We all pretty much agree that friend codes aren't exactly Nintendo's best decision ever, but every week after Game Night (which is probably when this blogger does the lion's share of weekly online DS gaming), there are always a few thoughts rumbling around about things that could be better. Being unable to add new friends to Clubhouse Games while in a room, for instance, or the 2-or-4 player restrictions on Tetris. Any other issues you can think of? Sometimes it seems that online multiplayer functions just weren't quite subjected to the same quality control issues. They work well enough, to be sure, but they could easily be better in a lot of cases.
DS Daily: Worst Wi-Fi problems
We all pretty much agree that friend codes aren't exactly Nintendo's best decision ever, but every week after Game Night (which is probably when this blogger does the lion's share of weekly online DS gaming), there are always a few thoughts rumbling around about things that could be better. Being unable to add new friends to Clubhouse Games while in a room, for instance, or the 2-or-4 player restrictions on Tetris. Any other issues you can think of? Sometimes it seems that online multiplayer functions just weren't quite subjected to the same quality control issues. They work well enough, to be sure, but they could easily be better in a lot of cases.
_thumbnail.jpg "Prince of Persia: The Fallen King")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-18-2008 @ 10:21AM
TheCoats said...
playing after game night last night i would have to say i Hate disconnectors in Random matches
nintendo fights against that in score but in a random match im playing for fun.......i understand disconnecting can happen accidental and on porpose but i hate playing tetris and people disconnect!!!!
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1-18-2008 @ 10:37AM
TriptychR said...
My worst Wi-Fi problem is that I don't have it. I'm unfortunate enough to live in a rural area that cable and DSL companies seem unwilling to bless with their services, and satellite Internet is way too expensive for the quality it has. Games like Animal Crossing: Wild World I eventually sold because there was an entire part of the game I had absolutley no access to.
So even if there are Wi-Fi problems, just think about us rural folk and the people in Ethiopa. You have it pretty well off.
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1-18-2008 @ 7:05PM
Kefka said...
It's possible to play Nintendo WiFi games on dial-up, it just takes a little more work to set it up.
I just googled for the tutorial which was posted on DSfanboy and a few other blogs, but both the original, alternative and new links provided have disappeared...
Luckily though, it's still available via archives!
http://web.archive.org/web/20070218081725/http://nickgaming.mobstop.com/nintendo/wifi/dialupwifi.html
Seems to run slow as heck, though...
1-19-2008 @ 7:19PM
RootiePatootie said...
An aside to your comment re: satellite internet isn't worth the money. I had it for several years when living in the boonies and it was our only choice since dial-up was horrible, best we could get on a good day was 28.8, and we were very used to cable internet up until we moved out there. Although it's a bit more than our Time Warner Road Runner service the quality was excellent and honestly, we couldn't tell the difference really. Satellite is up AND down, no using your phone line for anything and these days they have great plans for the equipment and so on. You might want to check into it, it's not the satellite internet access that used to be when it was first offered many years ago. We still have our equipment even though we moved back to where we can get cable 'net access 2 yrs. ago. Might sell it I suppose but it's most likely outdated, that's how quick that industry upgrades.
1-18-2008 @ 12:03PM
Seikene said...
Well to me, game night was fun, played every game I wanted to, but then when I played Bleach: The blade of fate with another user (Kylock), we both expierience incredible lag, even after seeing our signals show up with 3 bars, and I was rigth next to my router. The lag was going on even while we picked characters. Of course I'm not going to base this lag off of one event, but it has happened to me multiple times during random battles. The other little issue I see with few games, is that if one disconnects, the entire game gets ruined for everybody else. I know in such games like Mario Kart, and Metroid Prime, if one leaves, the only thing that changes is the scoreboard, showing that there is one or even 2 less people, but the game still goes on. IMO, I've thought Nintendo was never too good with internet based applications, unlike Microsoft and Sony, but this is something that should be fixed, for ALL games, for their sake.
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1-18-2008 @ 12:31PM
Kylock said...
You're certainly right about the Bleach lag, which greatly saddened me. I also can't stand how you'll lose all your progress in AC if someone drops the connection... I've lost golden fish that way before. :(
1-18-2008 @ 12:07PM
Afterlifer82 said...
I would almost say take wifi out if it would cut the cost of the system, Nintendo just doesn't know how to use online properly.
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1-18-2008 @ 12:27PM
TheCoats said...
give them time they will grow and change.......thisis the beginning ....i really think we will see changesin whats coming up.....it might not be soon but it will happen!
1-18-2008 @ 1:11PM
Brello said...
Yeah, I pretty much had that "do it right or don't do it at all" mindset for a while. I'd miss online Mario Kart though--with friends, I might add. Every time I play on WiFi someone's cheating and stays in bullet bill form the entire time. Cause you know, that's fun. Damned cheaters.
1-18-2008 @ 12:53PM
Donald said...
My biggest bummer with the DS wi-fi is that the system doesn't natively support WPA encryption, so I had to get the Nintendo Wi-Fi Adapter that cuts out a lot.
I'm not taking down the security of my network to show you my Pokemans.
