Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection reaches 5 million
by John Bardinelli 
{ May 30th 2007 at 9:45AM }
Nintendo announced today the free online gaming service Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection has reached more than 5 million unique DS owners worldwide. Nearly 65 games support online multiplayer through the service, accumulating over 200 million gameplay sessions since its launch in late 2005. Not surprisingly, the five most popular games are all from Nintendo: Animal Crossing: Wild World, Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime: Hunters, and Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.Barely nine months ago the service hit 2 million, showing an impressive growth in a short amount of time. For comparison, Xbox Live has just over 6 million subscribers, including paid members. Even though we feel the multiplayer gaming support for Wi-Fi Connection is a bit thin, a lot of gamers love them some online pokemans.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sheppy @ May 30th 2007 10:02AM
While this is an interesting number, how many out of the installed base is this? I mean, 360 has over half.
billychaos @ May 30th 2007 10:12AM
I think the DS online connections will only grow ridiculously. But It's not a good idea to compare this to XBL at all because remember Nintendo is making zero profit from the consumer on this. So even if they get 100 billion customers, it's only a number. It may get as high as 30 million because it's free. People love free. To all those that bitch about the friend codes, that's what keeps you going back... it's free.
Jonathan Tran @ May 30th 2007 10:10AM
SHEPPY: Good point.
Although to be fair I would be interested also in hours used per week per player or something for gaming.
Also what exactly is a pokémanz?
Kyle @ May 30th 2007 10:17AM
Sheppy
According to Next-Gen.biz there is 40 million Nintendo DS(s) sold world wide...so that's 12.5%
sheppy @ May 30th 2007 10:19AM
@billychaos
Interesting feature but let's put it this way. There are nearly 40 million DSs out there (I believe... I KNOW it's over 30 million though). Yet only 5 million have gone online with it. Despite it being free and even games like Mario Kart DS and Pokemon championing the service, it's still only 5 million users.
Xbox 360? 12 million in sales and 6 million subscribers...
Apparently people do hate those friends codes because when Wireless access is so readily available, they have games that push the service, the DS is highly portable and connects easily to most wireless connections, they still only have 5 million online users. That's 13% versus 50%...
Oh yeah, the friend code system totally kicks ass, man.
Jason @ May 30th 2007 10:21AM
You guys are forgetting that Nintendo products are for children, so you can't expect them to figure out wifi gaming...
sheppy @ May 30th 2007 10:26AM
"You guys are forgetting that Nintendo products are for children, so you can't expect them to figure out wifi gaming... "
Actually, I have a feeling the kids represent the majority of these numbers. I mean, it's not exactly rocket science. Select search for wifi spot. Connect, boom, you're done.
I think the problem is Nintendo keeps targetting adults and no adult I know thinks "Dude, this version of Tetris, I can totally play against 01117433837264994. We went to college together..."
JodyAnthony @ May 30th 2007 10:29AM
you are also all forgetting that there is only a handful of ds games with online while the bulk of 360 games have online. hell, you dont even need to have an online game for 360 to go online.
Jonathan Tran @ May 30th 2007 10:34AM
1. What % of DS games use wifi, compared to xbox games?
2. DS has no Live Arcade
3. Despite what you may think, most places on earth don't have wifi, whereas you could mess with a router to hook an xbox up to dial up, lol
4. You can't show someone your pokemanz on live
sheppy @ May 30th 2007 10:34AM
Only a handful? Aren't we up to at least 50 by now? But yeah, the online FOCUS needs to come from Nintendo. I mean, I log into my 360, I have messages and friend requests. I log into my PS3, I have friend requests and messages. I log into my DS, I try to find games... trying to find games... still trying to find games.... one day I'll find a game... games search timed out... trying again...
Granted, I'm not a big fan of Halo 3's required matchmaking service right now either. I miss the days of lobbies. A list of games I can join or the create a game option.... those were the days. That's what I love the most about the Warhawk beta.
Vidikron @ May 30th 2007 10:35AM
Here's another factor to remember... households often have multiple handhelds, but only one console. In my home we have 3 DS's (1 phat and 2 lites). All three have been online at some point... even if it was just to download some puzzle packs for Picross. So that's 3 "unique" Wi-Fi connections from my home vs 1 for Live. Yet I've likely spent hundreds of hours on Live and maybe 3 or 4 hours online TOTAL for all 3 DSs.
billychaos @ May 30th 2007 11:08AM
I dont know what dreamland you are all living in about the kid and nintendo things. Millions of kids play nintendo games but so do millions of adults including myself at age 33. Almost all my collegues play nintendo because that's what we grew up with.
