Nintendo WiFi adds Hunters, Tetris DS to hub

by Ross Miller { Feb 28th 2006 at 5:00PM }

Since Nintendo's WiFi service caters to so few games (only 3 currently available), the new page update comes as somewhat of a major expansion. Nintendo is preparing for its upcoming release (21 days to go) of two new WiFi-enabled titles, Metroid Prime Hunters and Tetris DS, by giving them their own hub pages. Not a lot of information on either page (just a generic game description and screen shot for each), but expanding the WiFi-enabled "Games in Play" menu by about 66% is a moderate milestone for this up-and-coming online venture.

[Via DS Fanboy]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

bd @ Feb 28th 2006 5:15PM

Metroid: "Link wirelessly with up to three friends..."

So either Nintendo blew it, or the DS is a piece of crap that can't handle more than 4 players at a time... which is it? I'd go for the first one, but you tell me.

Nushio @ Feb 28th 2006 5:25PM

Metroid can only handle 4 players (not sure about bots), the reason is because of netlag that could occur with more than that players.

However, Local Wifi SHOULD be fine (should as in "im not sure")

JodyAnthony @ Feb 28th 2006 5:30PM

OR they don't want to stress the system and cause lag and have people complain about a service that is offered to them for free.

bd @ Feb 28th 2006 5:33PM

So, do you think Revolution's Metroid Prime 3 will support more players than the Xbox 1.0 version of Halo 2, or will they screw up (not to say "again")?

mercatfat @ Feb 28th 2006 5:37PM

"So either Nintendo blew it, or the DS is a piece of crap that can't handle more than 4 players at a time... which is it?"

terminological inexactitude rocks!

Cameron @ Feb 28th 2006 5:43PM

There is only so much 4MB of RAM and 99MHz of total processing power and a HANDHELD can do. If you're not appreciative of the fact that Metroid looks and preforms as good as it does, under such conditions, then please never ever play this game or the DS at all. And by not playing the games or system, you exclude yourself from the need of bitching because it then wouldn't affect you.

Also, I agree with number 3. If there were more people, you'd simly find something else to bitch at in the game- like the lag and slowdown that would result from adding more players.

JodyAnthony @ Feb 28th 2006 5:43PM

"Nintendo would have to explain that, because people were expecting 16 players, or 8 at least."

Uh, I was expecting 4. First of all, thats what Mario Kart had. Second of all, thats what they said it would be when the online portion of the game was announced.

bd @ Feb 28th 2006 5:47PM

Well Jody, are you satisfied with "just 4" on Mario Kart, or do you want more? To tell you the truth, I want (and should expect, but I'm not going to, knowing nintendo) a 100+ Mario Kart frenzy. So, if the revolution is considerably more powerful than the Xbox 1.0, it should be able to pull it off.

Cameron @ Feb 28th 2006 6:04PM

Ok. How many does Sony give you for GT's online mode? Wait... What about MSFT and Forza or PGR- certainly not close to 100. If you're going to criticize Nintendo for not meeting your unrealistic requests, it would only be fair to critizize all that do not meet your unrealitsic requests.

Did you honestly expect 8 or 16 for Hunters on the DS? I mean, did you really, given Nintendo said 4 from the start, given originally it was zero?

It has nothing to do with being sensitive, it has something to do with being grounded in reality.

Darrel @ Feb 28th 2006 6:14PM

Calm down. Nothing to get all hissy about.

4 player multiplayer is fine by portable FPS standards. You aren't going to expect so many players on a portable, do you? Let alone with smooth multiplayer.

And before you say "Socom" given the fact that the pacing of Socom is different from Quake-ish FPS games, it cannot be compared. Socom is a team based Rainbow 6 -ish 3rd person shooter. Metroid Prime's an arena based shooter. Different titles with different demands.

bd @ Feb 28th 2006 6:20PM

The way you react is being sensitive, not a realist. And who cares what Sony or Microsoft do? I'm not a fan of them, If anything I love Nintendo more than those two.

Xbox 1.0 can have a 100 versus 100 player hatefest on Halo 2. Or something sick like that. Was I asking the DS to do something like that? No, the DS has a 16th the RAM of the Xbox, and an eight the clock speed. The speed you can reach on WiFi (or the one that you should reach) is not too different from the one when you play on a console. So 200 / 16 = 12.5 players. So at least 12 players, hell 8 should have been enough. And that's assuming both Halo 2 and Metroid Prime Hunters use the full potential of each of the systems, which is not necessarily true. Nevermind, I was just asking a question, no need to make a big deal over it.