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1-18-2008 @ 2:24PM
chispito said...
I realize there are better levels of wifi security than what I practice, but it's also important to note that somebody has to be incredibly determined, patient, and capable to break into a properly secured WEP enabled network. By not broadcasting your SSID and by filtering MAC addresses (which I suppose can be spoofed), you're already making your neighbor's "linksys" network a lot more desirable of a target.
1-18-2008 @ 7:54PM
pimpybra said...
I also rage because there is no WPA. I refuse to buy an adapter for something the DS should have handled from the start.
Also, I refuse to lower my router to WEP security. For many people, it's "good enough". Not for me, it's trivial to break WEP, and yes MAC addresses can be spoofed. (Plus, I'm paranoid).
1-18-2008 @ 1:18PM
Ramses said...
Ultimate Mortal Kombat. the Puzzle Kombat Wifi is non-exisitant since no one is playing it. Meanwhile, the UMK3 Wifi is flooded with people who spam Smoke out...
like the real arcade game :p
the game sometimes locks itself up sometimes as well... but other then that, I still like it.
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1-18-2008 @ 1:35PM
Mr.Aion said...
DHCP doesn´t work with most routers... ¬¬
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1-19-2008 @ 7:25PM
RootiePatootie said...
HUH? Most routers have DHCP. You might want to look into this a bit more. It's industry standard to have DHCP really.
1-18-2008 @ 4:33PM
gevenstaines said...
the situation is much better than for the wii, at least until March 9th.
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1-18-2008 @ 7:14PM
Kefka said...
I like playing games over WiFi, but yeah - it could be a lot better. Friend codes are a pain, getting a game started often involves way more reconnecting and searching and waiting than it should - especially if you want more than 2 players, there's sometimes unexplainable lag. The cheaters and disconnectors ruin random play in popular games...
But in the end, these are the kind of teething troubles that many companies had when first stepping out into online play. It's a shame when it happens on such an unchangeable system as a handheld, where they can't really make any major upgrades or changes though...
I'm just saddened that they didn't seem to learn many lessons from the DS when sorting out the Wii's online gaming... It seems like they used a "If it's not entirely broken to the point where everyone stops using it, don't fix it" approach. :P
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1-19-2008 @ 1:15AM
BlackDS said...
Action Replay is the BANE of Nintendo Wifi.
It's the reason I don't play on Nintendo Wifi anymore, and why I think Friends Codes are NOT a bad idea, since you can keep from playing cheaters, by regulating your friend's list.
The only game that I've played over Nintendo Wifi is Clubhouse Games, since cheat codes won't help you w/ Chess. I've played Koi Koi, but I have never found anyone willing to play Shogi (I waited ... waited ,,, finally gave up). :(
I wish Nintendo would sue the hell out of Datel for damages due to their cheat codes ruining the Nintendo Wifi for everyone. Bankrupting Datel would be the best thing for the Nintendo Wifi network. Then, at least new games would be free of cheaters.
Cheaters on Nintendo Wifi are ruining someone else's gaming experience. I wish Nintendo would PERMANENTLY ban Action Replay cheaters forever.
I HATE cheaters. I would love to castrate them with my zanpakuto, and watch as the gates of Hell swallowed their cheating souls forever.
DIE CHEATERS ... DIE ACTION REPLAY ... DIE DATEL.
End of rant.
Peace.
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1-19-2008 @ 7:30PM
RootiePatootie said...
I'll add my comment about cheaters. It's the main reason I do not play over wi-fi much at all anymore. I'm not very good at Mario Kart but I do enjoy it and will stick with it, I do NOT disconnect...but too often I KNOW I'm playing with cheaters and that just blows the whole game out of the water for me. If you're going to cheat then why in the heck even bother playing?? What fun is that? Unless you're insecure and need to feel good about yourself and to do so you like to cheat and thus others not enjoy themselves, then I guess you're either still extremely immature or you've got problems that need professional help, IF you'll admit you need it of course. I got Clubhouse Games for Christmas and I'm finding I'm really enjoying a lot of them but I'm extremely hesitant to play via wi-fi since I just don't want to waste my game time playing with people who have these sort of problems.
1-21-2008 @ 12:26AM
Seikene said...
Well at least while I was playing the games at game night, I didn't spot any cheaters....wait the snaking issue is still going on? Wow I'd have to say if it wasn't for religion, then snaking on MK would be the #1 debated topic in the world XD (btw im kidding :P I don't want no extremists of ANY religion to spam my email). Anyway it doesn't even have to be action replayers that cheat the system. I realized that when I have my legal back-ups of all my games, a number of them have cheats built from the flash cart. Of course I tried them out but in vs CPU games outside wifi, and most of them match the cheats used in wifi games I've been in. Mainly metroid, I remember people shooting me ACROSS A WALL, WTF??? I had the cheat myself and realized that Action replay wouldn't be the only thing to blame here. I'm guessing if you have a flash cart or even make the code manually, anybody is able to cheat the game and ruin everyone's lives, but meh that's just me, and I can't wait for next GN :D.
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