I also play xbox and PC as well (and so do my collegues). The truth is, you younger gamers have no REAL idea what adults other than your parents are doing for fun. And Playing nintendo games doesnt mean I dont still play REAL games in Las Vegas.
BiggerBoat @ May 30th 2007 10:58AM
@ JodyAnthony
Totally agree.
Also the 360 has Xbox games to add to it's online catalogue, ie. Halo 2, whereas to the best of my knowledge the DS hasn't got any GBA support.
Off-line multiplayer will also be much more popular with DS owners as you can obviously take them anywhere and looking at the sales numbers every man and his dog has one so finding an opponent shouldn't be hard.
Online play will always be a much more important and integral feature of the 360 than the DS due to the very nature of the 2 platforms.
I do think however we'll see the Wii giving the 360 a run for it's money in terms off online numbers and also potentially percentage of userbase in a year from now, mark your calenders!!
Walking Contradiction @ May 30th 2007 11:04AM
You also have to factor in that MS has better games to play online.
billychaos @ May 30th 2007 11:10AM
Sorry for sounding so condensending. That wasnt my intention.
t_m @ May 30th 2007 11:15AM
wi-fi for a portable is never gonna be as commonly used as for a home system. My pc is permanently online.. permanently plugged in.
But to go online with my DS I need to find an internet hotspot while i'm out and about, have my DS with me, have an online capable game in my DS, successfully manage to realise that there is a wifi hotspot, and mange to connect to it. (and home that some of my mates just happen to be connected at the exact same time)
That said, i've tried going online with my DS several times, and never got it to work.. anyone know where you can do so in Tokyo?
They don't seem to have many free hotspots in tokyo.. so you have to pay a monthly fee and have a username an password to use the wifi at mcdonald, starbucks, etc..
no way i'd use it often enough for that..
sheppy @ May 30th 2007 11:21AM
"I dont know what dreamland you are all living in about the kid and nintendo things. Millions of kids play nintendo games but so do millions of adults including myself at age 33. Almost all my collegues play nintendo because that's what we grew up with."
You're right. As a 28 year old 3D artist at a flight simulation company, the last thing I would have exposure to is adults...
Look, it's not that my friends and I hate Nintendo, because we don't. We hate their online. We hate, if we want to play against each other, over the web, we need elaborate number sequences on a per game basis. We hate that, in order to play against each other on Mario Kart, we need to be searching for a game at the exact same time. We hate the piddly ass online system because, let's face it, at this point Xband made more sense.
And what is the purpose of the friend code system, exactly? To protect the children from innapropriate behavior? These same children that call me "a cum squirting faggot" on Xbox Live? This is the reason my communication in Pokemon Diamond online is limited to a list of approved words?
It's not that adults hate Nintendo, quite the opposite. I don't know too many adults willing to jump through the elaborate maze of monkey poo that's the friend code system. We, as adults, scratch our heads and say "fuck it, $50 a year still beats this crap."
sheppy @ May 30th 2007 11:27AM
"anyone know where you can do so in Tokyo?"
I'd say this is your best solution. Accomidates most wireless consoles. http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-b8-49-en-70-1x7l.html
Grog @ May 30th 2007 11:30AM
Hmm... let's compare a console that's main strength is online play to a handheld that many people play to kill a few minutes during their commute or between activities. I have the feeling most people don't sit down with their DS for a couple of hours of competitive gaming against online components - they'd probably play their consoles if that was what they want.
Oh, and Vidikron - for every person who only plays a couple hours on their DS, how many 360 owners just have a silver membership?
Apples to oranges. Good for the DS for building some online numbers, but the 360 will remain the king for a while yet.
JonnyBoy2U @ May 30th 2007 11:31AM
I agree with Sheppy. It doesn't get any more obvious than this that most people do NOT want to use Friend Codes and that Nintendo should grow up and get rid of it or give us better options. I don't care if Nintendo's Online Service is free. I'm still not going to use it if its a complete hassle and is not what I want. And apparently 35 million other people feel the same way.
