Cool. So it’s like a myspace or something? You add someone to your friends list on the website and then you can play with them with your DS? I kinda like that idea.

well, i don’t know… it would be nice to have chat rooms built in the games so one can meet and challenge other people.

EOm,thats a great idea.

wow, after reading that article all I can is that the techs working for Nintendo are geniuses for creating such an amazing online structure. I think we’ll see other people start to copy this one as we move forward into future generations.
Sometimes Nintendo’s thinking out of the box is a miss, but when Nintendo gets it right, boy do they get it right!

wow, that article was a great read and now i cant wait for this to launch. i think the way nintendo is managing this online thing is genious, and extremely user friendly. god i cant wait!

I like the web interface that Nintendo Wif will have, but my big question is will it allow for automatic play. Most xbox live games have an OptiMatch mode and you say “I want to play on this map, with these many players” and boom you are playing. If you don’t have any buddies, can you still play with other people?

yes you can

Looks like this will really be something big. It helped answer a lot of questions. Consumers standing in retail stores without buying anything? Yeah, might not work out too well. I can say this though, if they can get a lot of places to sponsor the wifi hubs, then the 90% wont seem so farfetched.

Nintendo is really taking a different approach on this onilne thing, it amazes me, instead of going into “internet/Online mode” its all integrated, almost like you were just playing against your friend, this is gonna be great, i like the bit about taking the train to another persons village in animal crossing, instead of going to a list of usernames, and trying to connect, you just simply buy a train ticket, and all the boring loading screens and connection process is hidden within the game, and you get to ride the train, awsome.

hope they get some mmo like puzzlepirates.com on the DS. Given the touchscreen it would rock for puzzles. the chat system they have could be done through a certain picto chat alike system.

As long as I can figure out how to add friends that I don’t know locally, all is well, and I really like this setup. It remembering your unique DS as your “identitiy” and not some login name, so as long as you’re on the same system you can play any game with anyone with any username. Very sweet.

“Then if you have a friend with whom you can’t meet personally but want to add to your buddy-list, there’s of course a way to do that online.”

Ah there we go, perfect. I can’t wait.

wow this is going to be so fun. i can’t wait.

Well I wonder how Pictochat will work.

i don’t get it, are you going to be able to upgrade the ds firmware via the wifi service?

Yeah, how is this “transferring” of passwords and offline buddy list invites work? A DS Card? a firmware update?

Must be firmware update.

“Yeah, how is this “transferring” of passwords and offline buddy list invites work? A DS Card? a firmware update?”

I think it’s just software built into each game, not the DS itself? Or at least that’s what it sounds like. Or maybe it will be on a GBA cart that you plug in whenever you want to play an online game? I think it’s just in the game software though really, is the way it sounds.

I think the buddy list you make through a password generated on the nintendo.com login site, at least for people that you don’t know locally. Nice that they’re offering this for free, I guess they’re taking a little expensive hosting stuff like the site to connect people, and they hope the games will bring in the profit. Seems like a good plan, if it works, I know I’m excited.

This sounds excellent! It also means that forming gaming clans should be easy too!:)

I’m quite please with serveral of the details, especially the fact that it looks like you’ll be able to connect to a WEP enabled wireless router, as well as ones that require a user name and passowrd. Thiis is great news, as the wireless network at the university requires a username and passowrd.

Goober: yes…that sounds right.

The long-distance buddy-list thing seems to be confusing some people here. Let me break down how I’m reading what Jim is saying.

You want to add Bob to your buddy list. Bob’s someone you know on, say, an online forum. Or maybe you know his e-mail address. Doesn’t matter.

So you fire up your online-compatible game, go into buddy list maintenance, and tell it you want to add someone. You say that you’re adding Bob, and the game gives you a password, kind of like an Animal Crossing password.

You take that password and send Bob a PM on the forums, or maybe you send him an e-mail. Bob gets your message, enters the password, and you appear in his buddy list. Now, the next time you’re both online, Bob’s entry in your list is “enabled” automatically, and you’re both ready to go.

Like I said, I’m speculating, but it’s based on knowledge of how this kind of stuff works behind the scenes. I’m pretty confident this is how it’ll play out. And it’s worth noting I think it’s a really cool way to do buddy lists.

Okay, I am now officially pumped up for Nintendo’s online service. It really sounds like they’ve really done their research to make it enjoyable and painfree. I just pray that while it’s easy, it’s certainly idiot-proof.