Among the
other megatons Nintendo dropped at its Tokyo conference late last night, the company revealed that the Wii will soon support a feature we've been speculating on for some time now -- enabling the console to act as a DS demo
download station. At last, you can finally try out games like that new
Nancy Drew release without ever leaving the comfort of your own home!
Much like with the download stations that are already installed in game stores and airports across the country, Nintendo Wii owners will eventually be able to download video game trailers and demos wirelessly to their DS through the newly announced "Everyone's Nintendo Channel." A concrete date hasn't yet been set for the channel's launch.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-10-2007 @ 12:12PM
Aaron said...
About DAMN time. Nintendo needs to get on the ball with the online stuff. I turn on my 360 and PS3 every week to download the new vids/demos but Wii is collecting dust (no free demos/videos..just VC downloads).
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10-10-2007 @ 12:59PM
Micah Neumark said...
I really hope Nintendo starts doing DS firmware updates via the Wii. The main thing I really want is WPA2 support. I can't use my DS online without changing wireless settings. WEP is insecure and its all it supports.
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10-10-2007 @ 1:58PM
Jeffrey said...
@Micah: I don't believe firmware updates can enable WPA. It's a hardware thing.
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10-10-2007 @ 1:58PM
Dan Russell said...
Awesome!
Now let's see some GC->GBA style interaction with Wii games!
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10-10-2007 @ 2:14PM
ZR said...
I'm not sure where the Nancy Drew bashing came from (maybe that cataclysmic cinematic 'refresh'?)--Joystiq had a similar tone when talking about the PC games--but the DS entry into the series is actually a real solid adventure game. Some of the puzzles are rather easy, but it's refreshing compared to the pixel-hunts in other DS adventure titles. Plus it's got surprisingly high production values. If you enjoyed Trace Memory or Hotel Dusk, I'd highly recommend trying to track down a copy... it's already impossible to find and it just came out. I had to get mine off of Amazon, all the chain stores near me aren't carrying it.
Oh, and downloading demos from the Wii sounds cool too. :p
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10-10-2007 @ 2:55PM
Matdredalia said...
ZR - I'm willing to bet that people are speculative of anything "new" with the Nancy Drew name due to the onslaught of products that have been put out with the name that are absolutely disgusting. Have you seen the Nancy Drew Barbie-esque dolls they released not too long ago? And yes, the movie was..*shudders*
I'm a big Drew fan from childhood up, and I want to demo the game before I make any decisions either way, but I'm a bit excited. I really hope it does her justice.
As for the Wii's becoming download stations....it's just too bad they won't put things like the download-only Chocobo Tales cards that, oh....America never got at ANY of our download stations >.>
Personally, I'd be much happier if they'd put more than just demo's on the Wii. Not all of us live near big cities, and it'd help out a lot.
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10-10-2007 @ 3:20PM
NeoteriX said...
@ Micah:
I too didn't want to give up WPA2 security on my wifi network, so I cracked and bought the $35 wifi USB adapter. It's unfortunate I had to shell out for it, but on the upside, my network is as secure as I'd like it to be.
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10-10-2007 @ 3:56PM
Archibold said...
This is really exciting news for me! I never downloaded anything from download stations. The few times I've seen them, I didn't have my DS on me. And I never took the initiative to actually go back to those places later just to try them out. So yeah, I'm eager for this.
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10-10-2007 @ 4:07PM
Abscissa said...
Wake me when they allow DS demos from an internet-connected PC with a WiFi card. Or hell, from the actual DS itself - it's connected to the net these days too. (That is, unless your network actually uses non-useless encryption like WPA)
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10-10-2007 @ 4:24PM
Abscissa said...
@#3: WPA is not a hardware thing unless they're handling communication protocols in hardwired logic gates, which is unlikely. That sort of stuff is all handled in microcontrollers these days. And in the DS's case, possibly even on the ARM7 (Which would help explain why official developers supposedly aren't allowed to use the ARM7 directly.)
@#7: I've thought about getting one of those, but I wasn't sure if it was possible to use those to access other things on the network besides just normal DS connectivity (through either a WiFi PC, or a homebrew DS app). Do you know that it's definitely not possible?
Now that I think of it, didn't Nintendo say a year ago that the Wii was supposed to be able to act as a wireless access point for the DS? Doesn't seem to work for me though.
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10-10-2007 @ 9:07PM
iofthestorm said...
Yeah, if they allowed the Wii to act as an access point for the DS I could finally use WPA. I'd been using it for a while until I got my DS, then I had to tone it down to WEP which sucks. If they enable the Wii as a wifi-sharing device for DSs, that would get around the WPA problem because if they Wii has WPA, it only makes sense for them to let you actually use WPA on your router.
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10-10-2007 @ 9:09PM
NeoteriX said...
The Wifi USB Connector will *ONLY* work with a DS, and will only work on DS's authorized by you.
The USB connector's software only communicates with DS's and you first must accept the DS's connection on the host PC that the USB connector is plugged into.
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10-10-2007 @ 10:37PM
JKAntwon said...
This is awesome! Not that I mind looking like an uber Geek at walmart playing my DS (I'm 25) but my wife nags me a lot about it, so now I never need to leave the house! lol
Geek to the core!
Check out my online comic: Today's is about Hotel Dusk room 215
http://touristtrapusa.blogspot.com/
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10-10-2007 @ 11:37PM
Fullmetal Salchemist said...
I... kind of wish I hadn't read that comic. It made baby Jesus cry. :(
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10-11-2007 @ 4:01AM
knocturnal said...
i wish they would do this with the pc
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10-13-2007 @ 9:46PM
Mabui said...
Kinda sucks they talk about this, and don't release it at all this year. Didn't we get DS first? Doesn't that mean anything anymore?!
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10-19-2007 @ 6:23PM
Megamanfan3 said...
Interesting, I can be able to download temperary demos to my DS without going to Gamestop via this program and the DS's "DS Download Play" function.
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