I don't know how the PSP is doing with Online Users but I wouldn't be surprised if the percentage of PSP users online is higher than that for the DS. Forget that the system isn't that great (at least IMO) and has no interesting games. It still has a lot more potential than the DS does when it comes to graphics and online capablilties and I'll admit that to sony.
Bottom Line is Friend Codes are NOT "fun". They are retarded in short and a completely idiotic move by Nintendo. Its amazing how they claim they want the "hardcore gamer" when they know that most of them are sick of Nintendo crap like this.
BiggerBoat @ May 30th 2007 11:39AM
@ Sheppy
Maybe FCs are there to protect children from other children aswell as sinister adults?
At least the Wii FC's are tied to a single Mii(according to a Joystiq story yesterday) so it'll be a far more streamlined process. Maybe if a firmware update was on the DS it would have followed suit?
JodyAnthony @ May 30th 2007 11:44AM
" I'm still not going to use it if its a complete hassle and is not what I want. And apparently 35 million other people feel the same way."
$10 says that 34 of that 35 million actually just don't care about playing online. Do you think the people that are buying the thing for brain age or whatever care about playing games online?
either way the ds online sucks. the only good thing to play online is tetris ds when you're on the crapper.
sheppy @ May 30th 2007 11:53AM
"Maybe FCs are there to protect children from other children aswell as sinister adults?"
Hmmm, then what about regions where sexual predators are not exactly common like... and this is off the top of my head... FRICKIN JAPAN?
Also, I'd like the option of getting friend codes from people I've played against. And if Nintendo can track the Unique DS's online.. why can't they bind that to the actual console as a friend code system? After all, each console has a unique ID that games use. Why can't that be a friend code?
Just admit it. The Friend Code system was half-assed. Wii looks to be making steps forward (the binding of the friend codes to Miis is still unconfirmed as a universal solution since that isn't how Pokemon works.... AND you can clone Wiis on your friends console.. remember? Does that mean my friend can use my online account because my NME Mii is on his system?).
BiggerBoat @ May 30th 2007 11:59AM
Really?
When I'm on the crapper I play 'Splash Evasion'.
BiggerBoat @ May 30th 2007 12:01PM
Really?
When I'm on the crapper I play 'Splash Evasion', it never gets old!
REUYL @ May 30th 2007 12:16PM
So you have to share friend codes with 5 million people to get the full WiFi experience?
Doug Kaplan @ May 30th 2007 12:23PM
Grog is 100% correct, we are comparing apples to oranges and JodyAnthony is 100% correct because the Xbox 360 was designed with Live in mind where as the DS honestly never cared about online, it was an afterthought. The primary purpose of the DS was to revolutionize the way we play games but the Xbox 360 was to usher in a new era of graphics and to reveal the finely tuned Xbox Live. It's really not fair comparing the two at all. I would be interested in a comparison between the DS and the PSP but to of course consider the userbase before making this comparison to level out the two.
billychaos @ May 30th 2007 12:31PM
I guess my question is this... Is it a fact that friend codes are in place to protect children? I know people say that, but is that true or is that just our assumption. If this is truy...My official question for Nintendo is, what is the point of friend codes, why are they in place and how is this protecting children more by entering 56794523489 as opposed to 'Billychaos'. And friend codes never stopped CNN and many other news reporters from reporting that the 'DS can lead to sexual predators after your kids'. So If protecting young kids is their intention, it's not a good solution.
Additionally, I also pay for xbox live. My point in posting was that I don't think it's not that relevant to compare Nintendo's free wifi to xbl because even if 100 billion people logged on, all that means is 100 billion people own or borrow a DS. They make no profit off the online services. When MS says they ahve 6 million accounts that = dollar signs (roughly 300 million dollars a year!). I dont see the big news when nintendo says they have this many users. I do like Nintendo but, It doesnt mean much.
accidental @ May 30th 2007 6:39PM
Alright, so back to the freaking article.
Many people buy the 360 primarily for it's top-class online gaming service. Nobody buys the DS primarily for it's online gaming service. And most of the sales of the DS are from the casual market (hence it's overwhelming sales success) who, generally speaking, probably don't know the first thing about connecting to WiFi.
Admittedly I'd use the DS' WiFi a lot more if I had games that had a good online component. It's not the service for me, it's the games I have that stop me from using the DS online service.