiFi connectivity on the DS has been a major disappointment so far due to problems connecting, the lack of games, and difficulty finding people to play against.
One friend can’t connect at all because his parent’s router is set up using WPA protection which the DS doesn’t support (or didn’t, last time we checked). Even for WEP, locating and typing in a 128-bit hex key doesn’t exactly say “ease of use”. But perhaps the promised downloading capabilities will breath new life into the portable and have us digging under the bed and in the sofa to find it again.
Ed Burnette is a professional developer and author of several articles and books about computing including Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform, 2nd Edition. For disclosure of Ed's industry affiliations, click here or to view his full profile click here.
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