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[Ponn]

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They're using 1000 of their own hotspots in Japan to boot supposedly.

http://www.edge-online.co.uk/archives/2005/06/spreading_japan.php

I am still EXTEMELY sceptical about all their making it easier to connect from anywhere and connecting and reinventing internet and blah blah. What they are proposing is offering 1000's of FREE broadband wifi hotspots to the masses? Not to say how many hackers would just LOVE that, but ontop of that somehow making their wifi hardware able to crack easily into any wifi hotspot without passcodes or start up pages? Internet security and public wifi spots and ease of use just really don't mix. At home maybe where you can keep your stuff unsecured I guess. Even if it is a little WEP cracker wouldn't hackers love to get at that right? Still this is Nintendo and Gamespy we are talking about so I just really have to say I will believe it when I see it. Until then i'm still expecting them to be talking big now and blowing smoke up the industry and coming out with something very similar to what the PSP has going now for the DS and for the Revolution inbetween what the PS2 has now and Xbox live.

It would be a ridiculous move for a company like Nintendo with the user base they have now too drop tons and tons of money on a service that is free and will see nothing in the way of profitable returns based on its own performance.

 

[suaveric]

Having travelled around the globe the last year with my PowerBook, hanging out in airport lounges, coffee shops, hotel lobbys, I can tell you that that's bloody unlikely to happen. Which is why I'm curious to see how "easy" Nintendo's solution will be. Getting to any hotspot is a pain - fire up browser, autoload service provider page, enter credit card details, verify and finally get access. Sometimes even buy some retarded scratch-off voucher. Will Nintendo do deals with Hilton, Starbucks, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Hotspot Hotel and all the other companies?

:lol @ Ruzbeh - explains why a kid was hysterically laughing at my tag in Halo 2 post-game stats screen.

Hmm.. well I don't know about the rest of the world, but around here all the coffee shops and restaurants offer wi-fi for free. I assume you just boot up and go, no need to enter credit card info, etc. I'm not sure about airports or hotels, you may have to pay for those...

 

[radioheadrule83]

I am still EXTEMELY sceptical about all their making it easier to connect from anywhere and connecting and reinventing internet and blah blah. What they are proposing is offering 1000's of FREE broadband wifi hotspots to the masses? Not to say how many hackers would just LOVE that, but ontop of that somehow making their wifi hardware able to crack easily into any wifi hotspot without passcodes or start up pages? Internet security and public wifi spots and ease of use just really don't mix. At home maybe where you can keep your stuff unsecured I guess. Even if it is a little WEP cracker wouldn't hackers love to get at that right? Still this is Nintendo and Gamespy we are talking about so I just really have to say I will believe it when I see it. Until then i'm still expecting them to be talking big now and blowing smoke up the industry and coming out with something very similar to what the PSP has going now for the DS and for the Revolution inbetween what the PS2 has now and Xbox live.

It would be a ridiculous move for a company like Nintendo with the user base they have now too drop tons and tons of money on a service that is free and will see nothing in the way of profitable returns based on its own performance.

WEP cracker? I don't think that's what Nintendo are proposing... if it's anything like what they were talking about in the broadcom PR, it could be button press passwords.

As for their own wifi spots and parnerships - I have no reason to believe they're not setting them up when various sites have gotten wind that they are... Jim Merrick and others have suggested it in as many words in interviews too. Sony are looking to set up similar access through partnerships too apparently for PSP (I can't find a link for that one just yet).

They wouldn't be giving people free broadband either theoretically. If their own spots truly are their own, then they would only give access to a walled garden network... imagine a case where only Nintendo-granted IPs, forewarding and communication is valid. Which of course would be useless for non-DS access. If their own spots are as a result of partnerships with other companies, I'm sure they could configure an internet gateway service that makes Nintendo domains free to access, while normal ones would require authentication / payment.

I think the reason for these kind of moves is to really get the penetration for online play up as high as they can. In recent interviews they're talking near 90% participation... that could only happen with this kind of infrastructure. Would it be profitable? I suppose that depends on if it took off or not. I assume they want this to drive DS and future Revolution sales. Remember, only first party Nintendo games are confirmed to be FREE. That's the incentive to use the service initially... other companies may well be charging for match ups.

 

[BenT]

WPA-PSK support please.

 

[Oblivion]

Once again, if Nintendo's online thingy is so awesome, why are they partnering up with gamespy?

edit: And Radiohead, you're avatar makes me shed a tear.