Many people have been wondering what Nintendo is going to do for it’s online service.
So far there are no online multiplayer games and Wii codes are a tad unfriendly to trade. So where is Nintendo heading with it’s online service?
The answer is Gamespy, the service owned by Fox Interactive Media. Gamespy will be providing developers with middleware to allow the Wii to get online and do multiplayer gaming.
The Gamespy middleware will allow Wii games to take advantage of friend rosters, matchmaking and leaderboards. No word yet if they’ll be able to simplify the Wii code into some type of gamertag, but it seems like that would be possible if they wanted to do it.
Gamespy is already partnering with Nintendo to bring online multiplayer capabilities to the portable DS system. So it makes a lot of sense for Nintendo to just expand on that partnership rather than try and build something from the ground up themselves.
The first online multiplayer game that will be released is a Nintendo staple, Pokemon battle Revolution. It will be available on June 25th and will be fully integrated into the Gamespy environment and work much like it does on the Nintendo DS today.
“Nintendo has been an invaluable partner and we look forward to expanding our relationship with them in the future,” said Jamie Berger, Senior Vice President of Consumer Products and Technology for IGN Entertainment. “Our goal is to extend our ground-breaking work on the Nintendo DS to provide Wii users with the social, community and multiplayer tools that we believe will expand the online gaming experience to the mass market.”
Though Pokemon probably isn’t the type of game many 2old2play people are going to rush out and buy, we hope it’s a great success that will lead to many more online enabled Wii games. A new multiplayer version of Wii Sports would be killer !
The answer is Gamespy, the service owned by Fox Interactive Media. Gamespy will be providing developers with middleware to allow the Wii to get online and do multiplayer gaming.
The Gamespy middleware will allow Wii games to take advantage of friend rosters, matchmaking and leaderboards. No word yet if they’ll be able to simplify the Wii code into some type of gamertag, but it seems like that would be possible if they wanted to do it.
Gamespy is already partnering with Nintendo to bring online multiplayer capabilities to the portable DS system. So it makes a lot of sense for Nintendo to just expand on that partnership rather than try and build something from the ground up themselves.
The first online multiplayer game that will be released is a Nintendo staple, Pokemon battle Revolution. It will be available on June 25th and will be fully integrated into the Gamespy environment and work much like it does on the Nintendo DS today.
“Nintendo has been an invaluable partner and we look forward to expanding our relationship with them in the future,” said Jamie Berger, Senior Vice President of Consumer Products and Technology for IGN Entertainment. “Our goal is to extend our ground-breaking work on the Nintendo DS to provide Wii users with the social, community and multiplayer tools that we believe will expand the online gaming experience to the mass market.”
Though Pokemon probably isn’t the type of game many 2old2play people are going to rush out and buy, we hope it’s a great success that will lead to many more online enabled Wii games. A new multiplayer version of Wii Sports would be killer !
