Iwata: Wi-Fi to get expanded this year
by David Hinkle 
{ Jan 7th 2008 at 2:15PM }
Nintendo head honcho Satoru Iwata recently conducted an interview where his comments regarding Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connect were pretty darn interesting. While the dreamer in us was hoping for a retooling of the useless Friend Code system, such is not the case. What Iwata hopes to do is expand how the DS is used to access information, such as possibly downloading surrounding map data after getting off of a train.The idea of being able to do things such as this with your DS is something we definitely can get down with, but we wonder about the execution. The homebrew community can definitely come up with applications to cater to these needs, but an official Nintendo solution, a kind of "all-in-one" thing would be great. Get on it Nintendo, we need more excuses to carry our DS everywhere.
[Via Nintendic]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dick Davies @ Jan 7th 2008 5:35PM
Let's have some WPA support - paleeeze?
Niz @ Jan 7th 2008 7:32PM
i second that and im sure millions of other people agree, i havent played online since mario kart as i dont feel safe with WEP and i dont play games enough to be bothered to switch to WEP. Seriously why not WPA? my mobile phone can do it i dont see why a nintendo DS cannot?
iofthestorm @ Jan 8th 2008 1:09AM
Although I don't think they can do it in software, it would be nice. But just a tip if you feel insecure, use a mac address whitelist on your router. Sure, mac addresses can be spoofed but I think if someone knew how to spoof their MAC address they might well know how to crack your wifi too.
Mooga @ Jan 8th 2008 7:48PM
PLEASE add WPA support for the DS!
WEP is simply not safe for a wireless network. Even with MAC-Address filtering it's not safe. It would be nice to see WPA for the DS. I've been told the wii has it (and the PSP not that I care).
Mr Khan @ Jan 7th 2008 4:14PM
Tinny Tim (of Futurama) says:
You've raised my hopes and dashed them horribly, sir
Saphion @ Jan 7th 2008 5:04PM
That's all well and good, but where the hell is my Phantasy Star Online DS or Phantasy Star Online-esque game, dammit?!
FantomRedux @ Jan 7th 2008 5:05PM
Lets have all this shit built into the firmware?
Can has uber ds now pl0x? Kthxbai
B1gC72 @ Jan 7th 2008 5:26PM
yea why hasnt the DS had a firmware update yet to add this kind of stuff in? i mean you dont need USB to do it, anybody can go to McDonald's with their DS and download a firmware update or they could just pack it in newer games like PSP does. it could work like the Download Play feature.
also, the DS has a perfectly good GBA slot on it that could be used for flash, a card reader, mini USB port, etc. i know the DS is doing fine but they are taking a very hard "aint broke, dont fix it" stance.
iofthestorm @ Jan 8th 2008 1:06AM
The DS doesn't have enough onboard space for such featureful firmware, and it also isn't really upgradeable without messing with the hardware. There are homebrew firmware versions but they just let you boot slot-2 homebrew carts without a passthrough device.
Kazi @ Jan 7th 2008 8:31PM
Sounds pretty useless. Might be useful for some things like Maps but ultimately what company besides Nintendo would bother with it in a game? I can see it now, Pokemon Real where you need to go to Japan to catch an Abra, Germany to catch a Machop and the Bronx to catch a Jinx.
I'm just not seeing it.